AirlineMuseum.c

My dealer helped me put all this together, so I thought I'd share with anyone who is curious why some people are getting their cars a few weeks after ordering and others are waiting up to 3 months.
Like most American production systems, Honda builds in batches for efficiency. Because the machine setups are different for Automatic vs manual, and Nav vs non-Nav, they will do a run of x number of 5AT Navis, then a run of x number of 6MT Navis, then 6MT non-Navi, then 5AT non-Navi. They will also batch by color in a similar way. I believe dealers place their orders with the factory once per month. My dealer ordered my car last Tuesday, so I believe all dealers had to have that month's orders in on that date. Acura then takes all this order information, and along with historical production information and stats, they create the next month's production schedule (very similar to how most manufacturing industries schedule their production). My dealer said that they will confirm the order this coming Friday. He said there is a possibility it could be rejected, but that this is usually unlikely. I asked him under what circumstances it would be rejected and he explained that if for example, I had ordered an unpopular color combination, and let's say I was the only person to order that configuration, the factory would not want to set everything up to build just one car with that config, so they would either reject it or delay it until the next month to see if more of that configured car were ordered. I ordered Black/Parch/6MT/Navi and he said it was very unlikely it would be rejected, but he wanted to just let me know of the possibility.
At this point, they decide which batch will go first (maybe putting the most popular ordered configuration first, or maybe not), and they start building. If you're lucky, your car is in the first batch and you will probably get it as early as 3-4 weeks after ordering. If you are not lucky, it may take a while for them to get to your configuration, and it could take a few months. My dealer told me that he will know in about 2 weeks when my car will be built, VIN, etc. If you have ordered and don't have a VIN yet, the dealer really may not have it, but if it has been about a month after you placed the order, and you still don't have it, you should probably press them to get you one.

By the way, for what it's worth, if this was a Lexus, or any other Toyota product, they would not be built in batches. Toyota uses what they call the Toyota Production System or TPS. They get their suppliers to provide parts on a just in time basis and their changes between configs do not require major setup changes. This is partly due to their product design, and partly due to their machine design - it's like taking Ford's interchangeable parts to a whole new level. Anyway, my view still is that Honda makes a better car than Toyota anyway, but if you got a Lexus, you might be getting your POS faster

Hope this helps someone!

6mtV6

thanks for the info
i just placed my order saturday for a anthracite/ebony 6speed/navi.....is this a popular combination..?

AirlineMuseum.c

I'm pretty sure that's a popular combo - based on the number of people posting here who seem to have those colors.