Two-year wait: The hardest and easiest cars to buy amid supply crisis

Queenslanders on the lookout for a brand-new car are facing waits of up to two years amid a shortfall of materials and Covid-19 ravaged supply chains, but industry insiders say there are ways you can shorten the delays. SEE WHICH CARS HAVE THE WORST WAIT TIMES

Consumers have been warned the extraordinary supply constraints causing extended delays for new vehicles could continue through to 2023 as some buyers wait up to two years for their delivery.

The surging popularity of Suzuki’s compact SUV, the Jimny, combined with a shortfall of materials and Covid-19 ravaged supply chains have caused wait times to blow out to up to 24 months, according to industry sources.

The delivery of Toyota’s wildly popular RAV4 and the Land Cruiser range has been extended to about 12 months, as a global supply shortfall of semiconductors, or microchips — technology critical for the operation of motor vehicles — causes widespread delays.

Constraints have been a widely publicised throughout the pandemic but the industry peak body and Queensland’s leading suppliers warned consumers to brace for further chaos.

“It really is a global problem,” Australian Automotive Dealer Association chief executive James Voortman told The Courier-Mail.

The Suzuki Jimny is wildly popular. Picture: Thomas Wielecki

He said the delays were worse among the in-demand Suzuki and Toyota SUVs but insisted the issue was impacting the new car market more broadly.

Motor Trades Association of Queensland chief executive Rod Camm said retailers were expecting long lead times throughout 2022 as “consumer demand is outstripping manufacturers’ capacity”.

Major Brisbane dealership Bartons said the global supply shortfall of microchips was compounded by international freight delays and the ongoing impact to workforces caused by rolling Covid outbreaks.

To improve wait times, managing director Mark Beitz said consumers could be flexible with the colour or specs of their desired vehicles but insisted the uncertainty of the market meant a wait-and-see approach was unfruitful.

“Waiting, as we all thought six months ago, has not worked,” the Bartons boss said.

“Simply come in today and you might get lucky if not order and wait as this will not improve much in the next six months.”

Mr Beitz said the Hyundai Palisade was more readily available than rivals.

Of the dealership’s wide range of new models, Mr Beitz said the shortest turnaround was the Hyundai SUVs, Palisade and Tucson, which have a wait time of about two to three months.

The Nissan Patrol was taking up to five months to arrive, while the federal government’s tax incentives for instant asset write off had compounded the availability of the light commercial range.

Buyers of Mitsubishi and Nissan utilities, Triton and Navara respectively, were experiencing delays of about four months on average, according to Mr Beitz.

Despite the hefty delays reported, the peak body said dealers still had a wide range of readily available vehicles and advised buyers to check with their local car yards.

Ford Rangers and Mazda’s popular SUVs, both the CX5 and CX8, were readily available and in Brisbane, according to Queensland dealers, while the Honda range had a wait time of just two to four weeks.

“The most important thing is visit your dealer and get a good understanding of what is in stock,” Mr Voortman said.

“But if you have your heart set on a car, my advice is to order it and get in the queue because we don’t know how long this queue is going to get — you don’t want to end up waiting even longer than you have to.

“We’re asking all our customers to be patient, most of them are very understanding, because this is a problem affecting every country in the world, and almost every car brand in the world.”

But Peter Gee, founder of new car broker service Motor Scout, said the situation was not improving.

“The wait times on some of these cars are just horrendous,” he said.

“Such small components are having a huge effect on the global car industry.

“Last week my bubble got burst when Kia and Hyundai started pushing back their production, and Toyota pushed back its production by 15 per cent as well.

“We are waiting on 2500 cars for customers at the moment.”

Mr Gee said prices have increased because demand outstrips supply.

“It’s such a funny market,” he said.

“You’re not hunting on price now, you’re hunting for availability as people don’t want to wait for car.

“It changes the whole dynamic of what we do.”

The Toyota Land Cruiser is hot property.

The delivery of Toyotas due to arrive in the next few months was revised due to the impact of the pandemic, the company told The Courier-Mail.

“We ask our customers to please contact their local dealer for updates on the status of their individual orders,” a spokesperson said.

“Quoted wait times will vary between dealers, depending on their individual stock situation, which is why you may hear of different advice on delivery times being provided to customers around the country.”

Nissan said it was difficult to predict which of its models had the longest delays because the “stock situation changes daily”.

“Our team is working tirelessly with the global supply team to continue to secure greater production across the board which we have achieved with a number of models for the coming months including X-TRAIL and Navara,” a company spokesperson said.

The Courier-Mail contacted Suzuki for comment.