Delivery blow out

[jamesatfish]

I could go on and on but I already have mine...to put it in perspective though I am pretty sure I could order a Ferrari or something and get it sooner.

Sadly it's just a case of supply-and-demand - whilst it's disappointing to see such huge lead times on the Polo GTI, all it does affirm is how good a car it actually is.

In my experience though custom ordering any new european car is always likely to take 6-12 months from order to delivery, and often even more. My C63 (ordered in November) has been pushed back to a late April delivery, I've been quoted March 2012 for a new Cayenne Turbo built to spec, the Ferrari 458 is approximately 18 months for delivery (even though there's still good stock sitting in the dealers) and most pre-orders for the new Lambo Aventador (deposits taken in late 2010, 5 months prior to the car's actual official launch date) aren't likely to be delivered until 2012.

Even my Caddy van took nearly 6 months from order to delivery, and in that case we'd even picked a car that was already in the build process rather than a complete new order.

Whilst I haven't driven either the new GTI or the A1, my advice would be that unless you NEED a new car RIGHT NOW and there's an A1 that matches your requirements in stock at the dealer, stick with the GTI order. You already know it'll be a good car having made the decision to place your order, you know resale values will be strong at least in the short-medlum term given their short supply, and if you order a new A1 there's just a good chance you'll be waiting for that as long as you would have been waiting for the GTI in the first place.

[Serge]

True, but I was refering more to the production allocations that we are given vs the UK.

Serge, I was told at your dealership that if I wanted a white polo gti (I didn't care about options) that I would have been waiting until end September-October at the very earliest.

Not having a go or anything because I was already commited to the car I'm already getting (lies about an April delivery etc), but why is there the change when 4 months ago, these cars would have already been in the system and yet I was told in no uncertain terms "no cars available".

Couple of people cancelled their orders, hence we have those cars now. But it seems like your car is about to be build sometime now anyway, which is a good thing

[gavs]

Ok, cool. Figured that might be the case

Doesn't matter anyway for me, the only option I REALLY wanted was the Bi-Xenons, neither of those have them, mine will be here soonish anyway

[Ralfi]

Called up Essendon VW on Sat I think it was & was told the wait is a year still....They didn't even have a demo car in that day - said it won't be back for another 2 weeks..

[GTI JOE]

Called up Essendon VW on Sat I think it was & was told the wait is a year still....They didn't even have a demo car in that day - said it won't be back for another 2 weeks..

Ok, did you check out the back of the dealership? Where they service cars behind white steel gates? Man have they been caught out. I was there Saturday to check out their Polo GTI which I test drove in January. It was there, a two door candy white, not sure which options it had but definintly not Xenons So, have they sold it or has someone runaway with it?

[Stoney!]

Maybe VW should prioritise on orders at the moment to get people their cars quickley and not pump out so many stock cars to sit around dealers. Orders are a guaranteed sale and generally the people who order are more likely to get unhappy over the lack of stock/delayed orders than walk ins would be. If they prioritised on orders they might be able to get people their cars in 2 - 3 months, whether they are walk ins or not... I got my 118tsi in 3 months from order 18 months ago!

Stoney!

[Serge]

Maybe VW should prioritise on orders at the moment to get people their cars quickley

Actually, thats exactly what they are doing.

[Stoney!]

Well clearly it sounds like they need to expand their manufacturing facilities (not to mention pick up quality and reliability) before they lose a lot of customers....

Stoney!

[gavs]

Stoney, just as a heads up, VGA have invested something to the tune of 50 BILLION Euro into building new factories because all of their existing ones are already at maximum capacity. The other issue they are facing is that the stock to actually build cars is running dry, there were some rumours recently that they had actually run out of 1.4TSI engines for cars going down the line so they had to hault production.

The issues you are speaking of were the ones I was trying to find answers to some months back regarding contacting head office in WOlfsburg. Now, I had quite a bit of negative people getting involved, not that I care because they can all wait for the next year, no skin of my nose. What I did find out is that VGA is basically an importer and reseller. Cars don't get delivered until they can fill an order, but these orders are based on the projections submitted by VGA in sydney, which once again, they screwed up. If you want something done, don't even bother with VW locally because they have absolutely no idea what the hell is going on. Your dealer knows more than they do! Contact VAG directly in Wolfsburg, they know of the problem already.

[GTI JOE]

based on the projections submitted by VGA

Those projections, as has been mentioned time and time again, were made by trained monkeys in space suits...real brainiacs

Apologies to all our simeon brothers

[pologti18t]

The issues you are speaking of were the ones I was trying to find answers to some months back regarding contacting head office in WOlfsburg. Now, I had quite a bit of negative people getting involved, not that I care because they can all wait for the next year, no skin of my nose. What I did find out is that VGA is basically an importer and reseller. Cars don't get delivered until they can fill an order, but these orders are based on the projections submitted by VGA in sydney, which once again, they screwed up. If you want something done, don't even bother with VW locally because they have absolutely no idea what the hell is going on. Your dealer knows more than they do! Contact VAG directly in Wolfsburg, they know of the problem already.

How is this much different to any other car importer?
As said before VGA is to blame for this mess by offering far too many options/combinations for any particular model for a market that is tiny. This makes it risky/impossible to make forwards estimates on what stock is needed.

VW America provides far fewer options for the imported Golf models and most are bundled in the Autobahn pack.

Guess what, that's what the japanese do here. Even Merc and BMW provide most of the desireable options in a pack (eg Executive pack on BMWs). It makes ordering floor stock far easier.

[Corey_R]

And yet if I wanted my 135i as I wanted it... I had a, holy crap... 6 month wait!
You're right.... it's no different to any other company who gives you the option to order what you want

[themmc]

Guess what, that's what the japanese do here. Even Merc and BMW provide most of the desireable options in a pack (eg Executive pack on BMWs). It makes ordering floor stock far easier.

I agree with you.

And Peugeot - both Peugeots I have the only Peugeot option ordered was the colour. Otherwise it was just tinting by the dealer. Whereas with VW they nickle-and-dime you through the options selection. The matrix of options and models is just huge and it means it's less likely for customers to be happy with the option-less floor stock.

[pologti18t]

Whereas with VW they nickle-and-dime you through the options selection. The matrix of options and models is just huge and it means it's less likely for customers to be happy with the option-less floor stock.

And yet the stupid situation is that buyers have to order and wait for a base spec Polo GTI!!!

Maybe VW should only bring in base spec vehicles unless specifically ordered by someone

[GTI JOE]

There is still a major problem with all this speculation.....ALLOCATIONS! Australia gets bugger-all