[QUOTE='01SilverBullet]
Before I replaced my '01 GT, I drove three cars, the Stang, the GTO, and a 330ci. The BMW was a tight ride, but I know what a mess they are mechanically (especially electrically from friends and family members who have owned them), and frankly it wasn't all that nice for $40k. Just not worth it at all to me to spend that kind of money on a car I definitely didn't love. Now an M3, that's something different. But that's just out of my price range.
So for me, the Stang was the best fit again. My '01 never had a problem, the best car I've ever owned apart from my first car, an '88 Mazda MX-6 that I drove into the ground. So I felt no shame in spending $200 under MSRP for a car right off the lot. I saved nearly $6k on my '01 GT after 9/11, and I wasn't going to lose sleep on the $1,600 I paid over what I could have got for ordering on X-plan. And nobody in California (certainly Southern Cal) is walking on to a dealer lot and getting a GT for X-plan. BlueOval can back me up on that, he and I together probably hit every dealer in So Cal.

You want X-plan here, you order one. And frankly, I was sick of waiting for the one I did order.[/QUOTE]
Bullet is right on. Ordering is a necessity for X-plan in SoCal. I ordered on 3/18 and I'm still C/U. The dealership told me 12 weeks for delivery. I don't believe it. Originally, I drove a BMW 330ci vert as my alternate. I liked the car...then I drove the M3...I've changed my alternate! I admit that I want the Mustang for the style and value but after driving the M3, it's nice to know that I can get a car that is a joy to drive (granted, for a lot more $$$) that I'd be happy to have in the garage for years to come...and the wife likes the M3 better too!
So, if Ford and the dealerships can't get their s**t together in the next 4 weeks, they'll be losing a previously loyal repeat FLM customer to a competitor.
The customer satisfaction manager at my dealership called last week to ask me about my "buying experience". I said, "I'll let you know when I actually get my car". I also let them know that I'd be buying a BMW instead if I don't have build date by the end of May. Why? Because the dealer told me 12 weeks to delivery and I think that giving Ford 10 weeks to get me a build date on an order at the end of the 05 production cycle at a "10" priority that my dealership has allotment for (according to them) is more then generous. If they can't deliver, that's their problem. It's not like they have a monopoly on a miracle vaccine that we must have to live.