New car delay question

murphm45

I'm hoping someone with a bit of experience will be able to help me out.

I ordered a new car last May (VW Jetta) and was told by the dealer that'd take about 16 weeks and that they hoped they'd have it by the end of August at the latest. I wasn't thrilled but was happy enough to wait. anyway long story short the car still hasn't arrived and i found put today it'll be the end of this month or October at the earliest by the time i get it.

Now, i'm not thrilled with the prospect of registering a new car in October and if i hadn't already paid a deposit i'd probably tell them to stuff it when the sun doesn't shine. I am wondering though can i ask the garage to hold off on registering it until January therefore giving me a shiny new 2012 reg (and as a bonus lower insurance, this is because i'd have another full years experience)? Has anyone any experience with trying to do something similar that they could advise me on the best tack to take? I can't see them having any problem with it given as far as i can see i'm not messing them around anymore them they have me and i will still buy the car! the only thing that worries me is that they'd sell it to someone else but based on the CSO stats there's bugger all new cars registered in the last quarter of the year and given the car has limited appeal i can't imagine it would be sold but to be honest nothing would surprise me.

alexmcred

There's no harm in asking your Dealer

tobsey

I did this last year. I paid a deposit at the end of April expecting delivery in 10 weeks. This became 12 very quickly and kept extending. I was buying it under the scrappage scheme because the engine blew up in my old car. The delivery extended so far that I now longer qualified for scrappage because the NCT was out too long and I couldn't bring it for a test because it wasn't running. I was fuming and was ready to go elsewhere and buy second hand. The delear took delivery of the car (EDIT: late October) and left it in the showroom until I picked it up when the dealer reopened in January. It had lost it's new car smell but had never been driven. She's in for her first service at the moment and I'm very glad it isn't a year old already.

lau1247

murphm45 wrote: »

I'm hoping someone with a bit of experience will be able to help me out.

I ordered a new car last May (VW Jetta) and was told by the dealer that'd take about 16 weeks and that they hoped they'd have it by the end of August at the latest. I wasn't thrilled but was happy enough to wait. anyway long story short the car still hasn't arrived and i found put today it'll be the end of this month or October at the earliest by the time i get it.

Now, i'm not thrilled with the prospect of registering a new car in October and if i hadn't already paid a deposit i'd probably tell them to stuff it when the sun doesn't shine. I am wondering though can i ask the garage to hold off on registering it until January therefore giving me a shiny new 2012 reg (and as a bonus lower insurance, this is because i'd have another full years experience)? Has anyone any experience with trying to do something similar that they could advise me on the best tack to take? I can't see them having any problem with it given as far as i can see i'm not messing them around anymore them they have me and i will still buy the car! the only thing that worries me is that they'd sell it to someone else but based on the CSO stats there's bugger all new cars registered in the last quarter of the year and given the car has limited appeal i can't imagine it would be sold but to be honest nothing would surprise me.

If this is the case surely the dealer is breaking their end of the deal (Beyond reasonable lead time agreed) which should allow you to get the deposit back and cancel the whole thing.

That would be common sense to me but then again I haven't bought car from new so I don't really know the procedure.

Stevie Dakota

Can't imagine they would be delighted to have a car sitting around for months but it is the least they could do. If you do leave it with them you risk it being used for test drives and moved short distances if it is in the way of other cars, both less than satisfactory.

Berty

Well they won't want the car on their books because you haven't paid for it and THEY have so they will likely tell you that you CAN pay for it in full and leave in on their forecourt until January and go down and kiss it and hug it on Sundays but other than that don't expect to be able to hang on to your cash until January.

R.O.R

The dealer will probably hold it for Jan for you. Can't imagine they are that desperate for numbers this late in the year, so it's probably not an issue for them.

BUT

There are issues with the car being left until Jan. As pointed out above, if it's left in the dealership then it could be used for short test drives, or parked in the showroom with grubby hands all over it. I think the VW dealers have an option of leaving the vehicles in a holding compound until they call them down which sounds better, but a car sitting around for a few months, outside, can have issues with paintwork (depending on where it's parked) or mechanical issues. We had a Passat in 2009 that has been in and out of dealerships fairly frequently for a variety of electrical issues - we reckon that was caused by it sitting up for about 6 months before it came through to us.

-Chris-

R.O.R wrote: »

There are issues with the car being left until Jan. As pointed out above, if it's left in the dealership then it could be used for short test drives, or parked in the showroom with grubby hands all over it.

I'd sincerely hope that no dealer would be unprofessional/stupid enough to use a cusomer's car for test-drives. It's just not on.
As for being parked in the showroom, yes it's an exposure, but whenever we had a customer's car in the showroom I'd say something along the lines of "this car is sold, so I can't let you sit in it. We can't risk damaging someone's new car". I never had an objection.
(That being said, some of my customers were allowed sit in sold cars, but only if I had the distinct impression that there was absolutely no risk to the car from the customer).

Berty

What Chris? You wouldn't let a family with sticky fingered children sit in a New Audi A5 sold to your best customer?

I was given the keys to a guys brand new Insignia Elite one day and told "give her a lash" and took off up the road at high speed. To be fair he was coming in the next day and not, like the OP, in a few months time. Car was only delivered that morning and hadn't even been PDI'd. I know I know.

murphm45

Thanks for the replies folks. At least it confirms that my request for this "delay" isn't completely ridiculous!

Just a couple of things though that someone might be able to clarify. Mention of test drives has me worried (and to be honest i thought of this myself) but i would have thought that given the car isn't registered they can't drive it?

Also, i understand they might ask for a bit more money (i would have though another grand or two) but they can hardly ask for the total price agreed for the car can they? Particularly since (at least) one third of what i pay is tax (VAT & VRT) which won't become payable until the car is actually registered & therefore sold.

Finally, (this is where the rant starts sorry) i honestly don't know how VW can possibly expect to become the world number one car mark if this is the ludicrous set up they have for delivering new cars. i appreciate in the grand scheme of things Ireland is a small market but i find it hard to believe its that isolated (sorry rant over!!)

murphm45

lau1247 wrote: »

If this is the case surely the dealer is breaking their end of the deal (Beyond reasonable lead time agreed) which should allow you to get the deposit back and cancel the whole thing.

That would be common sense to me but then again I haven't bought car from new so I don't really know the procedure.

Thanks for this lau, i was thinking of this myself but found out that unless you specify a delivery time or make it time dependent you're not allowed do this (and become liable for an difference in what they get versus what you agreed to pay).

Sorry i don't mean to single your replay out in a bad way or anything but i did want to replay so that if anyone stumbles across this in the future they have some idea of what the score is in this regard.

Thanks again.

-Chris-

murphm45 wrote: »

Thanks for the replies folks. At least it confirms that my request for this "delay" isn't completely ridiculous!

Just a couple of things though that someone might be able to clarify. Mention of test drives has me worried (and to be honest i thought of this myself) but i would have thought that given the car isn't registered they can't drive it?

Also, i understand they might ask for a bit more money (i would have though another grand or two) but they can hardly ask for the total price agreed for the car can they? Particularly since (at least) one third of what i pay is tax (VAT & VRT) which won't become payable until the car is actually registered & therefore sold.

Finally, (this is where the rant starts sorry) i honestly don't know how VW can possibly expect to become the world number one car mark if this is the ludicrous set up they have for delivering new cars. i appreciate in the grand scheme of things Ireland is a small market but i find it hard to believe its that isolated (sorry rant over!!)

They can take unregistered cars for test-drives or any other drive required for business as long as they have trade plates displayed.

They may ask for more money, but you should be very slow in giving them anything extra, especially in the current economic climate.

vectra

I Ordered my new Car May 5 2010
Took delivery of it 5th October 2010
Registered it on the day and to be honest I don't see the point in waiting 3 more months to get my hands on it.