dmloring

I ordered a 2012 A3 TDI at the end of June (order form states 6/30/11). As there were none-yet in the US (or at least with my configuration), the car was ordered and presumably being built by Audi in Germany. I was originally told to expect the car in late August, which seemed reasonable. Now I am told that the expected delivery date is mid to late October.

4 months seems rather excessive to me. Am I wrong? Not sure if there is any point in complaining to the dealership, but I'd appreciate people's thoughts.

Regards,
David

MikeSS

The cause of the delay may be the factory vacation that occurs in August.

dmloring

I presume you are not joking?

tgrundke

Actually, if the dealer quoted you an eight week build and delivery timeline they weren't being very honest with you. The average wait time for an order, factory build and delivery to the dealership is normally about 12 weeks. I would not be surprised if that timeline is longer at the moment, especially with regard to the A3 which is already in tight supply.

Another factor that you always want to ask the dealership is how many allocations they have available to them. If the dealership doesn't have an allocation they have to wait until they have one before the order can be submitted to the factory.

At this point in the game you will want to ask the dealership for a commission number for the build and a subsequent order status. They should be able to provide that to you if the order has indeed been submitted and accepted.

jperryrocks

You started off with mis-information.

It takes 3 months to build and ship a car from Germany.

But just because you place an order with your dealer, DOES NOT mean it starts getting built. Your dealer probably had to wait until the July allocation came down for your order to get picked up by the factory.

Allocation is usually the 3rd week of the month for U.S. Audi dealers.

So if the order finally went through the later part of July, you're probably looking at late October. That sounds about right if they're telling you that.

Part of ordering a car is a timing issue. You could potentially get a car in ~2 months if the dealer changed an existing order before it went to the next level of production stock. But not on a scratch order. It goes like this

5 - I.S. order bank
10- Factory order bank
15- Production Stock
20- Intransit from Factory

Until your car goes from 5 to 10 status, the order just sits there in waiting until you get the allocation from Audi.

dmloring

Thanks everyone. Very helpful, and glad to know that there are plausible/reasonable causes for the length of time it has taken to receive my car. It's rather frustrating that two separate salesmen that I spoke with at Audi could not provide me with the information that all of you just did.

Regards,
David

Evlengr

Asking a salesperson to tell the truth is like asking a politician to get something done.

Elilum

Did you ever get your A3 TDI in? would love to see some pix

DaveMBA3

My situation was similar, I ordered my 2012 A3 on June 5, dealer stated it would be delivered mid-August. I think August 12 my A3 was waiting at the dealer for pick-up. So about 2 months at that point was correct. In Germany numerous businesses close or slow production during August for vacation breaks. I pestered my sales guy and verified that the order had been electronically submitted and checked the status along the way-so I knew when my order was up for build, completed, trucked to rail, then on the boat, when it arrived at the port in NJ, and when it passed US customs and on the truck to NoVa. DMB

dmloring

Heard from my awful salesperson (never calls back; only emails) that my car is due in either this weekend or next. Not holding my breath, but will send photos when it arrives.