Golf R - The Wait Made Me Cancel My Order

[SmutsGTI]

They had exactly the same issue for the MKV GTI's. I personally think that anything over 3 months is unacceptable. Don't advertise something you don't have in my opinion.

[Ideo]

It doesn't massively bother me. I'm driving the S3 until I sell it and I'm buying a second car with the cash from that (track toy).

Works out better for me if it comes in the new financial year anyway.

[kane]

+ 1
in saying that i am considering the six month wait as motivation mind you i work in a comission based role, so it would be more of a forced 6 month goal....

however if i could fast forward 3-4 months i would much prefer to walk in to a dealrship sit in a car and drive it home the next day!!

[phantomcamel]

Guys (& Girls), the ordering process is not as easy you may think - the day you SIGN the Offer to Purchase is not nessesary the date the car is ordered. The order is placed on the VGA ordering system as a "request" and a build-week is chosen. Every factory has a limited output - regardsless of brand - and every country has different allocations. If the allocation for a country is filled the order gets bumped up to the next build week. This is common practise accross manufracturers. Once the build week is decided the car goes through the building process. It than goes to internal transfer process = put on a train to the next shipping harbour (Golf = Bremerhafen, Germany). IF the weather is bad there may be delays... In than gets loaded on the ship & starts it's journey around the globe. If there are storms in the Northern hemisphare, ship gets delayd, any strikes at any harbour during the journey = ship gets delayd. It finally arrives in OZ - yippey, - butt so are 100s of others. PATRCKS pre-delivers the vehicles and that can take a while.
Consider this: the dealeship AND the sales person are not paid until the car is payd by the valued client - it is in ALL of our interest to get the car out of the door

[Corey_R]

Exactly.

To say anything over 3 months is unacceptible, when my car took 3 months between the car having FINISHED being built and me taking delivery, shows how out of whack some peoples expectations are. I mean, 3 months wait AND THAT WAS NOT AT ALL UP TO VW!

If anything over 3 months is not acceptable, go buy a car which is on the lot - or another brand where you don't have choice in your options and there is only 16 possible combinations (of colour, engine, gearbox, etc) so you don't have to wait for one to be built to your specification and then shipped from the factory etc

[hooba]

Forget the "3 months" wait and for second stop being a fanboi, what is unacceptable is waiting 11 months for a Golf. How many does VW manufacture in a year in Germany? If you ordered a car in September, is it really ok for VW to take until June the following year to find a slot for the manufacture of your car?

I just got a call from the dealer telling me that the delivery is pushed back again!! I ordered in the start of September and now they're telling me that the ETA is going to be August as production will be in June. I'm now deciding whether to cancel the order as additional 6 months on top of the 3 months I've already waited is too much for me to handle waiting for a new car....

[Corey_R]

I was directly replying to a post on that very page. It's got nothing at all to do with being a fanboi, it's about basic fact and some peoples unreasonable expectations. The reply was about 3 months not being acceptable. If I was replying about the 11 months, then obviously I wouldn't have posted what I did.


But since you have rudely asked the question...
What possible reason would VW or VGA have for purposely "delaying" cars for 11 months. If 11 months is the current wait because they've had so many orders, and you find it unacceptable, then you know what you need to do already...

[jackysta]

Forget the "3 months" wait and for second stop being a fanboi, what is unacceptable is waiting 11 months for a Golf. How many does VW manufacture in a year in Germany? If you ordered a car in September, is it really ok for VW to take until June the following year to find a slot for the manufacture of your car?

Yes it is unacceptable for waiting 11months i am very disappointed and find it ridiculous but as others have mentioned VW has their own system which i can do nothing about. Secondly this is the first VW i was going to own so i don't consider myself as a fanboi. Plus any other suggestions would be much appreciated looking for understated and refined ride and doesn't cost an arm and a leg for insurance.

May need to consider demos to shorten the wait.....

[markwid]

Guys (& Girls), the ordering process is not as easy you may think - the day you SIGN the Offer to Purchase is not nessesary the date the car is ordered. The order is placed on the VGA ordering system as a "request" and a build-week is chosen. Every factory has a limited output - regardsless of brand - and every country has different allocations. If the allocation for a country is filled the order gets bumped up to the next build week. This is common practise accross manufracturers. Once the build week is decided the car goes through the building process. It than goes to internal transfer process = put on a train to the next shipping harbour (Golf = Bremerhafen, Germany). IF the weather is bad there may be delays... In than gets loaded on the ship & starts it's journey around the globe. If there are storms in the Northern hemisphare, ship gets delayd, any strikes at any harbour during the journey = ship gets delayd. It finally arrives in OZ - yippey, - butt so are 100s of others. PATRCKS pre-delivers the vehicles and that can take a while.
Consider this: the dealeship AND the sales person are not paid until the car is payd by the valued client - it is in ALL of our interest to get the car out of the door

OK. Understand your point of view.

Now step back and get into a customer's shoes. The above process is entirely outside of customer control. So who owns it? So who needs to do better?

C'mon. 11 months? A bit of fail, isn't it?

[Corey_R]

Yes it is unacceptable for waiting 11months i am very disappointed and find it ridiculous but as others have mentioned VW has their own system which i can do nothing about. Secondly this is the first VW i was going to own so i don't consider myself as a fanboi. Plus any other suggestions would be much appreciated looking for understated and refined ride and doesn't cost an arm and a leg for insurance.

May need to consider demos to shorten the wait.....

Basically the reason you are having to wait 11 months is simply because even Volkswagen didn't realise the MK6 would sell so well. The R has also had many accolades thrown its way. To make things worse, in Australia where we only get limited production slots, the R has been priced so unbelievably well.

The R's most closest competitor is really the Audi S3 - and it's about $15k more.
You could also look at the Lancer Evo or Subaru WRX STI, but they're also considerably more, and whilst more track oriented, lack in other areas.
There is the BMW 135i which is the most expensive of the lot, and also the most limited in many ways.
There is the Reno Megane 250 Cup Trophee for about the same price as the R, and whilst I'm quite impressed with it, it's also more "hot hatch" than all-rounder like the R

So this 11 month wait is not about "VW having their own system", or "VGA being useless at ordering". It's about VW just simply not having enough factory capacity to keep up with the demand of a car which has even outstripped their expectations.

It's why VAG have delayed the MK7 for a year or so. It's why Volkswagen are investing US$71 billion etc.

OK. Understand your point of view.

Now step back and get into a customer's shoes. The above process is entirely outside of customer control. So who owns it? So who needs to do better?

C'mon. 11 months? A bit of fail, isn't it?

See my above words in this post. Yes it's a fail. But it's not the dealers faults, or VGA (Volkswagen Group Australia) fault either.
If anything, the only fault you could really lay with VGA is they've priced the car too cheap in Australia which has created more demand in this country than there were ever going to be production slots to fulfil initial demand.

Have a look in the 6R Polo forum - similar issues are facing the new Polo GTI!

You can discuss this with 100 pages here if you want. It's not going to change anything. The US$71 billion will change things. But it's going to take time.
If the wait is not acceptable, then cancel your order. It'll help everyone else that is willing to wait

[SmutsGTI]

I did lol! Got the lease company to find my spec and ship from another dealership. If it wasn't available I was going to get another colour or play with options. it's personal choice I guess. There are plenty of floor stock orders that happen with differing options so I guess I'm not the only one.

[Corey_R]

Btw guys.

You don't have to wait 11 months at all.
There are 5 Golf R's available for immediate delivery from 1 dealership alone! So if you're not willing to wait for your custom, to order, specifications - then make a compromise and take immediately delivery of one of the many Golf R's already in the country.

[markwid]

It's why VAG have delayed the MK7 for a year or so. It's why Volkswagen are investing US$71 billion etc.

Thanks for the link. Lot's of good things they are doing now to increase production...kudos.

But one line stood out for me -> VW in past years consistently failed to use up its budget for capital expenditure.
Fail... Same as #badoptus in 2008, same as #Vodafail now.

[REXman]

TBH, I did not like (see; Hated) the wait for my car. But looking back, it kinda makes it more special.

You can go into Ford, or Subaru and pick up an STI or Focus this weekend, if you want.

But you can't do that with a Golf R or GTI. There are heaps of other brands out there, offering cars off the lot. If that's your thing, go for it.

And I understand the Golf R is just a this or just a that to some people, but it's a car that's made by a process, and that process adds to the whole experience. For starters, you know your car can't be had by just anyone, and you know there is commitment from the group of owners (not just money!).

I heard the same thing was the case with the GTI MKV and all my mates who were JAP heads raved about them.

[PaulRozza]

Well, I meant to cause a little discussion, but I didn't mean to cause analysis of the root cause of VW's lack of production numbers for this part of the world! I understand everyone's frustration at the time it takes to receive their car after placing the initial order (I am after all, the worlds most impatient car buyer bar none!), but wasn't trying to start another thread about wait times.

The point I was trying to make was this...after actually ordering my Golf R, I suddenly garnered a keen interest in all things V-Dub, and my eyes were open to the many virtues of the other models available, in particular the new Touareg (after buying the wife a Tiggy, the soft-roader has me thinking about big smooth comfortable rides) and the Passat CC (gadgets, gizmos, unique looks and again a very comfortable ride).

I leaped in feet first to order the Golf R (FFS, I own a 310Kw weapon as is, and am not rushing to sell it, and I have a new Tig to drive in the meantime should I sell the weapon) but the wait time has caused me to think, is this the ride for me after all?

I won't be changing my order anytime soon, as I'm sure a lot of you won't be but...has anyone actually cancelled their order for the Golf R and ordered another V-Dub, and if so, what and why?