Unreasonable delivery time / can I cancel...?

20vt-rs

I've ordered a brand new car and at the point of ordering I was quoted a delivery time of 14 weeks. It has been 10 weeks since ordering and I've now been told that it will be closer to 28 weeks now.

I think this is unreasonable, and there is no plausible explanation as to why, just that is what it is from the manufacturer. I'm going through a broker so cannot speak to a dealer to the manufacturer as I don't have a relationship with them.

Is the delay un- reasonable, and do I have grounds to cancel my order? The I paperwork I signed just states that if orders are to cancelled the broker can charge up to 10% of the OTR price (approx £2k). Have only paid a small deposit. Obviously I do not want to pay that, so any advice appreciated.

Thanks.

Richard53

Do you have the 14 weeks figure in writing as part of the contract? If you, you have a basis for cancelling, I would have thought. An extra three months is a significant difference from what you were promised, if you can prove that is what you were told (and what you based your decision to purchase on).


Just my opinion, IANAL.

uknick

It used to be, at least when I did my commercial law exam back in the early 90s, you needed the contract to state time was of the essence to allow cancellation for late deliveries.

But as Richard53 said, IAA(lso)NAL.

AdrianC

20vt-rs wrote: »

and there is no plausible explanation as to why, just that is what it is from the manufacturer.

Of course there will be a "plausible" explanation. It's just not being passed on to you.

I'm going through a broker so cannot speak to a dealer to the manufacturer as I don't have a relationship with them.

Of course you can speak to the manufacturer. Just ring their UK head office customer service, explain the situation, and ask them why. If they say that there's no delay their end, and 14wk from order should be fine, then you need to start shouting at the broker.

20vt-rs

Thanks guys, I've got the 14 week lead time in the email they sent the paperwork over on (paperwork did not state any lead time). I will call the manufacturer and check if they can explain any delays, but as I don't have an order number I guess they may not be able to help.

AdrianC

I'll bet that lead time is qualified somehow.

But just explain the situation, tell 'em what car it is and they should be able to give you any delays in production. There might have been a production halt because of problems with factory or supply or even to rework an issue with the design.

Bantex_2

Is the car being supplied as standard or are there any extras.

agrinnall

You say you are using a broker, are they sourcing the car in the UK or in Europe?

marlot

Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 may help - if you rely on a claim by a business when placing an order they may be in breach.

(this is what led to dealers having to be up front about cat c/d cars)

20vt-rs

Thanks for the comments, especially marlot re the unfair trading regs. To clarify, the car is coming from a UK dealer and is a factory orderso has some options.

I'm going to look into the unfair trading regs, and perhaps seeing if they can source a car of different spec (slightly) to see if I can get one quicker. If not I'll be cancelling providing I don't carry any penalties / costs.

DUTR

20vt-rs wrote: »

I've ordered a brand new car and at the point of ordering I was quoted a delivery time of 14 weeks. It has been 10 weeks since ordering and I've now been told that it will be closer to 28 weeks now.

I think this is unreasonable, and there is no plausible explanation as to why, just that is what it is from the manufacturer. I'm going through a broker so cannot speak to a dealer to the manufacturer as I don't have a relationship with them.

Is the delay un- reasonable, and do I have grounds to cancel my order? The I paperwork I signed just states that if orders are to cancelled the broker can charge up to 10% of the OTR price (approx £2k). Have only paid a small deposit. Obviously I do not want to pay that, so any advice appreciated.

Thanks.

I have used a broker twice, on both occasions, the broker passed my details onto a dealer, from then onwards I dealt with the dealership until collection. It seems the broker gave you an optimistic lead time and the dealer has offered them a realistic lead time (was the car even ordered to the factory shortly after you placed your order?)
Which broker did you use?