Once we ordered our Jeep, I began collecting info about the ordering and build process. I've tried to document my experience here, but please feel free to drop me a line if you have any better or additional info.
 | Once you place your order, the dealer will generate a New Order Form that details the vehicle that you want. This gets transmitted to DC and the dealer has a document that represents your order. At the top of this document is a VON, or Vehicle Order Number. This is how DC tracks your vehicle until it gets a VIN. |
| Within a day or two after your order has been submitted, you can call the DC customer service number 800.992.1997. Get to an operator by following the prompts and tell them that you are requesting info on a vehicle that you have ordered. They will ask for name, address, etc. They are setting up a case in their system. Be sure to ask them for your case number before you get off the phone. You can use this on subsequent calls to get the info faster from the rep. |
| Sometime after the vehicle has passed edit (meaning the dealer has submitted a valid order with no conflicting options), it will be assigned a VIN. This is useful for another reason I will mention later. When you call the DC rep, they will give you a description of the status code. These map to the table at the bottom of this page. The first milestone is getting to "D" status. This means that all the goodies needed to build your Jeep are in stock and ready to go. They will tell you that you're in a tentative schedule for X week. Next milestone is getting to "D1" which pretty much locks you into a build week. I stayed in D1 for 3 weeks, largely because the plant was down for a couple of those weeks. Once you get into your build week, things move fast. I heard that it only takes 40 hours for a Wrangler to start down the line until the time it gets through QC. Personally, I would have rather had them spend another 10 min checking my Jeep. The QC dept. missed a couple of glaring issues. None are life threatening, but cosmetically, they shouldn't have been allowed. |
| Once you've gotten through QC, you should go into "KZ" status, meaning that the plant has finished with your Jeep. I believe that DC sends an invoice to the dealer at this time, so you may be able to get the dealer to give you a copy so you can finalize the numbers on the purchase order. A day or two after you go into shipped status (assuming your Jeep in coming by rail), call back and ask them for the rail car number and shipping line. |
| Shipped Jeeps travel via rail. The best active rail tracker I found was here. Our Jeep shipped on Norfolk Southern. Their site is no longer active. It said that it was only for NS rail shipments, but the system appeared to be a national system and not proprietary to NS. Also, if you look at a train, the cars are never just from one line. Drop me a line if this works. |
| Once our Jeep was dropped off by rail, it took 2 days to get to the dealership. I assume they stage these for a region and have transport carriers to route everything to the various dealers. |
| Additional info number: 810.274.5804 This is an automated system and you will need to listen to the prompts to make sure you input the info it is looking for in the right format. This number is suppose to be only for vehicles in KZ status, but if you're not in KZ, the system will tell you what your current status is. The only catch is that you need to have the last 8 digits of your VIN. When it ships, it will give you the destination city. Maybe I'll call back and find out where the Jeeps built just before and just after mine were destined... |
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ORDER STATUS CODES |
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BB - review by fleet department |
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BD - special equipment processing |
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BE - edit error |
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BG - passed edit n/a for schedule |
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BGL - edit ok parts unavailable |
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BX - passed edit available for schedule |
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C - sub firm |
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D - firm schedule - dealer has allocation and all parts available |
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D - 1 gateline schedule - scheduled to be built |
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E - frame |
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F - paint |
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G - trim |
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I - built not ok'd |
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J - built ok'd |
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JB - shipped to body vendor |
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JE - emission check |
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JS - shipped to storage |
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KZ - released by plant , invoiced |
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KZL - released - not shipped |
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KZM - first rail departure |
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KZN - first rail arrival |
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KZO - delayed/recieved |
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KZOA - plant holds |
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KZOB - zone/distribution holds |
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KZOC - carrier delays |
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KZOD - carrier holds |
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KZOE - mis-shipped vehicle |
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KZOF - show/test vehicle |
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KZOG - damaged vehicle |
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KZOH - all other reasons |
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KZT - second rail departure |
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KZU - second rail arrival |
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KZX - delivered to dealer |
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ZA - canceled |