Polo delivery times - why so long?

[peter_j_g]

My mother is buying a new car, so my parents went to a VW dealer in Sydney, ready to place an order for a Polo if the price was right.

They were told there is going to be a 3 month break in supply, and we already have a waiting list, so you can expect delivery in around 5 months, possibly longer. They are not after a GTi, but an ordinary 5 door, not really fussy about colour, ready to buy now... but sorry no cars!

Although this is going to be a second car (they already have an Audi A4) they can't wait that long - so they will have to buy something else. A Golf is too big so unfortunately it will be non-vw....

[Berulai]

Like your parents i too was faced with such a long wait....apparently the dealer says a large european order was placed leaving australian orders pushed back to buggery....i ordered my Polo TDi in early november 06 and had to cancel the order as in mid jan i was told it hadn't even been constructed and wouldn't be til the beginning of feb meaning i wouldn't get it til late march, early april.
The wait was too long for me and as such i'm picking up my 07 Holden Astra CDTi on Monday after only a 10 day wait.....much more appealing....
i have to say generally dissappointed with VW's waiting periods... mum's 06 Jetta had a 4 month wait on it.... when will they realise how many sales they are losing.....hope ur parents find a good, suitable replacement
Peace outj:

[VWDUDER]

Like your parents i too was faced with such a long wait....apparently the dealer says a large european order was placed leaving australian orders pushed back to buggery....i ordered my Polo TDi in early november 06 and had to cancel the order as in mid jan i was told it hadn't even been constructed and wouldn't be til the beginning of feb meaning i wouldn't get it til late march, early april.
The wait was too long for me and as such i'm picking up my 07 Holden Astra CDTi on Monday after only a 10 day wait.....much more appealing....
i have to say generally dissappointed with VW's waiting periods... mum's 06 Jetta had a 4 month wait on it.... when will they realise how many sales they are losing.....hope ur parents find a good, suitable replacement
Peace outj:

Dunno but it is sad - 8 months to get in a Passat Stationwagen. That's just wrong - a 45K vehicle that is worth 30-35K worth 2nd hand just becuase you had to wait 9 months to get it!!!

[phaeton]

Have you heard about that ship that ran ground off of UK withnin last few days ?

Well the ship had parts for VW South Africa and they've had to scale back production read here http://www.sabcnews.com/south_africa/general/0,2172,142583,00.html

[brackie]

Mate.. You're on the ball with the news!
I guess the grounding of the ship is going to prove to be a major headache for globalised companies like VAG.
Generally, it would seem that geographically spreading out production in this way is a dangerous way to go as an incident like this will not only cost VW in the short term, but more dearly in the long term because of a loss of buyer confidence. Waits of 8 months do nothing for sales except send them down.

[nick1234]

Hello chaps,

I am really sorry to hear that VW has let you guys down and prevented you from getting your dreamcar. This is really not how it should be and I hope they'll sort things out for you asap. In Europe we currently have such a high oversupply of cars and not even enough customers to buy them.

However, if I were you and could wait for some time, I would negotiate a special discount with the dealer or if your car does not arrive on time - the way it works in Europe is the dealer provides an equal company car free of charge until your vehicle gets delivered. All you have to do is arrange for this in your sales contract. My mother for instance got a free brand new Alfa Romeo 147 for a good week until hers got finally delivered.

Mention this when you negotiate with the dealership & good luck !

[Timbo]

I'd suggest calling around. I just drove past the storage area of the local VW dealer and saw at least 4 Polo 5drs ...don't know their status, but it'd be worth trying others

[GoLfMan]

Dad got lucky hen he bought his 5 door TDi Polo. Walked in tested it then bought the demo car with 87km on the clock :D

[VWDUDER]

..... I would negotiate a special discount with the dealer or if your car does not arrive on time - the way it works in Europe is the dealer provides an equal company car free of charge until your vehicle gets delivered. All you have to do is arrange for this in your sales contract. My mother for instance got a free brand new Alfa Romeo 147 for a good week until hers got finally delivered.


hehehe yeah that would be nice if they could have given my brother a loaner for the 8 months he was waiting for his passat station wagon.

Although you can bargain for hours with the dealers over here, and save a lot of money/get free accessories chucked in, there is no way dealers would loan a car this long.

I think because the VW is rated more in the "prestige" market in Oz (and VW are certainly trying for this) than in Europe, and that whoever makes these decisions thinks that people buying a prestige car will be more inclined to wait. Case in point - my brother waited 8 months for an early/mid 2006 model car to be delivered in early.

Have heard similar stories regarding BMWs, Mercs and Audis as well.

I sure as hell wouldn't be waiting that long - they would be kissing my little green moula goodbye!

[mscabrio]

I had to wait 4 months when I got my new beetle cabrio and that was only because I compromised on the color, the inital color combo that I wanted (harvest moon exterior with black leather in a manual) was going to take at least 8 months to arrive !!!!

I ordered my Polo GTI before Christmas and Im still waiting ...... At least now it is at the dealership, just have to wait for it to be made "presentable" .... Hopefully should get it on Wed.

[SidGTi]

Yes obviously it depends on what you order. When I bought my GTI I knew I wanted a black one straight away with no options. If I wanted a red one or one with leather and/or a sunroof I would've had to wait months for it. Waiting was definitely not an option for me. Otherwise I would've taken my money and bought a Renault Clio, Honda Civic (can't believe I considered that one!) Peugeot 206 GTI or Ralliart Colt.

[nick1234]

Yeah,

I reckon that anything European would have great quality and stunning looks. You get sick of watching all these cheaply made Japaneese and Korean plastic cars around here. And in the end they are not even that cheap to buy ! Better purchase something with a higher resale value ...

[Timbo]

If I wanted a red one or one with leather and/or a sunroof I would've had to wait months for it.
Depends when you want to buy, too. Actually, I walked in, and had the choice of red w/leather & sunroof, or blue...or base red. Took the red w/leather ;)

Dealers and car importers typically run back their stock at the end of the year, because buyers want deeper discounts on cars with previous year build/compliance. Sounds like in VW's case, this has been accompanied by supply constraints.

I wonder what the waiting time for a new Eos is :?:

[VWDUDER]

I had to wait 4 months when I got my new beetle cabrio and that was only because I compromised on the color, the inital color combo that I wanted (harvest moon exterior with black leather in a manual) was going to take at least 8 months to arrive !!!!

I ordered my Polo GTI before Christmas and Im still waiting ...... At least now it is at the dealership, just have to wait for it to be made "presentable" .... Hopefully should get it on Wed.

Yep same - and hoping to get mine tomorrow as well.

Waiting a month or two for a good quality car is worth it in my opinion, however, in my and my bro's experience that the dealer(s) tend not to inform you or obfuscate how long it will take to get the car very much galls me.

I mean 8 months to get a 2006 passat station wagon delivered in 2007.....if he were to sell that car immediately he would most probably lose up to $10K on the purchase price. 8 months to lose $10K and not even get to drive the car??

Sure cars are a bit of a money sink, but that kind of sucks.

[DubSteve]

Its very difficult for VAG to deal with a situation like this. But for a company so big you would have though that they would have had an alternate plan, or something else that they could do?

[SidGTi]

Yeah they'd be losing money from alot of potential customers. VW are just shooting themselves in the foot. If I recall there are a few members here on this forum who have been bitterly disappointed. If they cant give them what they want within reasonable time those people are just going to go else where and buy another car which they can get straight away.

[peter_j_g]

Hi all,
Thanks for all the responses! The end of the story is that my mother bought a Honda Jazz. After considering all the options this was the best bet for what will be basically a shopping trolley. The dealership experience was completely different from VW. Drive away was less than RRP, and heaps of extras thrown in (floor mats, parking sensors, 8 year warranty, 3 years free servicing etc etc). What colour would you like? Would delivery next Tuesday suit you?