Waiting for a Skoda

Herzlos

henry24 said:

TommyRez243 have you heard anything from skoda.
My partner ordered one in July and was told end of September delivery then November and then beginning of December told the factory had the order so car would be available early January but now she's been told skoda don't do the colour or engine size she's ordered. How can a car that was supposed to have been made 3 weeks ago now not be available ?

The parts situation has resulted in a lot of fairly last minute spec changes. With the engine it could be that some electronic components just aren't available, the paint seems odd though.
Basically, if they don't have everything in place to make that spec, then they can either drop that spec or leaving it waiting indefinitely, but someone should have contacted you to figure it out.

Is the car still actively queued to get built? Have you negotiated a new colour/engine?


These are unprecedented times for manufacturing, so no-one really knows any answers.

ian16527

Friend has been waiting 8 months for a VW. Just arrived. He had the run around for months, but it seems the supply chain problems are meaning a long wait, especially if you want to add on some extras

Freecall

Grumpy_chap said:

I can't see that a dealership has anything to gain by delaying placing an order.  

Actually they can have something to gain.  It is one of the benefits they get from signing agreements with leasing companies.

It is often assumed that car dealer's only interest is to sell as many cars as possible.  Although this is true to a point, timing is everything.  The business model of a modern dealership is an extremely complex one with highly detailed relationships with manufacturers as well as other suppliers.

The timing of orders is crucial to gaining the best margin and achieving targets (monthly, quarterly and annually) and has a big impact.  Orders from companies which are not particularly fussy about delivery dates, including leasing companies have a significant value in helping them to manage their order process and hence their margins.  In return, some of this effectively gets passed back to the companies themselves in the form of lower pricing.

Any corporate sales office within a dealership will actively manage this supply chain ordering in order to maximize the benefit for the dealership.

coffeehound

My parents were very lucky in the spring:  the Skoda dealer had what they wanted in stock so it was bought and delivered within a week

daveyjp

Its many years since I ordered a new Audi, but I was told back then don't chase the dealership for a build date as they won't know until the build week for the vehicle has been allocated.

Once they know that they will be in contact as pick up will be 3-5 days later.

As mentioned above build week allocations are probably delayed due to component delays.  It only needs one switch to be in short supply and it won't get built.

ComicGeek

At the end of October I was given the week number (end of Nov) that production would start on my new car by the Skoda dealership - before that it was just waiting in a queue. 

At the moment it's still on schedule for end of Jan delivery, but I have been told that they're prioritising EVs to get them more marketing visibility on the UK roads. There have also been some minor spec changes due to supply issues, but nothing that really affects me.

Grumpy_chap

daveyjp said:

Its many years since I ordered a new Audi

Are you still waiting?

TommyRez243

Freecall said:

Grumpy_chap said:

I can't see that a dealership has anything to gain by delaying placing an order.  

Actually they can have something to gain.  It is one of the benefits they get from signing agreements with leasing companies.

It is often assumed that car dealer's only interest is to sell as many cars as possible.  Although this is true to a point, timing is everything.  The business model of a modern dealership is an extremely complex one with highly detailed relationships with manufacturers as well as other suppliers.

The timing of orders is crucial to gaining the best margin and achieving targets (monthly, quarterly and annually) and has a big impact.  Orders from companies which are not particularly fussy about delivery dates, including leasing companies have a significant value in helping them to manage their order process and hence their margins.  In return, some of this effectively gets passed back to the companies themselves in the form of lower pricing.

Any corporate sales office within a dealership will actively manage this supply chain ordering in order to maximize the benefit for the dealership.

Very interesting and thanks for the info. I suspected there would be some financial benefit to delaying my order (if true).

Citizens Advice are advising me to go down the small claims court avenue. Being given an estimated delivery date which is earlier than when the order was actually placed is absolutely shocking, and delays now further exacerbated by the ongoing semiconductor shortage. 

Grumpy_chap

TommyRez243 said:

Citizens Advice are advising me to go down the small claims court avenue. Being given an estimated delivery date which is earlier than when the order was actually placed is absolutely shocking, and delays now further exacerbated by the ongoing semiconductor shortage. 

Have I missed something?
Going from "my car is (very) late in delivery" to small claims seems a massive leap.

From what I understand,

• You have ordered a car
• The car delivery has been delayed
• There is no firm date that you have faith in

Have you sought any kind of alternative resolution with the supplying Dealer?  
Have you requested a refund and cancel the order with the supplying Dealer?

In any event, before small claims court, what loss have you suffered that would give rise to a claim?  

TommyRez243

Grumpy_chap said:

TommyRez243 said:

Citizens Advice are advising me to go down the small claims court avenue. Being given an estimated delivery date which is earlier than when the order was actually placed is absolutely shocking, and delays now further exacerbated by the ongoing semiconductor shortage. 

Have I missed something?
Going from "my car is (very) late in delivery" to small claims seems a massive leap.

From what I understand,

• You have ordered a car
• The car delivery has been delayed
• There is no firm date that you have faith in

Have you sought any kind of alternative resolution with the supplying Dealer?  
Have you requested a refund and cancel the order with the supplying Dealer?

In any event, before small claims court, what loss have you suffered that would give rise to a claim?  

The issue is I was given an estimated delivery date of May/ June and I’m told the order wasn’t even placed until June. Now when you factor in the semiconductor shortage, had my order been placed in February (when it was originally supposed to), perhaps I wouldn’t be in a situation where 10 months down the line, I still don’t have a car, nor any indication of when I will have one. 

Yes I have sought a solution from the leasing company and they have not provided me with one. 

For me, it isn’t as simple as cancelling my order and getting a new lease deal - to give you an idea, last time I checked, the same car would be £80 more a month than what I was expecting to pay for the deal that I had originally secured in February- A significant difference. Second hand car prices are also through the roof. So I’m at a huge financial disadvantage cancelling and ordering a new one this late in the day when I secured a good deal back in February. 

It goes without saying, but having no car for months on end is also a massive inconvenience which, financially I may not be able to quantify, but has caused a lot of stress and frustration.