Build date to delivery - how long??

Pete268

An enquiry for my neighbour. He ordered a new Ford Focus in June and was given a build date of 12th September.

The car was built at a Ford factory in Germany, but he has been given a delivery date by dealership of 18th October which to me seems rather a long time to get a new car over from Germany. The dealer said it has to go to Holland then on a ship to Dagenham and then onto a train to Liverpool and then across the pennines to the dealer on a transporter.

Anyone got a clue whether 5 weeks is about right timewise for delivery of a new Ford or is the dealer delaying things for some reason (ie hitting sales targets for the next month or something).

Thanks.

hewhoisnotintheknow

my mums new mitsi took about 3 months!

ozvaldinho

I had a Skoda ordered July, build date 27 August, delivered two weeks later than expected because of shipping delays. It was delivered last week.
Most car factories shut for the whole of August, and can be a bit slow in getting the whole supply chain going again as there may be new shipping, storage or computer systems being put into place for the new model year. Five weeks sounds normal, but dealers will lie through their teeth rather than lose a sale because they can't make a delivery date.

lincroft1710

Some years ago you could go to your Morgan dealer, place your order and 7 years later you took delivery !!!!

Pete268

Thanks guys.

It is not the wait for the car to be built that he was questioning, just how long , once it has been built in Germany for it to get to the dealers. Thanks ozvaldinho for your thoughts, I suppose 5 weeks is quite reasonable particularly if they had just reopened after the summer break.

Pete

AdrianHi

I have been told by other car dealers the shipping port gets a bit jammed up with the surge of September deliveries for the new registration. Makes delivery times a bit longer and less predictable.

blue_haddock

Remember that a lot of the automotive industry shuts down for August so that is some of the delay and then there will be several delays in shipping from each depot. I don't think the delivery date is unrealistic or being fiddled with by the dealer.

illuminate

Consider yourself lucky that you are getting a "fresh" one.

Many new cars have been stood on huge car parks in all sorts of weather for weeks. They are then scrubbed up and thrown on a transporter before being given a pre-collection prep. at the dealers.