Sometimes, our customers will ask why they haven’t been promised a delivery date for their vehicle. It’s a valid question; you want to know exactly when your product will be delivered. However, we cannot make a promise we can’t guarantee we’ll keep.
And, we aren’t the only ones that won’t promise you a delivery date. Any trustworthy broker or new car dealer will not promise you a delivery date for your vehicle. In this article, we will be explaining why, and what sort of things can alter the delivery date.
Why is it bad that I have been ‘promised’ a delivery date?
The reason you should not be ‘promised’ a delivery date is because there are so many things that could potentially delay the delivery of your vehicle. And, a lot of these factors are out of the control of your broker or dealer.
For example, if you have been promised a delivery date before your car has even been built, it is borderline impossible to guarantee that it will be delivered on this date. This is because build allocations are controlled by the manufacturers. Your vehicle will be given either a build slot or a build week. All being well, the build will go ahead as expected. However, any significant increase in volume and the manufacturer may push your build week back. That’s before taking into account other factors after the building of your car, which we’ll talk about in a little bit.
So, because there are so many factors that can affect delivery time, it would be poor customer service for your dealership or your broker to promise you one.[vc_single_image image=”33104″ img_size=”article-image”]
What affects delivery date?
There are a number of things that affect the delivery of your vehicle. These are thing such as;
- If there are any issues at the factory – for example;
- The volume of orders
- Factory Closures
- Problems with parts
- Where the car is built
- If the car is built in Europe, then the delivery will take approximately 4 weeks. However, if it is built as far as China or America, it can take much longer.
- Shipping
- Your car could be at the port waiting to be shipped for up to 3 weeks.
- March and September are peak times for the motor industry, with high volumes of cars are being built and shipped.
- All cars are stored in specific orders. So, if your car is behind hundreds of others then it’s impossible to reach to speed up the process.
- Paperwork
- The delivery of your vehicle cannot take place until your finance agreement has been signed and submitted to the finance company. The time frame of this can vary. Sometimes, it can be 24 hours, but during peak times it can be 5 days.
- Driver availability
- This is pretty self-explanatory, but your car can’t be delivered until they find a driver who is available to deliver it.
You can find out more about why your car’s delivery has been delayed here.
Why do brokers not give you a delivery date?
If you go through a trustworthy, reliable broker then they probably won’t give you a delivery date.
However, they won’t just leave it as a surprise; they’ll give you an estimated time of arrival (ETA) or a lead time.
What is an ETA or lead time?
The ETA is pretty self-explanatory; it’s an estimation as to when your car will arrive. A lead time is the period of time it will take from you;
- Placing the factory order
- Your new car arriving at the dealership
- The car being prepared for delivery
The lead time can vary from two to three months or even just a couple of weeks. It depends on the make of your vehicle and where the vehicle is built. Exclusive or specialised vehicles could potentially take longer, however.
The length of the lead time depends on;
- When the order is placed
- If that car is in high demand
- The cars exact specification
- The time of year the order is placed
Will I be updated on my cars whereabouts?
[vc_single_image image=”33107″ img_size=”article-image”]Some brokers and dealerships will keep you updated as to where your car is in the delivery process. At OSV, we have a customer portal where our customers can check up on their order whenever they like.
However, there will be some that don’t have such a thing. Some companies do not keep their customers updated. This means that if you’ve been given a delivery date and your car doesn’t arrive, you’ll have to chase them up yourselves.
What should I do if my car is not delivered on time?
The chances are that your car will be delivered around the ETA you have been given, but delays do happen. So what happens when your car isn’t delivered on time?
If you are going through a trustworthy broker or dealership, then they will notify you straight away to discuss a possible plan of action. In the event that you have a car going back before your new car is being delivered, then there are a few things you can do.
Some finance houses will allow you to keep your car on an informal basis until your new car arrives. But, some do not and will let you keep it on a formal basis. If your car is delayed by more than a month or two, then you will have to come to an agreement with the finance house as to how long you are going to keep the car for.
If your car is delayed by a week or two, then you can delay the collection of your car. You do this by pretty much just telling the finance house it isn’t ready for collection.
So, hopefully this has cleared up why some brokers and new car dealers do not promise a delivery date. As there are so many things that can impact the delivery date, it would be bad customer service to make a promise they may not be able to keep. If you have any questions about the delivery process of your vehicle, please do not hesitate to contact us either by phone on 01903 538835 or via a contact form. Alternatively, you can head to our learning centre to read our guides on everything from company car tax to customer service. 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
