Delayed delivery

[Clinkers]

David. Can I ask how you managed that. As my car is in Derby I assumed that wouldn’t be an option as I can’t negotiate with the local dealer to just release it. Cheers.

[David Williamson]

Clinkers, I pressurised my dealer.

[WhiteHart]

Had to called the dealership yesterday, as they sent me a message about my MOT and service contract. So my car is said to ready end of June. So I will be just over a year waiting. 

[Hillie]

This appeared in the Daily Smell,  sorry I meant DailyMail, on vehicle delivery delays.  The Lexus NX gets two mentions.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/cars/article-12024471/How-long-takes-new-car-delivered-Britain.html?ico=mol_desktop_money

Lexus response,  I quote: ' Our dealers undertake regular communication programmes to update customers on their orders '  REALLY!!!!!

[Gary H]

On 5/5/2023 at 3:11 PM, Hillie said:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/cars/article-12024471/How-long-takes-new-car-delivered-Britain.html?ico=mol_desktop_money

Lexus response,  I quote: ' Our dealers undertake regular communication programmes to update customers on their orders '  REALLY!!!!!

Oh the irony! Lexus dealers...having regular ‘communications programmes to update customers’! 🤔😄 My dealer certainly hasn't had that memo! If it wasn't for me enquiring, there would have been zero contact over the near-year I've been waiting for any news. The one and only time they actually contacted me off their own backs was at the end of March, a few days after I'd e-mailed Customer Relations (coincidence? Unlikely...) and that was just to tell me of yet another delay to my roughest of rough 'estimates'. 

Thanks for the link by the way - I was actually going to link that one myself as one of my bosses at work come across it and forwarded it to me. This situation is starting to become a running joke where I work. One of the directors of the company has a six-figure car (out of privacy I won’t say what) and was more or less built to order. That took a fraction under nine months from the day of ordering to the day of collection - and that's not going back too long ago either. For a mid-size Lexus SUV to be, at my point of almost a year from ordering without even so much as a build date yet, is laughable not only to him, but fellow colleagues who know just how unhelpful, unresponsive and uncommunicative Lexus have been.

[WhiteHart]

37 minutes ago, Gary H said:

' Our dealers undertake regular communication programmes to update customers on their orders ' 

Sadly my dealer only read the memo after I called in to say that I would look at other car makers. Then he called me twice and no more. Still had to call them the other day and got an update. And it's 6 months later than I was told a year ago. Getting a bit bored, but just about looking forward getting it.

[Harry Junior]

2 hours ago, Gary H said:

Oh the irony! Lexus dealers...having regular ‘communications programmes to update customers’! 🤔😄 My dealer certainly hasn't had that memo! If it wasn't for me enquiring, there would have been zero contact over the near-year I've been waiting for any news. The one and only time they actually contacted me off their own backs was at the end of March, a few days after I'd e-mailed Customer Relations (coincidence? Unlikely...) and that was just to tell me of yet another delay to my roughest of rough 'estimates'. 

Thanks for the link by the way - I was actually going to link that one myself as one of my bosses at work come across it and forwarded it to me. This situation is starting to become a running joke where I work. One of the directors of the company has a six-figure car (out of privacy I won’t say what) and was more or less built to order. That took a fraction under nine months from the day of ordering to the day of collection - and that's not going back too long ago either. For a mid-size Lexus SUV to be, at my point of almost a year from ordering without even so much as a build date yet, is laughable not only to him, but fellow colleagues who know just how unhelpful, unresponsive and uncommunicative Lexus have been.

It would be laughable if it wasn’t so pathetic for a luxury brand. It feels like they are top down unreliable.  It must be tough to be a Lexus dealer, that said, when the company closes up like a clam. It appears Lexus don’t ever wish to be bearers of bad news. For us customers, that’s hard to live with. 
So mine is due delivery today, according to the dealer. He told me that as he awaited arrival from Derby. What with the bank holiday, I fully predicted that wasn’t going to happen. Guess what? Total silence. I’m out of the country but I don’t expect to hear anything until I have to chase on my return next week. That’s the Lexus way. You know it. I know it. 

[WhiteHart]

5 minutes ago, Harry Junior said:

That’s the Lexus way.

That’s the corporate way it’s the same lack of service that we get everywhere today.  It is sad that you can spend tens of thousands of pounds or should I say try and spend tens of thousands of pounds and get treated like you’ve gone into an old Woolworths store and try to buy pick and mix. 

[RXtoNX]

12 hours ago, Harry Junior said:

It would be laughable if it wasn’t so pathetic for a luxury brand. It feels like they are top down unreliable.  It must be tough to be a Lexus dealer, that said, when the company closes up like a clam. It appears Lexus don’t ever wish to be bearers of bad news. For us customers, that’s hard to live with. 
So mine is due delivery today, according to the dealer. He told me that as he awaited arrival from Derby. What with the bank holiday, I fully predicted that wasn’t going to happen. Guess what? Total silence. I’m out of the country but I don’t expect to hear anything until I have to chase on my return next week. That’s the Lexus way. You know it. I know it. 

To be fair it is not all Lexus dealers who are devoid of communication, although the numbers do seem to be increasing.

After we ordered our 450h+ back in Jan 2022 we were quoted May/June 2022 delivery. It eventually arrived on our doorstep Aug 1st 2022 and we were kept updated on changes to delivery dates and progress via a telephone call every 4 weeks maximum.

Same dealer also told us back in Jan 2022 that if we ordered a 350h delivery would be between Oct 22 - Dec 22 hence why I have commented before that some of you who had been quoted earlier delivery dates back in Jan/Feb 22 had been lied Toby certain dealers. Maybe it is the dealers who told the porkies who are not good at customer facing. 

[LenT]

30 minutes ago, RXtoNX said:

After we ordered our 450h+ back in Jan 2022 we were quoted May/June 2022 delivery. It eventually arrived on our doorstep Aug 1st 2022 and we were kept updated on changes to delivery dates and progress via a telephone call every 4 weeks maximum.

I take it that you are overall satisfied with the performance of your Dealer.

I’m sure it will help other Members if you would name this Dealer.  Sadly, while there’s no reticence among complainers to ‘name & shame’, good customer service perhaps doesn’t get the recognition it rightly deserves.  

[David Williamson]

My dealer, Lexus Twickenham / Currie Motors has been very responsive. Unexpectedly they seem to be dealing with a manufacturer who keeps them in the dark. I was contacted by Lexus for feedback on Friday unfortunately I was unable to talk to them. Hopefully they’ll call back this week when I have more time.

[WhiteHart]

As I don’t have a life until my new car get here, I found an article about Toyota so here is what I think are the highlights . Dated earlier this year. 
“Delivery delays due to parts shortages are more serious for luxury cars that use many semiconductors. Lexus models use over 1,000, several hundred more than a typical Toyota car. There is a chip shortage for various applications including remote control keys for locking the vehicle and semiconductors for audio equipment.” And “Toyota has not disclosed the production volume of Lexus cars, but they are mainly made at domestic plants and the profit per vehicle is about 1.5 million yen. It is about twice as profitable as other Toyota brands such as the Corolla. The company will look to procure semiconductors under long-term contracts within the group to avoid further supply issues.”

Here is the link if needed https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Automobiles/Toyota-limits-orders-for-Lexus-in-Japan-due-to-chip-shortage

[Scotlex]

15 hours ago, WhiteHart said:

That’s the corporate way it’s the same lack of service that we get everywhere today.  It is sad that you can spend tens of thousands of pounds or should I say try and spend tens of thousands of pounds and get treated like you’ve gone into an old Woolworths store and try to buy pick and mix. 

I have to agree about the lack of service just now. Since Covid, service in most areas is absolutely shocking. Not unusual to spend an hour on the phone listening to "your call is important to us" 🙄

At least I can normally get through to my Lexus dealer 😀( even although the news is generally disappointing)

[RXtoNX]

3 hours ago, LenT said:

I take it that you are overall satisfied with the performance of your Dealer.

I’m sure it will help other Members if you would name this Dealer.  Sadly, while there’s no reticence among complainers to ‘name & shame’, good customer service perhaps doesn’t get the recognition it rightly deserves.  

I have named them before Len, it is Lexus Ipswich, part of the Steven Eaglell Group. I’ve never had any issues with sales or after sales with them in the 6 years I’ve dealt with them.

[LenT]

1 hour ago, RXtoNX said:

I have named them before Len, it is Lexus Ipswich, part of the Steven Eaglell Group. I’ve never had any issues with sales or after sales with them in the 6 years I’ve dealt with them.

That’s interesting, Paul.

I bought my Lexus from Lexus Milton Keynes - part of the same Group, in fact where they are actually based - and have had the same excellent experience over much the same period.

If anything, I’m a disappointment to them.  They keep trying to interest me In a new Lexus - but I’m very happy with the one I’ve got!

[Ken R]

I ordered my 450h in September 2021 and it arrived at the dealer (Lexus Edinburgh) in February 2022. I took delivery in March 2022. Throughout the period from ordering to delivery I was kept fully informed.

[Andyml]

On 4/17/2023 at 1:30 PM, David Williamson said:

I’ve just been advised by my dealer that Lexus have advised him that the delay in delivery is due to a lack of mudguards which are provided as part of my Protection Pack. The mudguards are, allegedly, manufactured in Russia, or Ukraine and are in very short supply. Therefore the car will be delivered without them and I will be reimbursed for the purchase price. The vehicle could be delivered, sans mudguards, by the end of the week. Watch this space…

My NX350h was handed over to me at Twickenham end of March 23 54 weeks after ordering. Mudflats were fitted as required and security wheel bolts. I’ll feel happier when my second key arrives…

[Gary H]

On 5/6/2023 at 9:05 PM, Harry Junior said:

It would be laughable if it wasn’t so pathetic for a luxury brand. It feels like they are top down unreliable.  It must be tough to be a Lexus dealer, that said, when the company closes up like a clam. It appears Lexus don’t ever wish to be bearers of bad news. For us customers, that’s hard to live with. 
So mine is due delivery today, according to the dealer. He told me that as he awaited arrival from Derby. What with the bank holiday, I fully predicted that wasn’t going to happen. Guess what? Total silence. I’m out of the country but I don’t expect to hear anything until I have to chase on my return next week. That’s the Lexus way. You know it. I know it. 

Indeed. I don’t think I want to threaten them with cancellation as of yet, but if it’s the only way they might actually look into what’s happening with my order rather than giving the same generic responses, then it’s something I’m going to have to consider adding into the draft I've got ready for Customer Relations. I’m aiming to send it at the end of the week. 

The dealers are surely going to have to compensate those with long-standing orders, like ourselves, for this ridiculous situation which we know all too well not everyone has had to endure for essentially the same product.

On 5/6/2023 at 9:15 PM, WhiteHart said:

That’s the corporate way it’s the same lack of service that we get everywhere today.  It is sad that you can spend tens of thousands of pounds or should I say try and spend tens of thousands of pounds and get treated like you’ve gone into an old Woolworths store and try to buy pick and mix. 

I couldn’t have put that better myself. Very well said. As someone who has been dealing with new cars for 20 years (well, 25 if you include everything), I’ve never, ever known a dealer to be as uncommunicative as my local Lexus Dealer. Believe me - that takes some doing. As I’ve said elsewhere, it’s not really the order I regret placing, but I certainly regret placing it with that particular dealer. They were happy and quick enough to take my deposit from me...and then basically abandon all communication with me since. 

I’m not really willing to ‘name and shame’ this dealer at this stage, but looking at a number of posts going back before my time on this forum, it seems it’s a dealer which has been very much praised in the past (as recently as towards the end of last year). All I can say is that I’ve experienced none of this. They seem decent enough when it comes to servicing, but in terms of sales? They’ve been dreadful.

On 5/7/2023 at 9:27 AM, RXtoNX said:

To be fair it is not all Lexus dealers who are devoid of communication, although the numbers do seem to be increasing.

After we ordered our 450h+ back in Jan 2022 we were quoted May/June 2022 delivery. It eventually arrived on our doorstep Aug 1st 2022 and we were kept updated on changes to delivery dates and progress via a telephone call every 4 weeks maximum.

Same dealer also told us back in Jan 2022 that if we ordered a 350h delivery would be between Oct 22 - Dec 22 hence why I have commented before that some of you who had been quoted earlier delivery dates back in Jan/Feb 22 had been lied Toby certain dealers. Maybe it is the dealers who told the porkies who are not good at customer facing. 

When I was discussing this order with the parents the other week, my father (someone who worked in sales pretty much his entire working life until retirement) actually come up with a theory:

Give an 'estimated date' out of thin air which they know full well won’t be achieved. Get quite close to that date then revise it back a few months... A way of thinking you’re getting close as to not cancel the order, but keep on pushing it back until an official date from the factory comes in. 

I suspect this is why I'm being told ‘August/Mid-August’ whilst I know a few others here with similar specs on order are now being told October - which is what I’m fully expecting to be told when I next contact Customer Relations. Get to around August/September time when I next go 'above dealer level' for any sort of communication, this 'October' date will suddenly become December... Rinse and repeat. 

I think it'll be at this point, the end of the summer chase-up, I’ll likely be getting my deposit back and walking away if it's clear that 'the string holding the carrot' is never going to get any shorter for my order.

[PaulWhitt20]

It makes it very difficult to plan ahead if you order a car for delivery some time in the distant future. Will you still want the same car a year or so down the line, what happens if they change the spec or the colour you ordered is no longer available? Will the finance deal be honored? Then if you are on a fixed term contract with your current car what happens when that finishes and the new car is not ready. 
I wonder if we are seeing the start of a new way to buy cars where you look at dealer stock all over the country and try and find the spec that matches your requirements the best and buy from what is currently available and don’t buy brand new. 

[Harry Junior]

Latest from Derby - for me at least, waiting for my NX450h+ takumi re-promised finally for 6th May (I know, coronation day, right?) 

"We had a parts shortage on the NX (since resolved) and it appears your vehicle ETA now updated on 05/05/2023 to 17/05/2023"

What the connotations are for any other orders sitting in Derby I cannot say of course, and I note that this is still only an ETA. Hopefully this long saga is coming to an end, just one year after ordering. Dealer has been pretty good throughout, but at the mercy of corporate. 

Fingers crossed for this - and for you all out there waiting as I have done.

[HMT]

3 hours ago, Harry Junior said:

Latest from Derby - for me at least, waiting for my NX450h+ takumi re-promised finally for 6th May (I know, coronation day, right?) 

"We had a parts shortage on the NX (since resolved) and it appears your vehicle ETA now updated on 05/05/2023 to 17/05/2023"

What the connotations are for any other orders sitting in Derby I cannot say of course, and I note that this is still only an ETA. Hopefully this long saga is coming to an end, just one year after ordering. Dealer has been pretty good throughout, but at the mercy of corporate. 

Fingers crossed for this - and for you all out there waiting as I have done.

Is the ETA of the 17th to the dealership from Derby or your collection date at the dealer?

[Harry Junior]

1 minute ago, HMT said:

Is the ETA of the 17th to the dealership from Derby or your collection date at the dealer?

To the dealership I’m afraid. Then they have to install front and rear dash cams and protect the paintwork. I am not holding my breath….

[Gary H]

On 5/8/2023 at 2:26 PM, PaulWhitt20 said:

It makes it very difficult to plan ahead if you order a car for delivery some time in the distant future. Will you still want the same car a year or so down the line, what happens if they change the spec or the colour you ordered is no longer available? Will the finance deal be honored? Then if you are on a fixed term contract with your current car what happens when that finishes and the new car is not ready. 
I wonder if we are seeing the start of a new way to buy cars where you look at dealer stock all over the country and try and find the spec that matches your requirements the best and buy from what is currently available and don’t buy brand new. 

That’s what worries me. I know there’s already been the odd minor tweak to the Takumi model - so what I ordered almost a full year ago isn't what I’ll be getting (not that the dealer has bothered to tell me...). Fortunately the colour an interior are still available...for now. 

My salesman hasn't even gone over the finance with me. The total price will be honoured (I'm one of the fortunate ones from last year where my price has been locked) but at the time of ordering he said he wouldn't be able to give definite figures in that sense until much nearer the time. Having worked in accounts in the past myself I 'kind of' get that, although knowing the car was originally estimated to be twelve months away, I'd have thought Lexus would have been more flexible or come up with some sort of deal to show understanding. 

The contract on my UX comes to an end in September and they’re waiting to hear from me how long to extend it for...of which I'm waiting for any sort of progress on my order. No progress, no build date, no hope given. I have no idea what to tell them. Three months? Six months? More...? I feel that Lexus really have fundamentally screwed up when it comes to supplying the NX. They’ve very much ‘picked and chosen’ what orders to build, whilst pushing others, like myself, to one side indefinitely. Given I'm now almost up to the twelve month mark with no news, it's clear they couldn't care less about those who are having to wait much longer than others. Not just to get it shipped or delivered - the final stages - but simply getting the car built in the first place.

My 'second to last' Audi come from existing new, unregistered stock within the dealer network - so it’s something which I know happens elsewhere. It was the same model and colour I wanted - it just lacked one of the two options I wanted and it saved me something along the lines of eight weeks in terms of ordering it from scratch. A long time back then, but a mere ‘blink of an eye’ to what I’m dealing with here with Lexus.

[Andy B]

@Gary H As you are starting to get closer to crunch time with your UX contract, have you considered cancelling your current NX order (if possible and assuming no penalty incurred) and looking elsewhere for the NX?

Would you be prepared to travel across the country to source a NX from a different dealer? I still occasionally get emails from my local dealer advertising new NXs that are supposedly available for delivery within a month or two (I assume that these are cancelled orders). Obviously you may have to be slightly flexible on spec and possibly the colour combination.

Also you may find some nearly-new, low mileage, used examples across the dealer network.

 

[WhiteHart]

I have just checked for my NX450 spec and for the first time I’ve found one that matches my full specification, but it has nearly 8000 miles on the clock and they want nearly £3000 more than I am due to pay in June. It is also missing my front and rear dash cams.  If your contract is with Lexus , they should be able to be flexible.  

1 hour ago, Andy B said:

@Gary H As you are starting to get closer to crunch time with your UX contract, have you considered cancelling your current NX order (if possible and assuming no penalty incurred) and looking elsewhere for the NX?

Would you be prepared to travel across the country to source a NX from a different dealer? I still occasionally get emails from my local dealer advertising new NXs that are supposedly available for delivery within a month or two (I assume that these are cancelled orders). Obviously you may have to be slightly flexible on spec and possibly the colour combination.

Also you may find some nearly-new, low mileage, used examples across the dealer network.