Car makers, dealers ‘misleading’ Qld customers on wait times
Leading car manufacturers and dealers have been accused of misleading Queensland customers on the true wait times for new vehicle deliveries. But they say they are also being deceived.
QLD Business
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Leading car manufacturers and dealers have been accused of misleading Queensland customers on the true wait times for new vehicle deliveries, with the “nightmare” set to continue into 2024.
Customers who have already been waiting more than 12 months for some of the most popular makes and models are now not being given an estimated time of arrival.
Australia’s peak body for new-car dealers said more pain was expected to come for customers this year, with an improvement not predicted to truly begin until 2024.
According to motoring website Price My Car, Queensland has an average wait time of 134 days, but experts say it will be a significant underestimation for some makes and models.
It’s led to a plea from veteran Brisbane car broker Bob Aldons, who slammed manufacturers for failing to be upfront and honest about the true wait times.
Mr Aldons said he had never experienced such a “nightmare” situation in his 45 years in the industry.
“We’re told its supply and freight problems, but quite frankly I don’t know what the truth is,” Mr Aldons said.
“You try and talk to the manufacturers and they say they don’t know (how long).
“Customers are frustrated and pissed off. It’s a nightmare.”
Mr Aldons said he had several examples of orders that he placed last year that had blown out significantly and months on, the builds were yet to begin.
“I had an order in on a Kia Sportage placed it March 29 last year,” he said.
“The ETA given at the time was December 22 last year. Now it’s ‘no idea’.
“Landcruiser Prados, ordered July last year, now they’re talking anywhere between June to September, but they’re not 100 per cent sure.”
Brisbane customer Alison Tooley was originally told it would be a nine-month wait to receive the keys to a new Kia Sportage but after a 16-month wait she cancelled the order at the weekend.
“I was supposed to get it on December 15 last year, that came and went,” she said.
“Then it was last week, and I didn’t hear a thing about it. And when I contacted the company again, they said it could be another six months.
“By the time we got the car, it would have been nearly two years old.”
Cairns customer Mick Breitkreutz bought a Toyota Rav4 outright in December 2021 but is yet to receive his new wheels some 15 months on.
Mr Breitkreutz said he was originally told by the salesman that it would be a five to six month wait.
“It’s super frustrating,” Mr Breitkreutz said.
“The communication has been so bad. If you knew upfront it wouldn’t be too bad, but they just don’t know.
“They keep saying they’re hopeful that it will be built next month but they’ve been saying that for 12 months.”
He said the last piece of communication was that his vehicle might be built in April.
Mr Breitkreutz said he was concerned he would be slugged with a price increase, potentially up to $5000, through no fault of his own.
“If there was a good explanation you might understand but they have no excuse, they just say supply issues,” he said.
“It’s unfair. Completely not fair. They need to be transparent.”
Australian Automotive Dealers Association chief executive James Voortman said the delays were predicted to continue for much of 2023.
Mr Voortman said there would be further pain for customers to come with a “gradual ease” not tipped to properly kick into gear until 2024.
“It’s not an overnight fix,” Mr Voortman said.
“It won’t be resolved completely or immediately, but when you talk to manufacturers, there is light at the end of the tunnel.
“We expect it to start to ease later this year and improve more marketed towards the start of next year.”
When asked whether he thought manufacturers could better communicate on the delays with their customers, Mr Voortman said he sympathised with them.
He said they manufacturers were at the mercy of several factors that were out of their control, all whipped up by a “perfect storm” of problems, many of which were happening overseas.
“Before Covid-19, the stream was steady, then we had Covid,” Mr Voortman said.
“Factories closed, we had the semi-conductor and supply chain shortage, biosecurity delays at ports; it was a perfect storm.
“Some models are just taking a lot longer than others, your Rav4s, your Land Cruisers, Ford Everest, it’s very clear.”
Motor Trades Association of Queensland chief executive Rod Camm said dealers were reporting some of the more in-demand models continued to have extended wait times, some due to external factors.
Mr Camm said it included semi-conductor shortage and supply chain bottlenecks which he said were out of dealers’ control and were “difficult” to overcome.
A Toyota spokesperson said it had experienced longer wait times from unprecedented demand and supply challenges.
The spokeswoman said it had continued to work closely with its global production teams to minimise any impacts.
“Wait times will vary depending on the model, variant and specification requirements of each customer,” she said.
“Due to the ever-evolving nature of this situation, Toyota dealers are best placed to continue to provide updates to our customers on delivery time frames for individual orders.”
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