So, you’ve ordered your car with us! Hooray! Thank you very much for choosing to get your car with OSV.
We understand that when you get a new vehicle it is very exciting and timeframes are critical for planning.
Once you’ve ordered your car, you will get access to something called the portal. This allows you to see where your car is along the delivery process.
We’ve been helping customers since 1997, and we know that being updated on your order frequently is extremely important. So, we’ve put together an article to help you get the best support in accessing the portal.
What is the portal?
The portal is our ‘in house’ online vehicle order tracking system which allows our customers to log on using their own log in details and view the latest status of their order. Once you have ordered your vehicle with OSV, the details will be entered onto the portal and you will receive your unique log in details.
The portal is essentially designed to make it easy for you to check the status of your order. You will know where your car is, from when it’s awaiting a build week to when it arrives at the dealership.
How does the portal work?
As we know how important it is to know what is happening with your order, it is part of the OSV process to obtain updates on your vehicle every week. If there is a change in the status of your vehicle, then you will receive an email notification advising you that there has been an update to your order which will allow you to log in and view the latest information. Sort of like Amazon or eBay. You can access the portal at any time during the delivery process, regardless of whether there has been an update or not.
How do I access the portal?
When an update notification is sent to you, your personal login details will be included in that notification. This will be your email address and a password. To make things easier, there will be a section in the email where you can enter your password. This will take you straight to the portal page.
What happens if I cannot access the portal?
If, for any reason, you cannot access the portal, just contact us. Our customer support team are experts when it comes to the portal so they will be happy to help. You can either do this by phone or via email. We always recommend that once you log in once, you save it to favourites so it is easy for you in future. It’s also worth adding us to your contacts in your email account so that our emails don’t get missed or go into junk folders.
How often will the portal be updated?
We request updates on each order every Monday. The portal will be updated if there is a change in status. You will receive the email notifying you of this change within a day or two. However, if there have been no changes then you will not receive a notification.
Don’t worry if you haven’t received an update in awhile. It’s perfectly normal not to receive an update for a few weeks. For example, if you are ‘waiting for a build allocation’, this could not change for weeks, or if you have a confirmed build week in the future, it won’t change until after that date.You can rest assured that this process is managed on a weekly basis and if there is a change, you will be notified.
If at any point you are unsure, our customer support team will be happy to answer any questions you may have.
You can see an example of what your portal page will look like above.
Who do I speak to if I am not getting any updates?
If you aren’t getting any updates at all, then speak to a member of our admin team or alternatively any member of our customer support team . We will be able to check your login details and passwords and also advise you over the phone of the status of your vehicle whilst we change or reset your details.
What do each of the different stages mean?
Now we’ve gone over the basics of the portal, what does each status update mean?
Vehicle Ordered: Pretty self-explanatory but it means that your vehicle has been ordered with the manufacturer and the journey is underway.
New order – no update yet: Because your order is new, there won’t be an update. However that does not mean you need to worry, you will receive an update the following week.
Sorry, no build week yet: Once your car has been ordered, it will be allocated a build date. If you get this update, then it has not yet been allocated a build week. Build dates work on when the order was placed, so there might be quite a queue.
Expected build week: This is when we get an update from the manufacturer. This is the week we are expecting your vehicle to be built in. However, these dates are only estimates and can be subject to change. This date can either be moved forward or backwards. For more information on why your build date might move read our article here.
In build: Your car is being built! It can usually stay at this status for 2-3 weeks.
Vehicle built – in transit to port: Your car has been built. It’s now left the factory and is on route to the port of exit ready to be shipped.
At port of exit: Your car has now arrived at the port and waiting to be shipped. It will need to clear customs and excise. You should allow up to three days for this part of the process.
Awaiting ship: Now your vehicle has cleared customs and excise, it’s ready and waiting for shipment to the UK, the timeframe for this depends on the volume of cars at the port of exit.
Vehicle is on ship: Your vehicle is now being shipped across the ocean to the UK. The time this can take can vary depending on where the vehicle is coming from. So, a car that’s coming from China can take a lot longer than if it was being shipped from Spain.
UK Port: It’s in the UK! The speed at which this happens can vary. For peak trading months, there can be a high volume going through the port. This can inevitably lead to delays. However, we do try and ensure your order is moved along as quickly as possible.
In transit to dealer: Your car is now on the road and on its way to the dealership.
Vehicle due to the dealer: We will now be given an estimation as to when the vehicle will arrive at the dealership. As I said, this is only an estimation, and the time can vary.
In stock: This is the final part of the journey. Your vehicle has arrived at the dealership and is ready for its pre-delivery inspection. We will then be offered the soonest possible delivery date. Your vehicle will soon be delivered free straight to your door.
So, as you can see, there are quite a few steps in the delivery process. And, because this happens behind the scenes, if you didn’t have the portal then you would be kept in the dark. That’s why the portal is so great, you know what’s happening to your car at any given time. You can access it day or night. Hopefully, this has given you an insight into the portal.
