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After recently being let down badly with my Astra ST delivery Motability gave me a free cancellation due to the way the dealership had let me down. From start to finish my order was mainly made up of fairy stories and cancelled orders leading to what was effectively a downgraded vehicle.
I’ve now gone to a completely different dealership and manufacturer, on the day I ordered my car I was told that the same afternoon I would have a chassis number to watch the progress of the car being built through the factory. When the number never materialised I phoned the next day and was then told it ‘might’ take two days to get the number. The two days turned into a week with still nothing. The dealership then told me Toyota had stacked orders as they were building a new model. Someone on the Toyota forum said this was more likely to mean the dealership had filled their sales quota for the month and were holding back my order for the following month’s quota.
I was then given a further date which has come and gone with still no chassis number. I had explained to the dealership why Motability were allowing me to have another new car and they assured me that would NOT HAPPEN. I’m beginning to feel all dealers are the same, full of missed dates, loads of fairy stories and all were trained in the Land Of Make Believe..
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I suspect that the advice you have had on the Toyota forum is correct and the dealer is waiting for order slots to become available to them. This is a problem that crops up continuously with lots of dealerships, not just Toyota. People understandably don’t appreciate that when they think they are placing an ‘order’, all they are really doing is expressing an interest. The actual order is placed at a later stage between the dealer and the manufacturer. If the dealer has available build slots, the order is usually placed within 24 hours or so. It’s not a chassis number you are after by the way, it’s an order tracking number. VIN numbers aren’t allocated until the car is actually built.
When considering ordering a new car I always ask the dealer if they have any immediately available build slots for that particular car. If they don’t I try another dealership. Problem is that many lie and imply that they have order slots when they don’t, just to get the business. Countless people on this forum have experienced this and don’t realise until they have waited a month or more and not heard anything.
In your situation I would ask the dealer to tell you honestly if they are waiting for order slots to become available. If the answer is yes, ask another dealership and consider moving to them if they have immediately available order slots.
Thanks for the help, really appreciated.
I did ask about the build slots and that’s when I was told I would have the number later the same day. The annoying thing for me is that dealers always seem to tell you what they ‘think’ you want to hear rather than them telling you the truth, unpalatable as that may be.
The annoying thing for me is that dealers always seem to tell you what they ‘think’ you want to hear rather than them telling you the truth, unpalatable as that may be.
That is so true, unfortunately. Dealers get away with it because the vast majority of customers don’t understand the concept of build allocations and understandably think that they have ordered a car when the dealer gives them a form to that effect and (if required) takes a deposit. Sadly, in many cases, it can be a month or, in extreme cases, several months before the actual order is placed with the manufacturer. Once they have the ‘order’ the dealer hopes that the customer will stick with them as, by the time the customer realises that the dealer has gone very quiet for a month or two, there would be nothing to be gained by cancelling and going to another dealership as they would go to the back of the queue again!
The added problem that we have at the moment is the semiconductor chip issue which is causing extended lead times for the majority of manufacturers. Many dealers (and some manufacturers) aren’t being up front about how this is affecting lead times as they are worried that customers will go elsewhere. Having implied that the customer will get the car in “a few months” in order to secure the order, they will then tell the customer a few months later that there is a delay, implying that this is new news!
I can relate to not having any idea about build dates GlosGuy and then when it all goes wrong and runs on for months, resulting in pethetic laughable lies..
<p style=”text-align: left;”>But just to throw something else in mix you can be still given an order number thinking they slot is there only for it to be cancelled and when you look into it they say it’s a ghost number until slots are available I’ve noticed over the 15 or so years with motorbility dealerships are getting more sneaky than when I first ordered a vectra but that was a family run dealership which there isn’t many they big corporate dealerships now</p>
My advice would be to ask Motability to do the work for you. Ask them to call the dealership and confirm it has a build slot, when they lie to motability things are strangely taken more seriously. Less stress, easy trail for cancellation and quite satisfying knowing the sales ‘executive’ can’t say anymore to keep the order.
@Tim info like that is what makes this forum great..
Thanks ajn. I appreciate its simple advice and I hope I’m not stating the obvious. I’m very guilty of often getting too worked up about something and over thinking. Sometimes that works to my advantage, other times where it involves less than transparent sales folk, it doesn’t. They will tell you what you want to hear much of the time and leave you hanging, just enough to keep the sale. Motability force them to have a more honest conversation.
I will agree I’m new to this forum been a motorbility customer for 14 almost 15 years but only found this forum last year get fantastic help of people
My advice would be to ask Motability to do the work for you. Ask them to call the dealership and confirm it has a build slot, when they lie to motability things are strangely taken more seriously. Less stress, easy trail for cancellation and quite satisfying knowing the sales ‘executive’ can’t say anymore to keep the order.
Perhaps it’s just me, but I like to see the whites of their eyes and ask myself! My fear would be that 90% plus of the staff of the Motability help desk probably don’t understand the complexities of build slot allocations either, so I wouldn’t trust them to ask the right questions. They will just ask “have you ordered the car?” and the dealer will say “yes”! Perhaps it’s just a cynicism that comes with age, or several bad experiences, including my first Motability order. Either way, car dealers that tell it straight are a rare breed and I find that when they realise that you know what you are talking about and ask the right questions the BS tends to subside a little!
Absolutely, Glos guy! I used to very much enjoy the intellectual massage that comes from knowing you’ve worked out their game and called them out. Nowadays I’m sadly a bit long in the tooth and would prefer to not deal with such shenanigans from (sadly) a growing number of dealerships. Admittedly I’ve not had a case of an advisor on motability help desk side not knowing the build slot allocation routine. I fully accept it happens and can frustrate things further. If that happened in my case I’d go with my gut instinct rather than be messed about.
Absolutely, Glos guy! I used to very much enjoy the intellectual massage that comes from knowing you’ve worked out their game and called them out. Nowadays I’m sadly a bit long in the tooth and would prefer to not deal with such shenanigans from (sadly) a growing number of dealerships. Admittedly I’ve not had a case of an advisor on motability help desk side not knowing the build slot allocation routine. I fully accept it happens and can frustrate things further. If that happened in my case I’d go with my gut instinct rather than be messed about.
I do agree with you Tim that for most people it’s a stress that we shouldn’t have to endure and few have the appetite for it. Asking Motability to assist is always a good idea in these circumstances. I don’t enjoy it one bit, but I get a bee in my bonnet over BS and find myself ‘on a mission’ ? . As an aside, why does everything have to be so damned difficult? It’s not just buying a car. I am currently trying to get quotes for converting our en-suite to a fully accessible wetroom for my wife, who is a full time wheelchair user. It’s going to cost me well over £10k and we are ready to do it with the money in the bank, yet trying to get bathroom installers to provide quotes is nigh on impossible. I despair!
A big thank you to everyone for all the help and advice. It is really appreciated.
Absolutely, Glos guy! I used to very much enjoy the intellectual massage that comes from knowing you’ve worked out their game and called them out. Nowadays I’m sadly a bit long in the tooth and would prefer to not deal with such shenanigans from (sadly) a growing number of dealerships. Admittedly I’ve not had a case of an advisor on motability help desk side not knowing the build slot allocation routine. I fully accept it happens and can frustrate things further. If that happened in my case I’d go with my gut instinct rather than be messed about.
I do agree with you Tim that for most people it’s a stress that we shouldn’t have to endure and few have the appetite for it. Asking Motability to assist is always a good idea in these circumstances. I don’t enjoy it one bit, but I get a bee in my bonnet over BS and find myself ‘on a mission’
. As an aside, why does everything have to be so damned difficult? It’s not just buying a car. I am currently trying to get quotes for converting our en-suite to a fully accessible wetroom for my wife, who is a full time wheelchair user. It’s going to cost me well over £10k and we are ready to do it with the money in the bank, yet trying to get bathroom installers to provide quotes is nigh on impossible. I despair!I don´t want the thread to drift off topic but we are going to see skills shortages in many areas.
. As an aside, why does everything have to be so damned difficult? It’s not just buying a car. I am currently trying to get quotes for converting our en-suite to a fully accessible wetroom for my wife, who is a full time wheelchair user. It’s going to cost me well over £10k and we are ready to do it with the money in the bank, yet trying to get bathroom installers to provide quotes is nigh on impossible. I despair!- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.