New Car Lead Times

[dci]

Evening all,

I enquired about a new car on Saturday, a new Fiesta ST if anyone's interested.

Anyway, when I enquired about the lead time from placing an order to delivery and was told 3 weeks worst case and 5 days best case.

Having never purchased a new car before I wouldn't know but is this normal? Surely they can't build and deliver a car in 5 days and this would be chosen from a prebuilt lot sitting next to a port somewhere?

Appreciate the replies in advanced.

[Glasgowrob]

Had a minds ordered and delivered 4 weeks later as a factory order


I'd imagine there's stock sitting somewhere or build slots already ordered with modifications still open to the order


Speak to your dealer and find out.

[300bhp/ton]

Depends entirely on the car in question. However most mass market vehicles are produced in numbers, rather than built to order. Or at the very least batches it dealership orders. These are then stock items. So supply can usually be fulfilled quickly. For oddball trim and colour configs, then it might be a factory order. Which could take weeks to months depending on the make, model, place of assembly and other factors.

[GTIAlex]

Ordered my ST-3 Black with orange seats in March and still waiting.
Getting an email tomorrow morning for an update.

3 days/three weeks for you would have been stock cars not built from your order.

[Dyl]

For reference I ordered a Polo GTI back at the beginning on March and am hoping to take delivery in the next fortnight.

I was offered a stock car within the week - they had some at the port in common colour/spec configurations - but I stuck out for the spec i wanted.

So I would presume that the 5 days cars are those already built but unregistered. Where the cars are built also has an effect on delivery times, mine was built in Spain so it is a week just for the shipping time to Newcastle, never mind lead time, build time, etc.

[Jack.]

Picked up my Fiesta ST last weekend. Roughly 6 weeks from placing the order to picking up the car - it was a factory order too and was built and released from the factory on the 7th April. I would say anything less then this is likely to be sourced from another dealer or compound somewhere.

[Buster73]

My son ordered a Golf R in 2009 , just off details he'd read on the Internet , it was delivered in March 2010 just as the road tests were published.

Over 6 months wait , I've got a feeling Golf Gti's are similar now.

[oldnbold]

I enquired about a Golf GTD today and was told 12 to 16 weeks for delivery.

[GroundEffect]

The Fiesta ST is made in Cologne vehicle plant. Literally one train and boat to UK shores. Depending on the backlog doesn't sound too unreasonable. They are only built to order.

[X5TUU]

Q5 for the Mrs ... 13 weeks and counting

[dci]

Thank you all.

How can I ensure that I get a factory built car and not a pre registered in stock car?

If I'm going to buy a new car I want a brand new car, not a car that's been sat in a port collecting seagull turds and sea salt for the last three months..

Sure I can ask but that doesn't stop the dealer giving me a stock car but delaying the delivery to make it look like it's factory fresh.

[dci]

Jack. said:

Picked up my Fiesta ST last weekend. Roughly 6 weeks from placing the order to picking up the car - it was a factory order too and was built and released from the factory on the 7th April. I would say anything less then this is likely to be sourced from another dealer or compound somewhere.

Was there any sort of progress checking facility for your order?

Kind of like the Dominoes app but for cars?

[MrBarry123]

Buster73 said:

My son ordered a Golf R in 2009 , just off details he'd read on the Internet , it was delivered in March 2010 just as the road tests were published.

Over 6 months wait , I've got a feeling Golf Gti's are similar now.

I thought you were about to say that your son hadn't received it yet?!

[Markbarry1977]

I enquired about the new focus rs at Lincoln ford. I was told 18 months.

No wonder there already being flipped on autotrader. New from ford full spec is about £33k. I saw one on autotrader last week for nearly £40k due to the waiting list.

In fact here we go another one

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...

Delivery milage only. Nice way of making £6k. Not even any warranty worries as it will be covered by ford.

Edited by Markbarry1977 on Tuesday 3rd May 23:44

[PositronicRay]

Just shipping a car can take weeks.

Factory>train>European compound @ port>Wait for boat (maybe 1 or 2 sailings per week)>UK port>UK compound>dealer compound/pdi>dealer.

Each stage can take a while, the logistics companies often don't take cars in order of priority, usually in order of convenience. Just because a car's @ port doesn't mean its going on the next car transporter or ship.

I've known cars to take from 1 to 4 weeks from factory compound to dealer, luck has as much to with it as anything else.

It's not a case of a train rocking up to Emden (or wherever) cars going straight onto a ship, ship sailing straight to the UK and cars unloaded onto waiting transporters.

I'm not quite sure how the Ford system works, but ask dealer for the commission number and production week.

[aeropilot]

Markbarry1977 said:

I enquired about the new focus rs at Lincoln ford. I was told 18 months.

No wonder there already being flipped on autotrader. New from ford full spec is about £33k. I saw one on autotrader last week for nearly £40k due to the waiting list.

Rumour is the new Porsche Macan GTS has already reached 24 months with some dealers now refusing to even take an order for one.....

[Tuvra]

Markbarry1977 said:

I enquired about the new focus rs at Lincoln ford. I was told 18 months.

No wonder there already being flipped on autotrader. New from ford full spec is about £33k. I saw one on autotrader last week for nearly £40k due to the waiting list.

In fact here we go another one

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...

Delivery milage only. Nice way of making £6k. Not even any warranty worries as it will be covered by ford.

Edited by Markbarry1977 on Tuesday 3rd May 23:44

I placed an order a few weeks back for March delivery. I was also promised a BMW M2 for March delivery but pulled the order after seeing one.

FRS is supposed to be 12 months, Ford Mustang V8 is 10.

That white car advertised isn't even fully loaded, the blue paint, door protectors, painted callipers and sunroof would add another £1,100 or so. I have noticed that the price has increased by over £1k since I ordered so I essentially had the shell seats for free

[300bhp/ton]

dci said:

Thank you all.

How can I ensure that I get a factory built car and not a pre registered in stock car?

I think you are confusing yourself. They are ALL factory built cars. And usually not pre-registered.

Pre-registering only happens for demo vehicles, or to bolster sales numbers, as dealerships usually have targets and they will get bonuses for meeting or exceeding them.

dci said:

If I'm going to buy a new car I want a brand new car, not a car that's been sat in a port collecting seagull turds and sea salt for the last three months..

You really don't have a choice on this, not for mass market cars. It will still be new and of course you should inspect it before taking ownership of it anyhow.

And even factory orders might end up sitting for weeks or months at a port anyhow.

dci said:

Sure I can ask but that doesn't stop the dealer giving me a stock car but delaying the delivery to make it look like it's factory fresh.

Dealers won't really have much say in this. Pretty much all dealerships are franchises, so the people there don't usually work for the car maker. This means they will have no sway on telling the car maker they must build this car especially for you.

Of course, given lots of money you can achieve anything, but assuming this isn't part of your plan. Then the normal course of action would be to try and fulfil the order from the available stock. In some cases they might even make alterations at the dealerships, such as swap alloys, or add dealer installed items.

Factory orders normally come about by either very limited supply, such as a brand new niche model. Small scale production, e.g. something like Morgan or maybe Lotus, where they are more likely to build to order in the first place.

Or an less than ordinary spec. If you go for an uncommon colour, with an uncommon interior and very specific extras from the options list. Then chances are this won't be a stock item, so will go down as a factory order. But be warned, even with normal cars this could easily give you a 6+ month wait for the car.

[kambites]

dci said:

How can I ensure that I get a factory built car and not a pre registered in stock car?

Bright pink with a lime green interior probably works.

[X5TUU]

kambites said:

dci said:

How can I ensure that I get a factory built car and not a pre registered in stock car?

Bright pink with a lime green interior probably works.

Or alternatively ... When we've ordered new cars in the past I have always insisted on a new build and get the build date etc... From the dealer and they have on occasion printed me the progress flow showing where it's upto etc... so they should be able to provide you with this