New T6.1 order delays

[ardm17]

Looks like this thread (and us) will be around for a while yet then ...

 

[StevenZhang]

We’ve been trying to speak with our dealer since last Tuesday to ask if we can add a tow bar and chrome pack to our order. He replied today saying that he sent us a video update on Monday (which we didn’t receive) but not saying what the update was He’s now out of the office.

Has anyone else received video updates? I’m wondering if this is a follow up to the original ‘Confirmation of order’ email we received direct from VW Vans that had a little video clip in.

I ordered my ocean 4motion last June, and added another four extras two months ago: tow bar, shower, all weather types and second drawer,.My dealer was kindly happy to do that. I received a formal confirming paper by email with all option and price details. He also said these changes would not affect the build and delivery time of my original order.

 

[.Billy Ocean.]

I ordered my ocean 4motion last June, and added another four extras two months ago: tow bar, shower, all weather types and second drawer,.My dealer was kindly happy to do that. I received a formal confirming paper by email with all option and price details. He also said these changes would not affect the build and delivery time of my original order.

Just out of interest, will you pay the June 2021 price for the extras or the current price?

We’re still trying to find out if we can even add any extras, let alone get any answer about prices. It’s taken 10 days for our dealer to confirm our van (still) has an unconfirmed build date in May. I’m assuming this means we can make changes, but I can’t help feeling our dealer is dragging his heels in the hope it will be too late and he’ll save himself some paperwork

Apologies for the negativity. I’ve had better customer service from a vending machine when purchasing a 70p chocolate bar than I’m getting when purchasing a £70k vehicle

 

[Stewbie]

Just out of interest, will you pay the June 2021 price for the extras or the current price?

We’re still trying to find out if we can even add any extras, let alone get any answer about prices. It’s taken 10 days for our dealer to confirm our van (still) has an unconfirmed build date in May. I’m assuming this means we can make changes, but I can’t help feeling our dealer is dragging his heels in the hope it will be too late and he’ll save himself some paperwork

Apologies for the negativity. I’ve had better customer service from a vending machine when purchasing a 70p chocolate bar than I’m getting when purchasing a £70k vehicle

Can I ask where your van is on order from ? I'm also very disappointed in the lack of responsiveness I have received when querying whether or not to make (small) amendments to my original order. The sales guy even moaned about all the extra paperwork that would be required for me to do so !

I agree - when you're spending this kind of money on a new vehicle, you would expect better service, particularly when you are actually looking to increase that spend !

 

[Jay586]

I used to mystery shop car dealerships & VW were always a bit ropey. The best overall shop I ever conducted was for a Ford Transit...sales exec was superb. She knew every technical detail & could close a sale properly. Utterly amazing.

That said, I've had excellent service from Liverpool VW with my current order. I even had a proper demo & a good sales process when we visited the showroom.

I think the delays & lack of stock haven't helped overall but dealerships do vary hugely in levels of service (and allocation of stock).

 

[Boomer]

Some positive news here. Ordered second week Aug 2021 and just been given a confirmed build date of week 11 (which I think is 14th march). We ordered a Coast - fairly standard but optioned in the rear air con, fog lights and heated seats from an electronic/electrical perspective.

 

[meryvan]

I am super disappointed also with the service here in Switzerland. As said last week, our van is currently somewhere in Switzerland (maybe already with the dealer, who knows) and we will be able to collect it “in a week or so”.
I do understand that when the car was in the factory they couldnt give me more info, but not even now, that the car is in “their hands”, they cant even say when I can pick up the car..

 

[StevenZhang]

Just out of interest, will you pay the June 2021 price for the extras or the current price?

We’re still trying to find out if we can even add any extras, let alone get any answer about prices. It’s taken 10 days for our dealer to confirm our van (still) has an unconfirmed build date in May. I’m assuming this means we can make changes, but I can’t help feeling our dealer is dragging his heels in the hope it will be too late and he’ll save himself some paperwork

Apologies for the negativity. I’ve had better customer service from a vending machine when purchasing a 70p chocolate bar than I’m getting when purchasing a £70k vehicle

Indeed, the progress of things is frustrated, and the dealer said that I should be receive my van in May, so there will be no more price increase I should be worried, but I am estimated that the time is very risky. I also have to face this. But to be honest. in any case, I must buy a van this summer, even if the price is 3% increase, it is also better than I buy a used van? But indeed VW shouldn’t pass the responsibility to the customer because of his fault.

 

[Pollewop]

Received very good news from our dealer today:

The "BIG WAIT" is finally coming to an end... In three weeks we can pick up our brand new California
So we ordered end of May '21... Delivery 2nd week of March '22

Very, very happy

 

[Mehdime]

My condolences to the 4000 customers who are seeing their brand new Volkswagen, Porsche, Audi and Bentleys go up in flames on their delivery ship: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-60429584

Crew is safe. The ship was headed for the US so guessing no California was on board.

 

[CaliAzur]

thank god the crew got off the ship safe and sound. For the cars, OMG, sounds like one massively expensive insurance claim

 

[CaliAzur]

Some positive news here. Ordered second week Aug 2021 and just been given a confirmed build date of week 11 (which I think is 14th march). We ordered a Coast - fairly standard but optioned in the rear air con, fog lights and heated seats from an electronic/electrical perspective.

They have stopped Marketing the Coast here in France since about 3 months. I am glad I got mine in time. VW just seem to do what they want whenever they want, no warning, no explanations.

 

[Corradobrit]

They have stopped Marketing the Coast here in France since about 3 months. I am glad I got mine in time. VW just seem to do what they want whenever they want, no warning, no explanations.

Their orders books must be so bulging they can afford to drop the cost conscious Coast variant at this point in the T6.1 design cycle.

 

[couplands]

I used to mystery shop car dealerships & VW were always a bit ropey. The best overall shop I ever conducted was for a Ford Transit...sales exec was superb. She knew every technical detail & could close a sale properly. Utterly amazing.

That said, I've had excellent service from Liverpool VW with my current order. I even had a proper demo & a good sales process when we visited the showroom.

I think the delays & lack of stock haven't helped overall but dealerships do vary hugely in levels of service (and allocation of stock).

My order is also with Liverpool and indeed the demo and sales process was excellent. Its just since the order was placed (June 21) I got radio silence until a few weeks ago when the sales person was changed. I have had more communication in the last few weeks than I did in the last 8 months.

Having said that, I've been given a provisional build date of March but its still showing as Status 0 on the dealer system. I don't hold much hope for it being built in March...;-(

 

[Jay586]

My order is also with Liverpool and indeed the demo and sales process was excellent. Its just since the order was placed (June 21) I got radio silence until a few weeks ago when the sales person was changed. I have had more communication in the last few weeks than I did in the last 8 months.

Having said that, I've been given a provisional build date of March but its still showing as Status 0 on the dealer system. I don't hold much hope for it being built in March...;-(

I think they've been in contact because they have actual news but they've also answered random questions, which surprised me...

 

[Geoff York]

Hi all. So we took the plunge earlier in the year, threw caution to the wind, ignored the eye-watering price tag and ordered a T6.1 California a couple of weeks before lock-down from VW vans (Liverpool). Since then there have been a number of delays and further delays in the delivery date. Apparently VW (Germany) cannot give any firm build and delivery dates. It appears that when it is built it receives a chassis number and then its progress to the dealer can be tracked. We were originally given mid-May for delivery to the dealer which included 4 weeks from issue of chassis number to delivery to the dealer. Since then we have had several revisions to the predicted delivery date, the latest being end of July / beginning of August which is perilously close to the issue of new registrations on 1st September. Apparently the time from issue of chassis number to delivery to the dealer, 8 weeks is now being quoted not the previous 4 weeks. According to the dealer VW are not giving even any rough indications of build completions or delivery to dealer. Come on VW (Germany), where is the communication with the dealer and customer service here. It can't be that difficult to work out and convey this information. You are leaving customers in limbo and causing worry. The news may not be good but at least communicate it so people can plan / cancel camp sites or even cancel the order. After all by September 1st the season is nearly over. I wondered if anyone else is having similar experiences? Kind regards, David and Helen.

In the same situation
Promised May but still no build date
Expecting August so will reg in September
Fu…..Ed this years plans

 

[couplands]

In the same situation
Promised May but still no build date
Expecting August so will reg in September
Fu…..Ed this years plans

We are being told build date of March 22, but its still at Status 0, so not a chance and no possibility of finding out when it might be built for real....;-(

 

[Mrs G]

Sorry to add to your frustration but being realistic on the delivery date is key to prevent disruption to holiday plans.
We ordered Cali ocean 6.1 May 21and we are still waiting for it to be delivered. We told its been built and in transport ! Untold it on my drive I won’t believe what I’m being told. Shocking communication


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[GrumpyGranddad]

Yes, same here.
When I tried to input what I thought was the VW Order number in (starts 31 ... ) MyVW rejected it as unknown. However the number on my 'Dealer' Order was accepted.

It then showed a picture of an ID.3, I have previously seen it reported that you will see a random picture until you get a VIN number, so no concern there.

Last week a VIN number appeared - I got a bit excited until truth dawned, way too early for an Oct 21 order to come through. Now the Vehicle Details link shows a full spec for the vehicle - it is clearly for an ID.3 ..

So, seems that my dealer order number has 'highjacked' someone elses order for an ID.3 on the MyVW app ...

Worrying as I now can see someone elses VIN ... and 'they' all try to convince us that digital data is 'secure' ....

@ardm17
Not sure if things have changed but MyVW used to only give visibility VW cars and not VW commercial vehicles. A Cali’ obviously starts life as a commercial vehicle.

 

[Nand0]

So today I went to visit a dealer. I didn't have to spend too much time talking to the sales guy, as I know a lot about Calis thanks to this forum and me trawling through it. But he said a couple of very interesting things. Bear in mind this is in Switzerland, where there is a single dealer (AMAG) that is nationwide

1. They have about 100 Calis on order, not yet sold, in the whole country. They order in advance because they have to meet a yearly quota, and they will shift, so order them and then customers don't have to wait so long.
2. He told me he has a first batch coming in May. Those are now fixed as they have a confirmed build date, I can have one of those, but I cannot change anything that is done at the factory.
3. He has another batch that he expects to come in July. Apparently those don't have a confirmed build date yet, so he can change the configuration. Meaning that in theory you can put in an order now and it's very likely to be delivered in the summer.
4. When I asked if he can guarantee that, obviously he said no as he cannot control the factory. But there is no down payment on orders, so if July comes and no van arrives, I am free to walk away from the contract. Of course, knowing that the van could be just one month away, most people wouldn't...
5. The most interesting part is this. He told me that demand at the start off this year has dipped. As a result, all orders are getting a 2% discount at the moment on the price. Bear in mind that here you cannot "shop around" for a better deal. Only AMAG sells VAG cars, and the price they set is the price you pay. The alternative is to buy an imported car, but Californias don't sell in enough demand for importers to do them in bulk, only on request (and it's not any cheaper that way).

All this to say that if demand has indeed dipped, perhaps orders will start shifting a little quicker.

 

[CaliAzur]

Their orders books must be so bulging they can afford to drop the cost conscious Coast variant at this point in the T6.1 design cycle.

Indeed, you may well be right, as the ‘Edition’ variant has gone too. I configured the Ocean close as possible to my Coast and it came in at a whopping 12k euros more. Personally I don’t like the grey interior wood effect of the Ocean, nor the digital cockpit which were Ocean baseline here, and my main 2 reasons in opting for a Coast 4 Mo. I really like the light oak cupboard paneling and floor on mine; it makes it a very ‘sunny’ van. I’d go for a Beach with an array of options before the Ocean if those were the only choices.

 

[bob_summers]

5. The most interesting part is this. He told me that demand at the start off this year has dipped. As a result, all orders are getting a 2% discount at the moment on the price. Bear in mind that here you cannot "shop around" for a better deal. Only AMAG sells VAG cars, and the price they set is the price you pay. The alternative is to buy an imported car, but Californias don't sell in enough demand for importers to do them in bulk, only on request (and it's not any cheaper that way).

All this to say that if demand has indeed dipped, perhaps orders will start shifting a little quicker.

I can see there being a lot more choice in the showrooms - people ordered in 2021 hedging their bets for 2022 'staycations', cancelling with no penalty as travel opens back up.
Perhaps also an order placed today wouldn't take upwards of 12mths to delivery.
Those of us already waiting: can't see it making a lot of difference!

 

[CaliAzur]

So today I went to visit a dealer. I didn't have to spend too much time talking to the sales guy, as I know a lot about Calis thanks to this forum and me trawling through it. But he said a couple of very interesting things. Bear in mind this is in Switzerland, where there is a single dealer (AMAG) that is nationwide

1. They have about 100 Calis on order, not yet sold, in the whole country. They order in advance because they have to meet a yearly quota, and they will shift, so order them and then customers don't have to wait so long.
2. He told me he has a first batch coming in May. Those are now fixed as they have a confirmed build date, I can have one of those, but I cannot change anything that is done at the factory.
3. He has another batch that he expects to come in July. Apparently those don't have a confirmed build date yet, so he can change the configuration. Meaning that in theory you can put in an order now and it's very likely to be delivered in the summer.
4. When I asked if he can guarantee that, obviously he said no as he cannot control the factory. But there is no down payment on orders, so if July comes and no van arrives, I am free to walk away from the contract. Of course, knowing that the van could be just one month away, most people wouldn't...
5. The most interesting part is this. He told me that demand at the start off this year has dipped. As a result, all orders are getting a 2% discount at the moment on the price. Bear in mind that here you cannot "shop around" for a better deal. Only AMAG sells VAG cars, and the price they set is the price you pay. The alternative is to buy an imported car, but Californias don't sell in enough demand for importers to do them in bulk, only on request (and it's not any cheaper that way).

All this to say that if demand has indeed dipped, perhaps orders will start shifting a little quicker.

Indeed demand would seem to be dipping for the new van and camping car market. According to French statistics and a report I read earlier, demand/orders for new vans and camping cars is down roughly 10% year on year for the same period compared to February 21, however still above the 2020 figures. However, here for secondhand vehicles, demand is up 6%.

Little analysis was provided for the above,

 

[CaliAzur]

Some good news finally ! Confirmed build week 10 ! anyone know how long from build to delivery ?

That depends on the options you chose and the availability of them. I understand build is a week in each of the 2 factories involved if they have all the parts. If they don’t have all your options, then they do the build, but will park it up till the missing pieces arrive, after which it’s completed and signed off. All being well you should have your California between 6 to 8 weeks after the build starts. Mine went into build late July 21 and I received it mid/late September. You should have it during May .

 

[ardm17]

@ardm17
Not sure if things have changed but MyVW used to only give visibility VW cars and not VW commercial vehicles. A Cali’ obviously starts life as a commercial vehicle.

Yes, I think you are right with that, guessing maybe it works once you have an actual VIN number to add. Gradually working the 'excitement' out of my system and settling done to the long wait and eventual 'surprise' of delivery. Doesn't stop the continued purchase of 'stuff for the van' though ...