BMW X3 PHEV Delays - Next Steps
Discussion
I posted a short synopsis of this on a thread in the EV forum, and the question came back - how long are you really prepared to wait? So I figured I would seek some affirmation from the great and good of PH on what to do, albeit restrospectively because I hit the nuclear button yesterday...
We ordered an X3 30e M-Sport on 25th Nov 2019, good deal agreed and deposit paid. The PHEV was perfect for us, Mrs Steelflex is mobile carer and drives 15-20 miles a day around town so that should be all-electric, and we wanted a nice comfy wagon for our German Shepherd and some planned family outings.
Expected delivery was April, but as we all know we must fast forward a few months from there because of known events. Because of factory shutdown in South Africa, the car only got built in July, then loads of delays getting it shipped before it arrived in UK in early September. Immediately BMW put all hybrids on stop sale, there's some form of fire risk with the batteries, and we had an open-ended (i.e. unknown) fix date. The dealer has been as helpful as they can, and after a month of nothingness we demanded a courtesy car which BMW approved and provided to us - a nice, if slightly pointless 430d GranCoupe. We needed a car as in September I had retuned our lease Golf, but I think the provision of a courtesy car, although costly, has meant there was a belief that we would be content to wait for the X3 as long as necessary.
Now that was true to an extent, I had a free car and the money for the X3 sitting in the bank, but we get to the start of December and I ask the question directly to BMW - where is my car? Their response was very non-committal, they were unwilling to guarantee a delivery date and said there was nothing they could do, the car had two safety-related recalls and until these could be fixed there was nothing they could do - "you have a courtesy car, sir. You just need to be patient". I asked a simple question - will I see the car I ordered before March? The answer was "we don't know".
The reason we chose the X3 was we loved the way it drove, was comfy and large enough and it was one of only two available PHEV SUVs at the time - the Audi Q5 being the other - but that has now changed and there are multiple options available from Land Rover, Merc, Volvo, etc. I could also sod off the PHEV and just get a petrol one instead and save the money (or buy a Macan).
So yesterday, after a little domestic discussion, I went back to the dealer and demanded a guaranteed delivery date by end January, or we would cancel and have our deposit back. Having sent the email, I iummediately wondered if I had gone off too early.
I'm in two minds here - having waited so long, should we just suck it up? Or, this is just a vanila X3, BMW are taking the piss and there are loads of other options we could get, albeit potentially would wait even longer?
BTW - we lost our German Shepherd in July
. He was one of the reasons we wanted the larger car, he won't be replaced any time soon so in theory any car is now going to be in scope.
So, what say you?
We ordered an X3 30e M-Sport on 25th Nov 2019, good deal agreed and deposit paid. The PHEV was perfect for us, Mrs Steelflex is mobile carer and drives 15-20 miles a day around town so that should be all-electric, and we wanted a nice comfy wagon for our German Shepherd and some planned family outings.
Expected delivery was April, but as we all know we must fast forward a few months from there because of known events. Because of factory shutdown in South Africa, the car only got built in July, then loads of delays getting it shipped before it arrived in UK in early September. Immediately BMW put all hybrids on stop sale, there's some form of fire risk with the batteries, and we had an open-ended (i.e. unknown) fix date. The dealer has been as helpful as they can, and after a month of nothingness we demanded a courtesy car which BMW approved and provided to us - a nice, if slightly pointless 430d GranCoupe. We needed a car as in September I had retuned our lease Golf, but I think the provision of a courtesy car, although costly, has meant there was a belief that we would be content to wait for the X3 as long as necessary.
Now that was true to an extent, I had a free car and the money for the X3 sitting in the bank, but we get to the start of December and I ask the question directly to BMW - where is my car? Their response was very non-committal, they were unwilling to guarantee a delivery date and said there was nothing they could do, the car had two safety-related recalls and until these could be fixed there was nothing they could do - "you have a courtesy car, sir. You just need to be patient". I asked a simple question - will I see the car I ordered before March? The answer was "we don't know".
The reason we chose the X3 was we loved the way it drove, was comfy and large enough and it was one of only two available PHEV SUVs at the time - the Audi Q5 being the other - but that has now changed and there are multiple options available from Land Rover, Merc, Volvo, etc. I could also sod off the PHEV and just get a petrol one instead and save the money (or buy a Macan).
So yesterday, after a little domestic discussion, I went back to the dealer and demanded a guaranteed delivery date by end January, or we would cancel and have our deposit back. Having sent the email, I iummediately wondered if I had gone off too early.
I'm in two minds here - having waited so long, should we just suck it up? Or, this is just a vanila X3, BMW are taking the piss and there are loads of other options we could get, albeit potentially would wait even longer?
BTW - we lost our German Shepherd in July
. He was one of the reasons we wanted the larger car, he won't be replaced any time soon so in theory any car is now going to be in scope.So, what say you?
My immediate concern would be that the new car I'd agreed to buy was dating considerably in technology terms before I even got it. It moves from having maybe 3 or 4 years left before the new X3 comes along to having 2 or 3 years, that impacts the value of the car. TBH I think I'd have already stated I wanted my deposit returned and be looking at something else.
That is some wait!
That being said I am seeing more and more cars arriving then being put into what amounts to nothing more than "limbo land" because of recalls that are somehow getting past even basic testing.
In my book I would have binned it off and got a normal ICE car (depending on location).
The more and more I read about PHEV's the more and more I become less convinced about them. That combined with EV's bar one brand having varying levels of infrastructure charging support and (even with WLTP) they seem to get no where near the claimed range.
It feels shocking to not have a viable marketable alternative to ICE beyond Tesla and their quality control well, but then to be honest I don't think other manufacturers are exactly getting it right either now (in the rush to push new metal out).
That being said I am seeing more and more cars arriving then being put into what amounts to nothing more than "limbo land" because of recalls that are somehow getting past even basic testing.
In my book I would have binned it off and got a normal ICE car (depending on location).
The more and more I read about PHEV's the more and more I become less convinced about them. That combined with EV's bar one brand having varying levels of infrastructure charging support and (even with WLTP) they seem to get no where near the claimed range.
It feels shocking to not have a viable marketable alternative to ICE beyond Tesla and their quality control well, but then to be honest I don't think other manufacturers are exactly getting it right either now (in the rush to push new metal out).
I had an update this morning that the car has been fixed and no longer on 'stop sale'. No idea if that is related to my threat to walk away, but it's progress for now and we will see what happens.
This whole episode has f
ked BMW, every single PHEV they make has had to be recalled and in the UK alone that was (I think) 20,000 cars. I'm ok with teething problems, and these things do happen, but the communication has been non-existent and that's what has really pissed me off.
This whole episode has f
ked BMW, every single PHEV they make has had to be recalled and in the UK alone that was (I think) 20,000 cars. I'm ok with teething problems, and these things do happen, but the communication has been non-existent and that's what has really pissed me off.Jefferson Steelflex said:
I had an update this morning that the car has been fixed and no longer on 'stop sale'. No idea if that is related to my threat to walk away, but it's progress for now and we will see what happens.
This whole episode has fked BMW, every single PHEV they make has had to be recalled and in the UK alone that was (I think) 20,000 cars. I'm ok with teething problems, and these things do happen, but the communication has been non-existent and that's what has really pissed me off.
No your email didn't affect BMWs stop sale, that's not how it works (although it might have reminded the dealership to check and be told that was cleared ages ago), however given that there are a number of 2020 built X3 PHEV on their AUC website I'm not sure how a car your ordered in 2019 hasn't been delivered as others have been. This whole episode has f
ked BMW, every single PHEV they make has had to be recalled and in the UK alone that was (I think) 20,000 cars. I'm ok with teething problems, and these things do happen, but the communication has been non-existent and that's what has really pissed me off.It may be that yours was part of a bad batch but others were clearly delivered, I'd have been cancelling and re-ordering looks like you have held out on the promise that they will fix your car and now will presumably taking delivery of an "old" new car.
Having said that they have given you the use of a car for nothing so that has to be weighed in the balance.
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