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Long delays. Considering cancelling my order.


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When ordering our 1.4 TSI SE manual estate in July, we were told we'd have the car around October. A bit longer than we'd wait with most manufacturers, but acceptable in the scheme of things. By the end of September we were told to not expect the car before January as we'd still not been allocated a build week, and apparently Skoda were 'having problems' with the estates. 

 

However, in October we'd been told a build week was now set and the car would be manufactured on 8th November and as such we'd have a car by December. A six month wait for a bog standard car is a bit silly, but we really like the engine and space, so OK.... 

 

Now we've been told the build date has been withdrawn, as VAG/Skoda have grossly under ordered on parts (specifically estate chassis). As such, we'll probably finally get allocated a build week and receive the car some time into 2015.  :thumbdown:

 

Even at best case, it seems we'll end up waiting eight or nine months (if we're lucky) from order to receipt. For a bog standard car (not even any options!) that's ridiculous. As such we've been informed by Motability we are within our rights to cancel the order and look elsewhere. I'd really liked the car and engine, but my wife is due to give birth in March (if she doesn't go early like last time!) and I don't want to be left without a capable motor when it really counts. 

 

We've been considering a 2.0 Mazda 6 petrol, or maybe even a 1.5 turbo petrol Focus Titanium estate. I'll be speaking to the dealer again on Monday and test driving some alternatives in the meantime. Does anyone else have any insights or advice? Have you ordered an estate and been left in a similar boat? Just curious. 

Edited by Derv
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I would ask for a car in the meantime. When is your current mobility car due back?

Sent from my Galaxy S5

 

No, it's a mid-term car change due to the (unexpected but gratefully received) pregnancy. We were told we couldn't have any more children following surgeries, and as such resigned ourselves to the fact and gave up. The car we have at present isn't big enough for two kids (I'm 6'6" and there's not even room for a car seat behind me let alone a child) and as such Motability are letting us change to a bigger car. After nearly four months wait Skoda have now said we'll have to wait probably as long again if not even longer, so it's not looking very viable unfortunately. I can't see Skoda lending us an Octy estate until the 12th of never until they finally build our order, so we're basically stuck. Ordering from a manufacturer who can actually deliver seems the only alternative.

Edited by Derv
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It is a long wait, I waited 6 months for a vrs with only sunset glass as an extra. Like you I wavered part way through and looked very hard at the Mazda 6 petrol sport manual. Nice, but noisier and rough ride on silly big alloys, and no spare, and more costly. Nice though, but I'm glad I stuck with the vrs.

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I can't remember precisely, but SUK informed me when I was chasing my vRS (which was 7.5 months from order to delivery) that after (I think) either 21 or 22 weeks, they would provide a courtesy car.

Others on this forum have been supplied with temporary vehicles either through SUK or through the goodwill of their dealers.

It's worth asking. If you don't ask you don't get - and SUK or the dealer may well make the offer once you state your (potential) intent to cancel.

If you like the car, then stick with it. Mine was well worth the wait.

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9-12 month wait in AUS and the dealers have almost no floor stock for those willing to compromise on spec.  Skoda AU don't give a fig if your without transport while waiting.

 

You Brits have got it pretty good.

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Some interesting points raised so far, thanks everyone! I have actually been having a good think about this, and watching some Mazda 6 reviews. I'm going to test drive one tomorrow, to eliminate the 'what if' buyer's remorse if nothing else. However it struck me that the issue is only in supplying estates. Granted the estate is more practical when you have a family, especially with the new fangled 'travel system' prams, changing bags, shopping and obligatory dog to stow away. 

 

However, given the rather generous boot size I'm wondering whether I would actually 'need' an estate, or at least if one is worth waiting longer than a pregnancy for. The hatch on my old Superb swallowed prams, shopping and more besides and the mk3 Octy is practically the same size. Given there's no such shortage of the hatch I wonder if my dealer would be able to source a 1.4 TSI hatch much quicker, even from existing/spare stock?

 

I have realised that rather than pay a £899 Motability deposit for the SE estate, I could pay just £100 extra and get an Elegance hatch - much sooner to boot. Surely worth a serious thinking about?...

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Some interesting points raised so far, thanks everyone! I have actually been having a good think about this, and watching some Mazda 6 reviews. I'm going to test drive one tomorrow, to eliminate the 'what if' buyer's remorse if nothing else. However it struck me that the issue is only in supplying estates. Granted the estate is more practical when you have a family, especially with the new fangled 'travel system' prams, changing bags, shopping and obligatory dog to stow away. 

 

However, given the rather generous boot size I'm wondering whether I would actually 'need' an estate, or at least if one is worth waiting longer than a pregnancy for. The hatch on my old Superb swallowed prams, shopping and more besides and the mk3 Octy is practically the same size. Given there's no such shortage of the hatch I wonder if my dealer would be able to source a 1.4 TSI hatch much quicker, even from existing/spare stock?

 

I have realised that rather than pay a £899 Motability deposit for the SE estate, I could pay just £100 extra and get an Elegance hatch - much sooner to boot. Surely worth a serious thinking about?...

Definitely a good idea! That length of wait would be totally unacceptable to me. Isn't the boot on the hatch actually the same size just a different shape?

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Definitely a good idea! That length of wait would be totally unacceptable to me. Isn't the boot on the hatch actually the same size just a different shape?

The estate is marginally bigger, to the order of around twenty litres iirc. However it's all above parcel shelf level so in practice it shouldn't make much difference just for carrying kid stuff about. Might pop into the dealers later and have a word.

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Have you spoken to Skoda UK Customer Services yourself on the Order?

 

If this is a Car being Leased by you from Motability then Motability Finance is buying the car

& the Invoice Price being paid is rather a good sale.

 

Dealers often talk about Motabity cars not giving them much Profit & that is total nonsense,

many Dealerships are only still in business because of the amount of Motability Customers.

 

george

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Have you spoken to Skoda UK Customer Services yourself on the Order?

 

If this is a Car being Leased by you from Motability then Motability Finance is buying the car

& the Invoice Price being paid is rather a good sale.

 

Dealers often talk about Motabity cars not giving them much Profit & that is total nonsense,

many Dealerships are only still in business because of the amount of Motability Customers.

 

george

 

Thanks George, I hadn't thought of that. If there's no joy in the dealers later I'll see what SUK have to say before making any final decisions. Hopefully an Elegance hatch will solve everything... maybe. :D

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I ordered a car from Scotlands biggest car Dealership Group,

Not a Lease,

but buying it on a 5 year HP/ Loan from 'Motability Finance'.

They did a great Deal for me at the Dealership.

 

I paid a deposit, waited 3 Months & was waiting for the Details & registration to get Insurance Arranged,

Motability 3 Year Lease car was being returned after having been Inspected & MOT'd.

 

It turned out no new car had ever been ordered,

i only found that out by getting on to the HQ in Milan..

Edited by goneoffSKi
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Guest garpat32

I've had a similar experience.

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/328403-another-delivery-delay/

An email to CEO got things moving as customer service were no use at all.

I looked at the Leon estate while I was waiting a reply from CEO and could have got one within a few weeks!!

I currently have a courstey rapid spaceback as courtesy until me octy arrives, they asked what size of car I wanted/needed.

My car was built this week, after ordering early June.

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You're asking for experiences, but I don't think mine will make you happy. I ordered at the end of August and the car arrived in Holland about two weeks ago. 

 

This would normally lead me to conclude favoritism towards certain builds or countries, but England is a right-hand-country, maybe they have less construction time allocated for those models? I'm just guessing.

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Some interesting points raised so far, thanks everyone! I have actually been having a good think about this, and watching some Mazda 6 reviews. I'm going to test drive one tomorrow, to eliminate the 'what if' buyer's remorse if nothing else. However it struck me that the issue is only in supplying estates. Granted the estate is more practical when you have a family, especially with the new fangled 'travel system' prams, changing bags, shopping and obligatory dog to stow away. 

 

However, given the rather generous boot size I'm wondering whether I would actually 'need' an estate, or at least if one is worth waiting longer than a pregnancy for. The hatch on my old Superb swallowed prams, shopping and more besides and the mk3 Octy is practically the same size. Given there's no such shortage of the hatch I wonder if my dealer would be able to source a 1.4 TSI hatch much quicker, even from existing/spare stock?

 

I have realised that rather than pay a £899 Motability deposit for the SE estate, I could pay just £100 extra and get an Elegance hatch - much sooner to boot. Surely worth a serious thinking about?...

 

 

Derv, I'm in a very similar boat to you family-wise/ patience wise, I'm also tall, and have ordered the estate. Our first/new dog is a german sheppard puppy (big dog) and we got him a cage to protect him/ the interior when he is full size. The cage will consume most of the boot area. Without the cage/ a smaller breed of dog, there would be no need for the estate IMO, the boot floor is the same footprint for both hatch and estate.

 

Chances are that your SE order will arrive before January latest. There are lots of stories of SUK issuing courtesy cars, surely they would do this for you  given your genuine need for a bigger car temporarily. IF you don't ask, you don't get. Good luck with the pregnancy BTW  :thumbup:

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Not much difference in size for the Hatch to the Estate - i'd cancel the estate and go for the hatchback. Mine is coming on Monday 3 months after ordering it.

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As someone mentioned, I would look to the new Seat Leon. You can get pretty much the same spec as an octavia to a bit lower price and delivery times are very short when I talked to my dealer during summer. Yes the level of quality is somewhat lower but tremendously better than the previous Leon, and boot is smaller, but perfectly fine when we took it for a test drive. Also, the salesman opened the bargaining by giving me 10% discount - this what I got for my Octavia RS after hard discussions back and forth with 15 resellers.

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This is the reason I didn't order a Skoda this time round for when my company car needs changing.

When I spoke to my dealers 6 months ago who I have had my last 4 Skoda's from he said 10-12 weeks.

So I was around 12 weeks from needing my new car and all the delays started being reported.

So I decided to go for something else so I have ordered a Maxda CX5 instead.

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How about the old Passat? There's gotta be several cars still at the resellers that they would want to sell cheap to make room for the new model.

 

Because it's Motability not a cash sale that's probablyl not feasible (plus the Passat costs more for the same 3 year lease and ends up being a bland box). Being honest I spent two hours at the Mazda showroom today and their 6 sports tourer/estate with 2.0 145ps engine blew me away. I don't find the ride firm at all, just very tight and nicely balanced when pressing on. The seats are like a supportive hug, and the engine pulls from 1k rpm right to the redline with almost no noise at all. It's a little peach and even the mid range model has more toys than an Elegance Octy. The boot is suitably cavernous and there's a ton of leg room. 

 

As such I've regretfully decided it's pointless downgrading to a hatch just to compromise, and I don't want to risk waiting until Jan/Feb/Mar next year for a delivery. I'm back at Mazda on Monday for a second look to be sure, but it seems I've been won over. If VAG/Skoda had their act together and actually ordered parts to meet demand, I wouldn't have wavered. I love the Octy 3 and especially the 1.4TSI but I'm sorry, it's not THAT special to portentially wait 9 months for an off the peg car. 

 

The Mazda can be delivered in my choice of colour with full leather, TomTom XL infotainment style system, Bose stereo (9 speakers + sub), cruise and every toy imaginable.... within 2 WEEKS. If I want to get a custom build I might have to wait as long as 8 weeks.

 

Skoda, watch and learn. :(

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Because it's Motability not a cash sale that's probablyl not feasible (plus the Passat costs more for the same 3 year lease and ends up being a bland box). Being honest I spent two hours at the Mazda showroom today and their 6 sports tourer/estate with 2.0 145ps engine blew me away. I don't find the ride firm at all, just very tight and nicely balanced when pressing on. The seats are like a supportive hug, and the engine pulls from 1k rpm right to the redline with almost no noise at all. It's a little peach and even the mid range model has more toys than an Elegance Octy. The boot is suitably cavernous and there's a ton of leg room. 

 

As such I've regretfully decided it's pointless downgrading to a hatch just to compromise, and I don't want to risk waiting until Jan/Feb/Mar next year for a delivery. I'm back at Mazda on Monday for a second look to be sure, but it seems I've been won over. If VAG/Skoda had their act together and actually ordered parts to meet demand, I wouldn't have wavered. I love the Octy 3 and especially the 1.4TSI but I'm sorry, it's not THAT special to portentially wait 9 months for an off the peg car. 

 

The Mazda can be delivered in my choice of colour with full leather, TomTom XL infotainment style system, Bose stereo (9 speakers + sub), cruise and every toy imaginable.... within 2 WEEKS. If I want to get a custom build I might have to wait as long as 8 weeks.

 

Skoda, watch and learn. :(

2 weeks in your choice of colour? Do they have cars of all different colours just sitting around? Or have they built loads of cars and left them unpainted?

It shows how popular they are if they can manage to build loads of cars to sit as stock cars.

 

Saying that, the 6 is a very good car.I found them very pleasant to drive. Smooth and quiet, but fun as well.

What Car claims the high speed ride is too firm, but i never found this. I also found the quality very good.

I know someone who has driven Mazda 6's for a few years now, and has always been very impressed.

 

Only problem for me, was I never like the layout/ interior very much. Cant explain why, just never did.

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2 weeks in your choice of colour? Do they have cars of all different colours just sitting around? Or have they built loads of cars and left them unpainted?

It shows how popular they are if they can manage to build loads of cars to sit as stock cars.

 

Saying that, the 6 is a very good car.I found them very pleasant to drive. Smooth and quiet, but fun as well.

What Car claims the high speed ride is too firm, but i never found this. I also found the quality very good.

I know someone who has driven Mazda 6's for a few years now, and has always been very impressed.

 

Only problem for me, was I never like the layout/ interior very much. Cant explain why, just never did.

 

The dealer said they get 40+ units in a month and they're gone before the final week, so they have a constant stream on order and just keep on shifting them. To be fair Skodas are just as popular but they're just not getting built. If VAG/Skoda built more they'd still fly off the shelves, just minus the 6 - 12 month waits people are experiencing. :/ Not really looking forward to the phone call to the Skoda dealer tomorrow, but tbf it's they (Skoda) who have let me down, not the other way around. The order was on the understanding we'd have the car this year, not potentially far too late after the birth next year. So I have a clear conscience, I just hate feeling I've messed them about, even if it actually is the other way around! 

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in all fairness, had Mazda have the same success with 6 that Skoda has with O3, there could have been similar delays getting the 6's all the way from Japan

 

when you say plenty of legroom in the back, was it a 6 estate or a 4-door version? for some reason the estate is quite shorter in wheelbase and total length

 

I'm considering the same cars (plus keeping an eye on the new Mondeo, the new Passat is too expensive and the next Superb is too far away)

 

the 6's instruments' cluster and dashboard look outdated, that TomTom doesn't look like it belongs there; I wonder if they sell the same looks in Japan as well

Edited by FilipC
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