I was told the factories shut down for July and August. I was told I could have my Golf in July if I got a move on and ordered it, but if I left it any longer than May, it would be September.
I didn't believe it could be true at the time, but perhaps it is?
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But paul45 says he ordered in June and is getting his car in September. OP ordered in May and quoted October. But as I say above the lease company we use (albeit the IBM section and not ours) quotes lead times of 7-8 months on the A3 Sportback.
I know VW do speculative builds. My Golf and Passat were such cars. Sat down in the dealer and they changed the spec of a vehicle in the pipeline before being built to change factory options. The Golf was due in September 1999 for example and arrived over a month early. Was surprised lease company allowed that as it meant a T rather than V plate. Stolen six months later mind ;-)
Talking of PDI's though.... I saw my first 57 plate on the road yesterday. A 57 Plate (also on trade plates) supercharged Jaguar XK with lots of options out on a drive to fill it up.... hit by a police transit within one mile of the Jaguar dealer and probably written off. Someone was expecting to pick up the car on Saturday - I popped in to make sure they knew their car was in collision with a police van. Actually maybe not a right-off but the front badly damaged and driver side front wheel snapped off axle. Ouch. This will cost the police insurance.
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Hi all
Thanks for the continued responses - very informative.
Let's see - no I haven't had a "christening date" from the dealer - in fact the only contact I've had with them was when the leasing company placed the order - they called a few days later and confirmed colour/options etc. I did request a delivery in July however it was put in on the system as 5th Oct.
That date has now slipped to Oct 31 with no explanation or contact from dealer/leasing company...
I know someone that works for Honda in Swindon and it seems they shutdown late July for a few weeks - when they come back the next MY cars are built.
I do think though from what I am seeing here that if you are a private customer you seem to be able to get your car quicker - economics I guess :-)
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if you are a private customer you seem to be able to get your car quicker
Having had leased company cars for 20 years I would seriously doubt that's true - in my experience car manufactuers turn themselves inside out to support the fleet market. Most have special departments that are not accessible to the general public to deal with fleets and company car drivers and they put a lot of money into keeping and growing their corporate business.
I would suggest your leasing company needs a kick up the backside.
It could be that the A3 *is* on a long lead time, but you shouldn't be slipping down the queue compared to other buyers. Another possibility is that there's an issue with one of the options you've specified, but again that's happened to me in the past and I was given the opportunity to revise the order.
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I had a problem with a leasing company order a couple of years ago when we got our G Scenic. Turned out that they had n't actually ordered the car ("admin error"!) until some time after I had given them the green light. As a result we hit the factory summer vacation which delayed things further.
Even so - the process only took about 3 months.
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Ok - update
Got this from the Lease company (same one as Altea Ego)
"When you originally placed your order, the delivery date given would have been an anticipated delivery date, since then it has become apparent that Audi are currently unable to supply A3's due to high demand and the launch of the new A5. The vehicle you have ordered has not yet been given a confirmed build date, which could delay the delivery further."
They have given me the option to cancel, so before making any decision I called the Audi dealer themselves who have said the car is scheduled for build date in Wk 41 of this year which is 8th Oct next. They reckon it should be out to me by the end of Oct.
Hey ho - just got to wait then :-)
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I've thought of at least one reason why the A3 builds are so delayed. Hasn't Audi taken over the VW factory in Brussels fairly recently to build some of the A3's (Sportbacks and then the A1 in the future). This would explain a short lead time for the A3 3-dr but long delays for the Sportback? One issue has been acceptance of the changes by unions in Brussels - less pay longer hours from moving from VW to Audi. The Brussels plant also builds the VW Polo.
See: tinyurl.com/22wu2a
And a quote:
The Brussels plant fits perfectly into Audi?s turntable concept. Producing volume models in two locations ? such as the Audi A3 Sportback in Ingolstadt and Brussels ? enables the company to respond flexibly to fluctuations in demand. This ensures a constant level of capacity utilisation at the plants and enables jobs to be protected in the long term. ?Following complete restructuring, this production plant will have the potential to play a leading role in the car industry,? says Audi Board Member for Production, Frank Dreves.
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Thanks rtj70 - that's interesting stuff - I must admit that's the first time I've even heard of the A1 !
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I've seen some teaser pictures of the the A1 and it looks a bit like the Suzuki Swift! They have of course realised there's money to be made in the segment - e.g. BMW Mini and Fiat 500. Just not going to use aluminium this time ;-)
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Google for audi a1 - loads of info / pictures. Audi have been talking about for what seems like years.
Saw some official pictures of the new A4 - that's looking good, and seems to be a decent size at last.
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There's something else odd about the A3's lead time (3 and 5 door). If you go the the Audi website, it seems the only car you can configure is a 1.6 petrol or 1.9 diesel Special Edition. That's it.... I wonder what else is going on? Model changes perhaps?
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Thats because the first model on the configurator is 'Special Edition'! Tabs for Standard, SE, Sport and S-line are all there.
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I was still figuring out how a new car can take 6-8 months so looking for the reasons ;-) Well spotted. I didn't look long enough.
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Would this one do? - bit of T-Cut and it'll be fine:
www.s-w-s.co.uk/stock_detail.aspx?id=6929
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Great - I'll have it! I just need to dig out my trusty Halfords Dent Pulling Kit and hairdryer to melt the goo.... ;-)
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