That's not what I ordered!!!

[GTI6]

Hi guys/girls

hypothetical question here and hopefully doesn't happen to anyone but...

What happens if u ordered a car exactly the way u want, had to wait 4,5 or 6 months. The dealer has said to u that the car is there but without some options u chose and u were adamant that's not what u want. U prefer to wait that long instead for what u want exactly.

Now 5 months down the track the car arrives. And to ur disappointment it doesn't have the options u picked. What can u do? Or is there a way of preventng this problem?

Maybe I'm paranoid but if it does happen, i imagine I would be a little pissed...

[skeep]

When you sign the contract, it states what the vehicle has including its options. If you get delivered something different, I would not accept it. You can either re-negotiate the terms, or you can walk away.

[gareth_oau]

walking away is an option, but of course you've already waited a few months, and walking away means you might have to wait another few months wherever you order the next one.

I'd go to the showroom on a very busy saturday morning and in front of all those propsective customers would be asking what are they going to do about it, and my questions would be getting louder and louder as unacceptable answers came back

[hcvo1]

What I would do is to double check your contract and make sure that everything that was stated on the contract was delivered. If not then calmly ask to see the dealer principal and have a chat. Try and negotiate a deal with them to where you would benefit from it i.e. a loan car for the time it takes them to get a replacement.

Loosing it will not make much of a difference, what's done is done and consider it bad luck.

[Corey_R]

Hi guys/girls

hypothetical question here and hopefully doesn't happen to anyone but...

What happens if u ordered a car exactly the way u want, had to wait 4,5 or 6 months. The dealer has said to u that the car is there but without some options u chose and u were adamant that's not what u want. U prefer to wait that long instead for what u want exactly.

Now 5 months down the track the car arrives. And to ur disappointment it doesn't have the options u picked. What can u do? Or is there a way of preventng this problem?

Maybe I'm paranoid but if it does happen, i imagine I would be a little pissed...

This has happened several times, including to a family member. She ordered a Tiguan 103TDI when they first came out, wanted the aqua blue colour (can't remember the VW name), beige leather, fog lights, the offroad pack and manual, etc. Ended up getting a silver leaf metallic, black leather, no fog lights, no offroad pack, and auto.

After already waiting for 5 months and already having just returned their previous car (as the lease expired), they really had no other choice but to take the car and then complain to the dealer principle and come to some financial and accessories compensation.

Suffice to say, that she will never purchase another car from that dealer.

[JohnA]

As others have said you have a few options

1: The options not on the car, can they be dealer fitted? if not then

2: walk away if indeed it is all on the cotract and they have not delivered

3: work out a deal on the car delivered in your favour.

personally i won't wait 6 months for a car, so never too fussed about too many options. If they have the config i want in stock, all goo, if not, i look elsewhere or other cars.

[Nick401]

Walk away.

If you want to prevent it, go to a reputable dealer, or buy 2nd hand.

[hooba]

A simple way to avoid this is to get the dealer to send you the screen shots of order when they put it into the system, and then to send you the order details screen shots out of "NADCON" confirming the VIN, build date, ship date, specifications, etc.

My dealer has done both with me asking.

[GTI6]

This has happened several times, including to a family member. She ordered a Tiguan 103TDI when they first came out, wanted the aqua blue colour (can't remember the VW name), beige leather, fog lights, the offroad pack and manual, etc. Ended up getting a silver leaf metallic, black leather, no fog lights, no offroad pack, and auto.

After already waiting for 5 months and already having just returned their previous car (as the lease expired), they really had no other choice but to take the car and then complain to the dealer principle and come to some financial and accessories compensation.

Suffice to say, that she will never purchase another car from that dealer.

Wow, its like she got the opposite to what she ordered.

Which dealer was that from?

[Super]

I'm 2 months into a 5 month wait for my GTI and I actually thought about what i would do if it arrived with different options on it.

It is a contract, so presumably if VW doesnt deliver on it, you're not bound to buy the thing. I dont think I would accept a car with different specs/colour - you'd always think that the car you should've ended up driving was different to the one you had. You'd have to work out some arrangement (borrow a GTI for 5-6 months) or a huge drop in price as compensation for the inconvenience.

[Corey_R]

Whatever the compensation is, it's not worth it in my view. You've had to wait 6 months for something that isn't what you wanted. You could've had that SIX MONTHS AGO!!!!
Then if you have to wait another six months, what would you do? They're not going to lend you a car for 6 months, that's overly positive thinking, you're basically stuffed

Best thing to do, is ask for a screenshot of the order as hooba has pointed out.

[gareth_oau]

walking away from is deal is not really punishment for the dealer. if lead time is 5 months, then theres a good chance the dealer will just sell it to another customer tomorrow.

i believe you should get consumers affairs involved to help leverage some good compensation from the dealer for not delivering on the contract (assuming your contract is water-tight)

[Super]

If it happened I would take it up with VW Australia (rather than the dealer), but either of them cant magically get a car with your exact specs flown over from Germany overnight now can they..

You've got to trust that the dealer can order a car properly and that the process at the factory ensures cars go out with the options that were specified.

[redhawk]

Hi All,

my first post on these forums so go easy on me.

I ordered my MK6 Golf TDI last week. I had a call from the dealer this week saying they accepted my color change (changed from silver to grey) but they have rejected my Fog Lights upgrade option as I'm getting an MY11 (July build) and they are no longer offering that as an option. Apparently the only option I have is to go for the sports pack as that is now the only way of getting the fog light option. I am very disappointed. Has anyone else been told the same?

RedHawk

[AdamD]

What happens if u ordered a car exactly the way u want, had to wait 4,5 or 6 months... Now 5 months down the track the car arrives. And to ur disappointment it doesn't have the options u picked. What can u do?

Well, there is something you can do in addition to requesting a copy of the order from your dealer. This may help.

A friend of mine has recently provided me with a copy of ETKA, VW's 'ElekTronik KAtalog' of parts for many VAG cars including all the latest VWs. It has a handy feature whereby you enter your VIN, and it downloads the full car data report from VW in Germany. This means you get useful info like the build day, but more importantly, all the colour codes, body codes, trim codes, country-specific codes (eg warm country spec, right-hand-drive, km/h speedo, etc), and option/accessory codes and descriptions too. I was able to use ETKA to verify my car has all the options I've ordered.

You may note I added a "this may help" above. The reason for my hesitance is that some of the information in ETKA is a little difficult to decipher, and I've found what appears to be a single discrepancy between what I've ordered and what ETKA is showing. I've contacted my dealer about the difference and his ordering system indicates my car is exactly as ordered, so either I've misread ETKA (entirely possible), or ETKA is wrong, or I'm getting an additional option I didn't order. Until I receive my car I won't know for sure. So I guess the point I'm making is, if you do use ETKA, caveat emptor.

I've read a post on vww that suggested your friendly VW dealer will give you a copy of ETKA on a DVD if you ask nicely (it's a Windows app, roughly 2.75 GB in size), and you may be able to find it on torrents or usenet too. I'm not aware of any copyright issues associated with using it.

Assuming it's not violating anyone's privacy (mods feel free to interject), if you're particularly concerned about your order, feel free to PM me your VIN and I'll see what ETKA says.