The car brands with the longest and shortest wait times

It will be a long time before queues for new cars ease, according to some brands. See which brands have the longest and shortest wait times.

There is a long wait time on nearly every new car. Picture: Mark Bean

New car buyers are still waiting months for delivery as component shortages and shipping delays continue to choke supplies of new cars.

The average wait time for a new car has blown out to 123 days, while buyers of the most popular models such as the Kia Sorento, Toyota RAV4 and Volkswagen Tiguan are forced to wait as long as nine months.

Some dealers are selling low-mileage used cars and demonstrators to impatient buyers for significantly more than their recommended retail price.

Vehicles such as the Toyota RAV4 hybrid have wait lists of more than nine months.

The reason for the delays is a global shortage of semiconductors, increased demand post lockdowns and shipping constraints.

Alison Tooley, a schoolteacher from Brisbane, ordered her 2022 Kia Sportage SUV at the beginning of April, but isn’t expecting delivery until December.

Ms Tooley has always bought used cars, but after seeing the price of second-hand machines she decided to wait and go new.

“This is my first new car ever, and the reason why is it is too expensive to buy second-hand. Some used cars are almost as expensive as new cars but have 60,000km on the clock,” she said.

Motoring : Car Wait Times

Buyers shouldn’t expect any improvement this year according to major car brands.

Kia Australia’s chief operating officer, Damien Meredith, believes the situation won’t improve for another 12 months. Several other major car makers have expressed the same concern.

Mr Meredith said the issue wasn’t straightforward and wait times couldn’t be applied to every model or even every grade in a model line-up.

Head of the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries, Tony Weber, said buyers could cut waiting times if they were willing to compromise.

“Some cars can be delivered straight away. Some are waiting weeks and months, for others over a year,” he said.

“If customers want a particular trim, colour or custom options they are likely to wait some time. We are hoping to see new car supply stabilise throughout 2022, but the pandemic and the state of global recovery continues to create uncertainty.”

Ms Tooley is waiting on her new Kia Sportage.

There are much longer wait times for the hybrid Toyota RAV4 compared to the petrol-powered model and Volkswagen Australia said that certain versions of its Tiguan SUV won’t be available for up to nine months.

Updated data from vehicle sales website Price My Car, shows some brands have better supply than others, making them a better bet for impatient buyers.

Chinese makers are some of the best on delivery. MG has an average wait time of just 56 days, Haval (69 days) and LDV (70). Mainstream brands Skoda (40) and Mazda (67) have also trimmed wait times.

According to Price My Car, Mazda has some of the shortest average wait items.

Mazda has some of the shortest wait times across several popular models. According to the latest data you can get into a Mazda CX-3, CX-5 and CX-9 SUV in less than 60 days.

Buyers of the Mazda 2 hatchback also have a similar wait time.

If that’s too long a wait, online used car marketplace CARS24 can deliver a second hand car to your door in just seven days,

Of the 30 best selling car brands in the nation, Isuzu has the longest wait time of 213 days.

It is followed closely by Kia (199 days), Peugeot (199), Land Rover (197) and Toyota (191).

Isuzu put protections in place for its shoppers late last month guaranteeing no price rises if the vehicle was ordered, signed and dated before the 31st March 2022.

A Toyota Australia spokesperson said: “Toyota Australia continues to work closely with our global production team to do everything we can to get customers behind the wheel of their new Toyota vehicles as quickly as possible.”

There is bad news for Northern Territory residents as they are forced to wait an average of 193 days – the worst in the nation. This was followed by Western Australia (137), Tasmania (129) and Victoria (123)

South Australia has an average waiting list of 111 days. Queensland and NSW buyers can expect to wait an average 122 days.