ED35 - shipping almost

[Flying Haggis]

Hi guys,

Just wondering if anyone else is waiting on the latest 'batch' being shipped over. The dealer has told me that VW can't trace where the car is as they have 15,000 cars to ship over for March, I guess due to the new plates. Having thought I had jumped the queue...looks like I ll have to wait a little longer.

Does anyone here have experience of how long it can take from "port to forecourt"?

Thanks.

[ScottA]

Hi guys,

Just wondering if anyone else is waiting on the latest 'batch' being shipped over. The dealer has told me that VW can't trace where the car is as they have 15,000 cars to ship over for March, I guess due to the new plates. Having thought I had jumped the queue...looks like I ll have to wait a little longer.

Does anyone here have experience of how long it can take from "port to forecourt"?

Thanks.

Boll0cks!!!!!!!!

Your dealer is talking sh*t!

They can trace exactly where your car is!!!

My was built in week 6 (w/c 6th Feb)

Released for shipping 10th Feb

Scanned into Grimsby on 20th Feb

ECM who deliver the cars are saying it will be loaded on a low loader by Friday at the latest and delivered to the dealer by Monday (again at the latest)

Get back on to your dealer and tell them to check SLI it will say the exact status of your order. If they won't, speak to VW customer services and tell them what your dealer is saying!!!!

[Flying Haggis]

I ll give him sh1t tomorrow then! Seems a bit weak that they claim not to be able to track it.... When I initially enquired about the 35 they said it was in the compound at the dealers, then they said it was actually in transit. Salesmen at work, not that they had to sell much!

Cheers for advice!

[ScottA]

I ll give him sh1t tomorrow then! Seems a bit week that they claim not to be able to track it.... When I initially enquired about the 35 they said it was in the compound at the dealers, then they said it was actually in transit. Salesmen at work, not that they had to sell much!

Cheers for advice!

No problem, if it's ECM who are delivering it to your dealer tell them to call the dealer helpline and they will be able to track it with last 6 digits of VIN

If it's being shipped still, it will show on SLI where it is, e.g. Emden/Grimsby/on ship

Good luck

[Mr GTD]

If your dealer is giving you the run around phone vw cust serv on 0800 0833 920 but you will need a commission number before you phone them and that is attainable from your dealer....Good Luck!

My car is also at the docks waiting to be transported to the dealer, and I've been able to track my car from Emden Germany(with some help from ScottA), so don't let them fob you off...

[evo1986]

Sli can be fantastic some days but I had a touran which we could not track from port on sli and then it suddenly appeared with us even though I checked every few hours to update my customer. There is also quite a large number of delays from Emden and uk ports. Out of 15 customers cars I have coming over  for march 4 are affected in the same way as yours probably. Port to forecourt is usually 2-3 weeks but in feb-march and August-sept it can be along as 4-5.

Joys of managing customers expectations.

Surely if he could give you an update he would? We don't go out of our way to piss customers off.

[Flying Haggis]

Sli can be fantastic some days but I had a touran which we could not track from port on sli and then it suddenly appeared with us even though I checked every few hours to update my customer. There is also quite a large number of delays from Emden and uk ports. Out of 15 customers cars I have coming over  for march 4 are affected in the same way as yours probably. Port to forecourt is usually 2-3 weeks but in feb-march and August-sept it can be along as 4-5.

Joys of managing customers expectations.

Surely if he could give you an update he would? We don't go out of our way to piss customers off.

Fair enough, sounds like this could be the case. The guy is very helpful and I'm not sure me telling him how to look for it will get the car here any faster. Just would have been good to know that it wasn't going to arrive this week when I put the £ down last week. Anyway...worth the wait I'm sure.  Thanks for advice all.

[ScottA]

Sli can be fantastic some days but I had a touran which we could not track from port on sli and then it suddenly appeared with us even though I checked every few hours to update my customer. There is also quite a large number of delays from Emden and uk ports. Out of 15 customers cars I have coming over  for march 4 are affected in the same way as yours probably. Port to forecourt is usually 2-3 weeks but in feb-march and August-sept it can be along as 4-5.

Joys of managing customers expectations.

Surely if he could give you an update he would? We don't go out of our way to piss customers off.

but if his dealer is saying they can't trace it then why wouldn't he explain the full situation, I'm sure that would be appreciated more

I would still suggest that someone, somewhere will be able to trace it, otherwise if it goes missing or gets forgot about what happens then? Does it just disappear forever and have to be reordered?

Customers expect to be able to track their £25k+ order, why shouldn't they be able to when I can track a £300 laptop as it gets transported from China to UK by road? I can see every detail about what country it's in etc.

If SLI isn't showing details then IMO the dealerships should be kicking up a massive fuss with VW to fix the problem. They should also be on the phone to VW Germany, Emden, Grimsby, ECM to track it manually as it must be trackable by VIN.

I'm in no way having a go at you evo1986 but sometimes it does seem like dealers do try to piss you off. Have a look at the thread I posted a few days ago where the dealer lied to me, to my face even when I was questioning it, for 1 and half months, and then tell me they weren't trying to piss me off !!!

You see it from one side (e.g. system not working, no way to see where the order is) but I see it as a customer and I should be able to track my car...... of course, if it was the other way around I would be the same as you

 

[SRGTD]

All of these 'long' delays.............Think yourselves lucky. It took exactly 8 months from me placing my order (Nov 2010) to taking delivery of my car in July 2011 (and 7 months from the time the factory accepted the order)!

At the time, a waiting period of 7 - 8 months wasn't unusual; a number of forum members have experienced similarly long waiting periods of 6-8 months who ordered their cars around the same time that I did, or earlier. I was aware of the potential delays and entered into the situation with my eyes open - no reason not to really, as there's plenty of information available on forums such as this on how long you might have to wait.

I was fortunate as I wasn't in a hurry for my car either. My dealer was really good at giving me updates every 7-10 days and I didn't have to chase them up, so can understand your frustrations if you feel you're not getting good service from your dealer, although as evo1986 has said, the dealer's unlikely to be deliberately difficult just to annoy their customers.

Personally, I'd always avoid taking delivery very early in March / September. It's the busiest time for dealerships and I'd rather take delivery at a quieter period when the dealer has fewer cars to prepare for customer collection; it reduces the risk of corners being cut during PDI and having to take your car back to get things put right. The worst PDI I've experienced was a few years ago on a car (not a VW) I collected on registration plate change day.

You guys (ScottA and Flying Haggis) are almost there now. It'll be worth the wait, even if it is a few more days than you'd hoped for.

[ScottA]

All of these 'long' delays.............Think yourselves lucky. It took exactly 8 months from me placing my order (Nov 2010) to taking delivery of my car in July 2011 (and 7 months from the time the factory accepted the order)!

At the time, a waiting period of 7 - 8 months wasn't unusual; a number of forum members have experienced similarly long waiting periods of 6-8 months who ordered their cars around the same time that I did, or earlier. I was aware of the potential delays and entered into the situation with my eyes open - no reason not to really, as there's plenty of information available on forums such as this on how long you might have to wait.

I was fortunate as I wasn't in a hurry for my car either. My dealer was really good at giving me updates every 7-10 days and I didn't have to chase them up, so can understand your frustrations if you feel you're not getting good service from your dealer, although as evo1986 has said, the dealer's unlikely to be deliberately difficult just to annoy their customers.

Personally, I'd always avoid taking delivery very early in March / September. It's the busiest time for dealerships and I'd rather take delivery at a quieter period when the dealer has fewer cars to prepare for customer collection; it reduces the risk of corners being cut during PDI and having to take your car back to get things put right. The worst PDI I've experienced was a few years ago on a car (not a VW) I collected on registration plate change day.

You guys (ScottA and Flying Haggis) are almost there now. It'll be worth the wait, even if it is a few more days than you'd hoped for.

I take it you got a hire car if it was 7 months from when the factory accepted the order? I've been lucky as it's been less than 4 months since the factory accepted mine. My delay came from when I placed the order with a dealership who weren't honest and didn't have any factory allocation for a GTI, despite saying they had. If they did in fact have allocation then I would have took delivery in Dec at the earliest or Jan at the latest. This was my intentions. Unfortunately (or fortunately as I now get a new 12 plate) it just so happens that my car is arriving (hopefully......) a couple of days before the beginning of March so it doesn't make sense to have it registered before.

Even so, like you say, it will be worth the wait. 

Cheers,
Scott