The Ford F-Series has been America’s best-selling vehicle for more than four decades. So, Ford builds a lot of F-150 pickups. But it’s about to stop building current year models for custom orders, according to a new report.
CarsDirect reports that Ford has told dealers it will not accept orders for new F-150 trucks after Aug. 2. In a letter to dealers, Ford says the decision “impacts F-150 gas and hybrid only.” Customers will still be able to order the all-electric F-150 Lightning custom-built.
Related: Ordering a Car from the Factory: Everything You Need to Know
The move comes just days after Ford reportedly paused orders for the Ranger Raptor, an off-road-specialist pickup. The company cites a similar problem with the F-150, CarsDirect says. The letter reportedly blames “dealer allocation and commodity constraints,” likely meaning the automaker is having trouble obtaining some parts.
But the F-150’s situation is different. The Ranger Raptor is a low-volume product. Shoppers can rarely find it on dealer lots. The F-150 is America’s highest-volume vehicle. Dealer lots are full of F-150s, and it’s typically not hard to find the combination of colors and features you want in dealer stock.
Ford created a backlog of F-150s on dealer lots earlier this year when the company held trucks for several weeks of extra quality inspections at the factory, then shipped a flood of trucks to dealers. Inventory numbers from Kelley Blue Book parent company Cox Automotive show that the available supply of F-150s on dealer lots is just beginning to return to normal after the influx of trucks.
So, if you need to custom-order a very specific 2024 F-150, you may only have nine days left to do it. But the odds are good that you can find the model you want in stock at a dealership after that date.
