BBC Watchdog - Delivery Issues

[Gronk]

Like a lot of contributors to the site I'm in the queue for a Scirocco and meeting with complete indifference (almost bordering on rudeness) by lease company, dealer & VW.

Mine isn't a particularly bad case, I only placed my order in mid/late September and I know there are worse examples out there. However my current lease car is returned in February and signs aren't looking good for a replacement sitting on the drive as the old one leaves as I don't yet even have a build date.

I cant get a straight answer as to where the problem lies as there are conflicting stories about engine changes, factory shutdows, fires and dealer over allocation...my frustration is I can't get a straight answer, nor anyone to take responsibility to sort it out...what's really wound me up is that I keep getting emails promoting the same deal even though I'm told they can't honour the current orders, never mind reports of dealer stock cars. What is also frustrating is the wildly varying responses from all parties concerning a situation regards hire cars if customers are left without a vehicle. My dealer and lease company laughed when I mentioned this, they haven't provided me with a order reference yet so I can have a similar conversation with VW.

Was thinking looking at the TV last night if those on the forum who like me are affected by this sorry state of affairs feel about collectively raising the profile of the problem with the BBC Watchdog office? They always like to pick up on problems and beat up on motor manufacturers and there is always the chance if it does get picked up that the threat of some bad publicity may mean some action is taken to remedy the situation. I mean, slipping orders by a single day would probably clear the UK backlog (yep I know the logisitics are probably more complicated than that but you get the idea).

Anyone else starting to feel as strongly as me about this sorry situation?

[Gronk]

Sorry, double post....can one of the mods delete the duplicate topic please?

[trix]

removed already

[robrain]

Whatever sub-problems exist (strikes, fires, etc. etc.), the basic problem seems to be that there is only one factory producing Sciroccos. A shortfall in supply is meeting excessive demand and queues are the end result. Looking at German forums suggests that 'we' in the UK are not alone, so there's no merit in getting all Daily Mail and blaming Europe for it. Short of letting off steam, maybe helping potential buyers avoid the whole situation, I don't see how Botox-mask-of-death, sorry, Ann Robinson, can help us here. VW UK could be better at giving us information about why there are delays, but there will still be delays unless a new production line comes on stream (which would take months) or demand takes a nose-dive.

[Scooby-Doo]

I appreciate that this is a problem for many on the forum,I've got a CC on order since early July and not likely to see it until early January.The supply issue means different things to different people.Company car drivers get their car for no initial outlay and will pay tax on it every month irrespective of what its residual value is and don't care what its going to worth after the lease.They're used to having their cars on demand and waiting is something they're not used to.
Private buyers on the other hand pay up front and residual values are very important.They can choose where to spend their money and have to rely on their own negotiating skills to get the best deal.
Most car manufacturers have cut back on production after the financial crisis and I don't think it's in their interest to increase production at such an early stage in the recovery considering that car sales in the UK were down 22% last month over the previous year.Short supply means better residuals and whilst many private buyers might not be happy to wait,it's not such a bad thing long term.
I can't,however,condone VW's marketing strategy of advertising low lease deals and then being unable to fulfill them although I don't see this as being an issue that might interest a programme loke "Watchdog".Try buying a Mclaren,"they" decide if they want to sell a car to you.

Stand back now and wait for the flak.

[Gronk]

Thanks for the responses so far guys, all valid points. The whole idea of the post was to 'stir the pot' so to speak.

What's p*ssing me off is the complete lack of customer support, no one seems to have a clue what's going on. Some members seem to be getting build dates almost instantly, others report dealers with pre registered stock on the forecourt, yet what seems like a good proportion of customers simply have no idea whats going on or are relying on dubious info thats being passed out by lease companies, dealerscetc trying to distance themselves from any blame. Some honesty and communication, even the courtesy of a call back from any of the parties involved in response to calls & mails would go a good way to resolving the concerns many of us have.

BTW I lease my cars, but they are personal leases (found them the most effective way to keep a new car on the drive every few years) so when my current car goes back, I am carless! No company to pay for any hire cars, no trade in to keep me going...whilst I'll save few quid with the delay, it'll soon be eaten up with any hire car/taxi charges when ever I need use of a car!

[Gronk]

Have to laugh looking at the bottom of the webpage here and there are 2x ads '...save £3250 on new Sciroccos...' & '...save on VW Scirocco whilst stocks last, be quick!'

Are there supply problems or not!

[ryou]

just to share the malaysian experience...I ordered my black 1.4 TSI on oct 21, drove out of the dealership on Nov 1, am very happy with my Roc

Another fren ordered a 2.0 in candy white last week, should be getting his on Nov 18th. So maybe its just the UK? we have ship loads of Rocs arriving every 2-3 months. But our VW dealers do not allow customization, theres only 2 specs, 1.4 or 2.0 thats it...the only thing u get to choose is colour

[Scooby-Doo]

BTW I lease my cars, but they are personal leases

Understand your frustration.

[b0rk]

Like a lot of contributors to the site I'm in the queue for a Scirocco and meeting with complete indifference (almost bordering on rudeness) by lease company.

What is also frustrating is the wildly varying responses from all parties concerning a situation regards hire cars if customers are left without a vehicle. My dealer and lease company laughed when I mentioned this, they haven't provided me with a order reference yet so I can have a similar conversation with

Anyone else starting to feel as strongly as me about this sorry situation?

Give your dealer or lease company a call and tell that you'll consider them to be in breach of contact unless they can produce a copy of the original order placed with vw, within the next 2 working days . I suspect from the sound of your supplier the order has not actually been placed yet.

[Grampa]

Whatever sub-problems exist (strikes, fires, etc. etc.), the basic problem seems to be that there is only one factory producing Sciroccos. A shortfall in supply is meeting excessive demand and queues are the end result. Looking at German forums suggests that 'we' in the UK are not alone, so there's no merit in getting all Daily Mail and blaming Europe for it. Short of letting off steam, maybe helping potential buyers avoid the whole situation, I don't see how Botox-mask-of-death, sorry, Ann Robinson, can help us here. VW UK could be better at giving us information about why there are delays, but there will still be delays unless a new production line comes on stream (which would take months) or demand takes a nose-dive.

I'm lucky as I'm not waiting (although I had problems myself but that was down to 3 crap dealers before I found a decent one), mine was 2 months late and the contract hire company simply left my old car with me until the new one was ready, but from what I can see the frustration is down to a lack of honesty from VW and their dealers, not the actual delays. It's hardly rocket science to work out we've got orders for X cars, we can build X per day, so it will take X months, X days and X hours to deliver that car - even if it's later than you want, at least giving you an accurate date before you place an order would end a lot of the frustration and allow you to make an informed choice as to whether to buy or not.

My previous car was an Astra - when I enquired about it, the dealer told me there was a 5 month wait, which almost suited OK - it left me with a fortnight after the previous car was sold - I placed the order, I was told within a week what day I could have the car and was e-mailed the day it left Antwerp just to confirm it would be ready on the day promised, but noting I was without a car, a free courtesy car was dropped off at my house to fill the fortnight's gap, even though the fact I was without a car was a decision I had made and not through any fault of their own.

VW should go to Vauxhall's school of customer service - seems like there's a lot they could learn.

[maisbitt]

VW could also learn a thing or 2 from Vauxhall's guarantee. 3 year warranty on a car isn't great (turbos seem to be the achilles heel of modern car long term reliability), more and more manufacturers are offering 5 years plus, and the yanks have had 10 year power train warrantys on VWs and pretty much every other make for many years.

Back to supply, is it just the exotic option laden orders that take the time, with plenty of standard spec cars available quite quickly, or is the VAG group short of key components? Skoda Yeti has huge backlog, my cousin just tried to order one.

[b0rk]

VW could also learn a thing or 2 from Vauxhall's guarantee. 3 year warranty on a car isn't great (turbos seem to be the achilles heel of modern car long term reliability), more and more manufacturers are offering 5 years plus, and the yanks have had 10 year power train warrantys on VWs and pretty much every other make for many years.

What is really needed is longer unconditional warranties, a long conditional warranty isn't IMHO worth much if example a turbo fails, takes out the exhaust system but then only covers the turbo and not any related or consequential damage. Toyota have the right approach with a 5yr / 100,000 mile no limitation warranty.

I think it is a simple case of sales for most VAG products exceeding forcasts and VAG not being willing to increase production to match demand, I can remeber having to wait 16 weeks for my GTI back in 08...

[Chungster]

Toyota only doing it cos of reputational damage.

Vauxhall doing it to try and increase sales.

VW have no probs with either so no need to change what they're doing in the main!

If it ain't broke don't fix it as they say.

[maisbitt]

If VWs were as reliable as they used to be, a greater warranty wouldn't cost them a lot. Sometimes I think fear of the warranty running out is one of the bigest motivators to changing a car.

The yanks have great consumer protection laws, it's a pity that in Europe we just put up with poorer warranties as well as paying more than the yanks for the same car, this is probably why we have such poor residuals in the UK and Europe for all cars - as soon as that 3 year warranty is up, the used values take an even bigger hit. Leasing a car in America is cheap because the residuals are high as they have the confidence in an older car with better warranties.

I've always found Vauxhalls to have excellent reliability, but it's a pity they don't make cars you really want like the old Calibra. I don't think their 10 year warranty is going to cost them much to maintain for those that buy privately and keep for a long time, most of their clients are fleet, so the 10 year warranty won't apply to those cars once they're sold on.

[skippy]

It does seem to be a massive problem with VW supply, and this is in the worldwide 'recession', so one wonders what the situation would be like if we were all in good economic times!

We have been in to the VW dealership recently enquiring about a Polo GTI (wifes car), and although the staff are friendly enough, what is frustrating is the lack of enthusiasm really when you are there willing to buy a £20K car. It somewhat spoils the purchasing experience of something only second to your house in terms of financial commitment. For that reason I am holding onto my money for the time being, it seems all a bit of an effort

What one of the VW guys did say to me though is that they are aware that customers are more than likely switching to other manufacturers given that they can supply vehicles must faster than themselves!

Maybe I will pop down to the local Bugatti dealer and pose as a prospective Veyron customer see if anyone looks up!