Is Mine the Longest Build Time?

[Virgil van Bike]

Very sorry to hear this. It sounds like you are about to get the same treatment as I did.

Please let me save you some grief. VW UK will do the square root of nothing. The Dealer is completely passive. VW UK will not call VW Germany to ask WTF is going on. If you are very , very lucky the dealer might loan you a "vehicle" but highly likely it will not be a Cali.

After 11 months of utter nonsense, in my experience, you only have 2 options; 1 - Wait or 2 - Buy something else. Again, I am really sorry your order is going this way. Great vehicle, worst buying experience ever.

Dropped a sh*tty mail to the stealer, let's see what California Chris has to say!

 

[Virgil van Bike]

Oh no - how infuriating! Any reason given? Do you have a particularly 'interesting' spec? I have a wk 45 confirmation but am going to continue to keep fingers crossed since this is the first I've heard of confirmations being unconfirmed...

My spec is nothing unusual, T6.1 150, Indium grey, Nav pro, high beam assist, woodstock wheels, shower connection.
VW Chat is blaming the stealer, can't see it's anything to do with them, as they were bemused at the delay last time I spoke to them.
Nice if one of them would take responsibility and do something about it!

 

[Amarillo]

Dealers are each given an allocation. Vehicles from that allocation have absolute priority. After that you have to join the back of the queue. Allocations to UK dealers are handed out by VWUK based on the previous years' sales figures.

I expect this is a period of high demand for the California across Europe, so the wait if you don't have an allocation vehicle might be quite long. I also expect that at this time of year dealers will be running out of their allocations.

 

[subthree]

What Tom/Amarillo has explained is correct. I would be tempted to speak with another dealer, do they have a spare allocation, can they match the price...

 

[Virgil van Bike]

Dealers are each given an allocation. Vehicles from that allocation have absolute priority. After that you have to join the back of the queue. Allocations to UK dealers are handed out by VWUK based on the previous years' sales figures.

I expect this is a period of high demand for the California across Europe, so the wait if you don't have an allocation vehicle might be quite long. I also expect that at this time of year dealers will be running out of their allocations.

Mine was part of the dealer allocation. It matched the spec I wanted perfectly and was already on order. That now makes it even more ridiculous!
I’m a patient person generally, but this is really grinding my gears now..

 

[calibusje]

Mine was part of the dealer allocation. It matched the spec I wanted perfectly and was already on order. That now makes it even more ridiculous!
I’m a patient person generally, but this is really grinding my gears now..

There is something more going on and despite all the explanations, it has to do with corona (it gets worse quickly) and especially the understaffing of the california hall, and a certain period of extremely high orders in the UK which they take first. Explanation from the Volkswagen dealer himself.
Patience is a beautiful virtue, they say, but if you are waiting for something and the waiting time is getting longer, you can do 2 things: get very frustrated with it or look forward to it & save even more I’m going for the latter but I understand you and feel with you.
Greetings

 

[Amarillo]

Mine was part of the dealer allocation. It matched the spec I wanted perfectly and was already on order. That now makes it even more ridiculous!
I’m a patient person generally, but this is really grinding my gears now..

Sorry to say this - but if you did have one of the dealer allocation vehicles I expect it has gone to someone else who the salesman felt was just that bit less patient than you. Someone coming into the showroom post lockdown demanding a campervan for delivery before the summer or no sale. Salesman and sales manager look through the list of vehicles on order, and who to bump off the list. Change of spec, and hey presto, the new customer has their van in a few short weeks and you are sent to the back of the queue with a massive delay due to unprecedented demand.

Just a theory. Shoot it down someone please, I'd hate it to be true.

 

[Jenny H]

Dealers are each given an allocation. Vehicles from that allocation have absolute priority. After that you have to join the back of the queue. Allocations to UK dealers are handed out by VWUK based on the previous years' sales figures.

I expect this is a period of high demand for the California across Europe, so the wait if you don't have an allocation vehicle might be quite long. I also expect that at this time of year dealers will be running out of their allocations.

Thats interesting to know thank you - Im not desperate for my Cali but do want to avoid the 10% duty - may just quiz the dealer about his allocation status!

 

[PhilR]

Dropped a sh*tty mail to the stealer, let's see what California Chris has to say!

I'm guessing you ordered from Liverpool then? I would never go there again, they weren't interested in selling us an Ocean, even though we made an appointment, travelled 2 hours and had the deposit "in our back pocket" ready to order. Didn't see California Chris, dealt with a salesman called James. Over 3 weeks have passed and I still haven't heard anything back from him. I posted a message on CC YouTube channel saying this, but he hasn't replied to that.

 

[Virgil van Bike]

I'm guessing you ordered from Liverpool then? I would never go there again, they weren't interested in selling us an Ocean, even though we made an appointment, travelled 2 hours and had the deposit "in our back pocket" ready to order. Didn't see California Chris, dealt with a salesman called James. Over 3 weeks have passed and I still haven't heard anything back from him. I posted a message on CC YouTube channel saying this, but he hasn't replied to that.

Yep, Liverpool it is. Had a reply saying they’re trying to get to the bottom of it, so I’ll see where that goes. It’s the zero communication that gets me - well one of the things! As everyone says, for a vehicle this expensive, the buying experience is shocking!

 

[GrahamB]

If you have a confirmed week 44 build then you should hopefully see it this side of Christmas. Typically a couple of weeks to be shipped and a couple of weeks to get from UK port to dealer. What a Christmas present!

Thanks that’s good to know! It would be nice to have it for the Christmas break!

 

[Calitreks]

May or may not assist some . . .

 

[Virgil van Bike]

So, after a few days chasing I now have a confirmed build week 46, and should have the van by Christmas. Been an up and down ride, so not counting my chickens quite yet, but. A chink of light at the end of the tunnel. Should be around 285 days!

 

[PhilR]

So, after a few days chasing I now have a confirmed build week 46, and should have the van by Christmas. Been an up and down ride, so not counting my chickens quite yet, but. A chink of light at the end of the tunnel. Should be around 285 days!

Fingers crossed for you mate! Keep us posted.

 

[subthree]

So, after a few days chasing I now have a confirmed build week 46, and should have the van by Christmas. Been an up and down ride, so not counting my chickens quite yet, but. A chink of light at the end of the tunnel. Should be around 285 days!

Great news. Good to hear you have been Fast Tracked! (Feeling valued as you spend £60k?)

 

[Virgil van Bike]

Great news. Good to hear you have been Fast Tracked! (Feeling valued as you spend £60k?)

Ha yes, feeling oh so valued! Imagine spending this much on a car and getting treated like this!

 

[Virgil van Bike]

From VW Chat today;
I checked the order and can see that your new California Ocean is currently in production. The vehicle went into production in week 46, this week has commenced from 9th November.

Only 26 weeks from my initial build week!

 

[Virgil van Bike]

Kinell.. so tomorrow I finally pick up my van!
Ordered 11th March, picking up 16th December, I make that 9 months 7 days.
Didn’t quite expect the world to change so much in the interim!

 

[westfalia]

That is probably the longest build time.
Almost like it gestated, did you get an invite to
cut the cord?

 

[Corradobrit]

I may have you beat based on dealers estimate. Ordered mid Nov, deliver 10-12 months later. Ouch

 

[Virgil van Bike]

That is probably the longest build time.
Almost like it gestated, did you get an invite to
cut the cord?

Ha! Almost as satisfying an arrival!

 

[Virgil van Bike]

I may have you beat based on dealers estimate. Ordered mid Nov, deliver 10-12 months later. Ouch

Wowzer! My original dealers estimate was 12 weeks!

 

[Sapmi]

Ordered in Belgium in June 2020, delivery date goes from February 2021 to May 2021 to June 2021 to... What's happening?