Before I type this post I would just like to say i'm not trying to be belligerent, just an observation as a general lurker on the forum.
I'm really baffled as to the fact a lot of you keep ringing, and ringing, and ringing or emailing the dealer and are seemingly surprised you get different stories each time. Whilst bearing in mind for several months now we've all known the customer service/feedback hasn't been very good. But we keep pressing them and pressing them. It won't change overnight.
Now, a lot of people are suddenly deciding or thinking of switching to a 135 (Or something similar). A car they obviously didn't want as a first choice otherwise they would have bought it back in March/April over the GTI in the first place.
I've rung VW a grand total of 2 times since I ordered. I haven't got mad once. I knew pretty quickly the delivery time was very optimistic and wasn't going to happen. But I didn't want to drive a 120d so i'm sticking it out to get the car I want. It'll turn up when it turns up in my eyes, sooner would be great but sometimes you have to wait for the finer things in life.
I'm sure had I been ringing up every week, I would have gotten mad too with the ever changing estimated build weeks, and inaccurate answers etc etc. No misinformation in my ears has meant no getting stressed out, apart from the wait i've had a good experience. If you demand answers that they cannot give you, they will bullsh!t their way out of it and leave the customer pissed off.
Anyway the point i'm making is don't make a rash decision now for the sake of getting a car quickly.
If you read back the last 100 pages of this thread, the topic of conversation is the same - Ranting about lack of information, lack of a confirmed build date etc etc.
Soon enough we'll all have our cars. The ones we wanted. And the thread will change to joyous elation of "It took ages, the customer service was sh!t, but my god was it worth the wait". And all the people who didn't jump ship at this stage and buy something else will be the ones feeling the best.
I'm looking forward to that day. And the thought of being able to have a BMW in a matter of days isn't making me look forward to it any less.
I would also like to point out that BMW aren't angels you know. When the E60 M5 came out (When I worked at BMW), it was a similar story to what we see here with the GTI. Numbers were limited, they were bought and lead times were not made clear. Customers were demanding information. Dealers couldn't give accurate lead times. It was a similar scenario.
The 135 is readily available because BMW churn out cars like they're going out of fashion. I honestly think this will eventually hit your residuals too.
Again like I said i'm not trying to attack anybody, just some thoughts I had that I think would make for some good discussion.