Poll: how long did you have to wait for your new car?

The reason for this article is the increasing number of emails we receive from readers with stories about unexpectedly long delivery times. We are talking about situations in which a buyer has to wait several months to up to two years for his or her new car to arrive. A striking example is the situation of AutoWeek reader Jesper de Vries. He ordered a new Skoda Octavia from the dealer in March 2021, only to be surprised more than ten times with the message that the delivery had been postponed. Just this week he heard that the expected delivery time has been pushed back again, to week 11 of 2023. If he does actually get the car, then he will have had to wait about two years for it.

Such long waiting times in the highest segment are not unique. After all, cars such as the SUVs from Ferrari and Lamborghini mentioned above are not produced on a large scale, but are attracting a relatively large amount of interest from buyers. The result: ordering one now may be possible, but you’ll have to wait for the people who preceded you to receive their copy first. For a self-assembled copy of a Skoda Octavia and similar cars you would expect it to be different. Waiting anywhere from a few weeks to a few months at the most was common, but since the start of the pandemic it has become much more common for buyers to wait longer than six months.

Cause

Admittedly, before 2020, we considered events such as a global pandemic or a war on the European continent as almost impossible, which is one of the reasons why dealing with the consequences is quite difficult. It started with a shortage of microchips, followed by personnel shortages and then parts shortages due to the war. The result: the lengths of waiting times for cars are increasingly difficult to predict. Apart from the fact that there is a lot of catching up to do, each shortage also has its own moment when it decreases, disappears or even worsens.

Not only Jesper de Vries experiences this, but more and more people who ordered a new car. Also a family member of the undersigned, who bought a new Skoda Enyaq in April of 2022. Initially, that car would arrive in the Netherlands – quite some time later – week 52 of that year, after which the forecast changed to week 8-2023, to become week 21-2023 later. Knowing that further delays are imminent, he opted this week for another available new Enyaq, instead of the one he assembled himself. You didn’t have to wait any longer, but then you end up with a car that is not quite yours.

Delivery time topics

Now, in both examples cited, it concerns cars from Skoda, but readers who email us experience similar things with many other brands. Whether it concerns an EV or a car with a combustion engine: global current events influence the supply of the parts for it, regardless of the make of the car. On the forums of Tweakers There are ‘delivery time topics’ for several makes and models, in which buyers keep each other informed about the expected delivery dates of their new cars, whether or not they have been delayed. Please note: at the same time, we must also note that there are brands and models where the problem does not play a role, or only to a minor extent.

Still: it occurs frequently and that is why it is extremely interesting for us as a car platform for consumers, among others. That is why we are throwing a ball around to get a better picture of how much the problem affects our readers. Do you have in 2020 or after ordered a new car and the delivery time is unusually long? Or was the expected delivery date pushed back significantly? All experiences about having to wait a long time for a car are welcome. We would therefore like to encourage you to explain your experiences, preferably with the necessary relevant details, below. How long did you initially have to wait? How much longer or did it take? Did it perhaps make you decide to dissolve a purchase contract? Tick ​​the answer that applies to you below and tell us all about it in the comments, so that we can take stock.

If you share your experience below, please be as specific as possible. Indicate when you ordered the car, which make, model and which engine it concerns, what the initial delivery time was and how long it ultimately took or will take.