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What's the deal with delivery times, UK vs. the rest of Europe?

19K views 35 replies 17 participants last post by  Stonedecroze 
#1 ·
Are new, higher, taxes on cars about to be introduced in the UK?
Is Seat throwing as many cars as possible into the UK before Brexit?
Is the UK market of such strategic importance that you get preferential treatment?
Are profits currently higher on cars exported to the UK than to continental Europe?
Did they overestimate the need for RHD over LHD and have so many RHD parts in stock that they need to get rid of them in a hurry?

I'm curious and genuinely puzzled. :lol:

We keep seeing people from the UK getting their 1.4 TSI Atecas within two to three months, while orders from continental Europe generally take twice as long.

Even if I'm happy for all you UK Ateca owners and soon-to-be owners, I can't help feeling a tiny bit of envy. ;)

I was originally quoted a wait time of three to four months when we placed our order in late November 2016, which made me stress, right from the start, that we needed the car before the summer of 2017 at the very latest. Our dealer and the Danish importer tells us they've done everything they could to push the production date of our car forward, and it looks like we'll get our Ateca just in time for our vacation - almost exactly seven months after we placed our order... If the current estimation holds, that is.
 
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#2 ·
There are new taxes in the UK next month, but it's as likely to be that the UK anticipated higher sales so managed to obtain a higher allocation.
 
#4 ·
That's a horrendous wait time, perhaps you should complain directly to Seat? From what my dealer told me it's more to do with when you ordered and what you ordered, I was told that newer orders are being expedited while last years are still waiting, I think this is more to do with avoiding bad press and loosing sales, a lot of people will be put off buying by longer wait times, so perhaps they are making sure newer orders are fulfilled quicker.

Also It may be that there simply aren't many atecas in the uk yet, I have seen 3 on the road on two weeks and I have done a lot of Milage in that time and live in an area dominated by Seats so the idea that there are more atecas here doesn't hold up
 
#5 ·
It used to be the case that prices , and thus profits, were higher in the UK. If it's still the case it might explain the situation.
 
#6 ·
Assuming your obervations are true (I doubt they are), one reason the 1.4tsi may be more readily available in the UK and Ireland ( I'm not forgetting our Irish friends who are not part of Continental Europe), is that diesel -v- petrol sales are roughly 50-50. Diesel on mainland Europe is more popular partly because it's the cheaper fuel.

I believe in Denmark you pay approx 1.48 for petrol and 1.28 for Diesel? Here in the UK we pay roughly 1.38 Euro and 1.49 Euro respectively.
 
#7 ·
Golfmk56 said:
Assuming your obervations are true (I doubt they are), one reason the 1.4tsi may be more readily available in the UK and Ireland ( I'm not forgetting our Irish friends who are not part of Continental Europe), is that diesel -v- petrol sales are roughly 50-50. Diesel on mainland Europe is more popular partly because it's the cheaper fuel.
I might be wrong about delivery times, so please correct me if you can. My observations are based on what I've read on this and other forums - and probably quite far from empiric.
Here it's about 60-40 in favour of petrol. So I can't see that as a valid explanation.
 
#8 ·
Uggzy2014 said:
That's a horrendous wait time, perhaps you should complain directly to Seat?
I would if I had any idea how to. :lol:

Uggzy2014 said:
From what my dealer told me it's more to do with when you ordered and what you ordered, I was told that newer orders are being expedited while last years are still waiting, I think this is more to do with avoiding bad press and loosing sales, a lot of people will be put off buying by longer wait times, so perhaps they are making sure newer orders are fulfilled quicker.
That sounds so incredibly unreasonable, to me. I just can't imagine how screwing over early-ish customers, would create better press than servicing all customers in an orderly first come first served fashion. Well, or as close as possible to first come first served at least.

Uggzy2014 said:
Also It may be that there simply aren't many atecas in the uk yet, I have seen 3 on the road on two weeks and I have done a lot of Milage in that time and live in an area dominated by Seats so the idea that there are more atecas here doesn't hold up
Less than 300 Atecas in all of Denmark at the moment, including demo units. So they're far from common here too.
 
#9 ·
Sorte Per said:
Uggzy2014 said:
That's a horrendous wait time, perhaps you should complain directly to Seat?
I would if I had any idea how to. :lol:

Uggzy2014 said:
From what my dealer told me it's more to do with when you ordered and what you ordered, I was told that newer orders are being expedited while last years are still waiting, I think this is more to do with avoiding bad press and loosing sales, a lot of people will be put off buying by longer wait times, so perhaps they are making sure newer orders are fulfilled quicker.
That sounds so incredibly unreasonable, to me. I just can't imagine how screwing over early-ish customers, would create better press than servicing all customers in an orderly first come first served fashion. Well, or as close as possible to first come first served at least.

Uggzy2014 said:
Also It may be that there simply aren't many atecas in the uk yet, I have seen 3 on the road on two weeks and I have done a lot of Milage in that time and live in an area dominated by Seats so the idea that there are more atecas here doesn't hold up
Less than 300 Atecas in all of Denmark at the moment, including demo units. So they're far from common here too.
Surely there will be a way of contacting Seat directly? I know companies don't like to make it easy these days :) Try complaining on their Ateca facebook advertisement posts, they seem to respond to criticism asking for order details quite rapidly on there...

I agree it seems unfair to fulfil newer customers orders first, if that is what they are doing, and I have no proof they are, but if we had been told to expect a six month wait when we ordered two weeks ago we would have said no thanks and kept our Leon, so I suppose they have little choice if they don't want a domino effect to put off would be buyers, especially people moving across from other brands.

Seems more likely to me that waits are based on availability of what you order, for instance my dealer told me a launch customer of theirs had waited six months simply because they wanted a tow bar and Seat had a shortage of them. Perhaps it's best to order extras after getting your car... :roll:

I have no idea how many Atecas are on the road in the UK (there's 63 'approved used' in total available today according to Seat UK website) but they still seem to be very uncommon, and when googling Ateca images and youtube reviews more continental search results come up.
Given that we are a population of 65 million people, I expect even if there are more Atecas here there's probably still less per head than major continental countries (France, Germany, Spain etc), but again this is guess work and I am none the wiser.

Unfortunately I have yet to receive my build date, though my dealer told me to expect a six week wait for that and a 3 month wait for delivery so I'm going to have to be patient which isn't too difficult because to be honest I am more than happy with the Leon anyway, and wouldn't have changed if it weren't for the Mrs wanting to change cars every 3 years :lol:

I hope you get your order soon mate ;)
 
#10 ·
I ordered an Ateca 1.4 TSI 150 ACT Xcel in December 2016 in Marmande, France.

I was told that delivery would be in early May 2017 with 20th May being the latest.

As this date approached I asked for an actual delivery date - I was told that the new delivery date is end of June 2017

I have just spoken with the dealer who has confessed that they don't know the date. "It's in the chain" I was told - the factory has not given us a date.

I asked how many Atecas have they received and handed over to customers to date?

Reply - NONE.

The dealer appears to be avoiding communications with me and has never volunteered any information.

WTF
 
#11 ·
Omg that is beyond awful! How can a business run like that? I take back the complaints I've had about the UK dealers!!
 
#12 ·
Well, same old same old. Still waiting for the elusive delivery date of my Xcellence.Contacted my broker , who contacted SEAT HQ. to be told that , although order received at factory on 2 April there is, as yet, no knowledge of start work on my vehicle. Goodness me!
3 months have past...I know I was told to expect 12 weeks +an additional 4 , because of the 1.4 engine, but hey I'm only asking.
Me thinks that the new reg in September seem the most likely...That's if the factory shutdown does not get in the way.
Now , me thinks again, its difficult you know.....But will try for a bit of compo...could I get a reduced servicing contract ? I'll let you know.
 
#13 ·
RJB, WTF in deed. That sounds terrible. Unacceptable.
Don't know about French consumer laws or what car owners organisations you have, but unless you're absolutely certain that you want the Ateca and nothing else, you should look into you options for cancelling the order.

I'm happy to say that we received our car yesterday! Seven months after we placed our order.

We nearly reached the point where we were cancelling the order, but decided that the Ateca was the right car for us and worth waiting for. And now that we have our car, I for my part do not regret that decision. It is such a pleasure finally driving it.
 
#14 ·
RJB said:
I ordered an Ateca 1.4 TSI 150 ACT Xcel in December 2016 in Marmande, France.

I was told that delivery would be in early May 2017 with 20th May being the latest.

As this date approached I asked for an actual delivery date - I was told that the new delivery date is end of June 2017

I have just spoken with the dealer who has confessed that they don't know the date. "It's in the chain" I was told - the factory has not given us a date.

I asked how many Atecas have they received and handed over to customers to date?

Reply - NONE.

The dealer appears to be avoiding communications with me and has never volunteered any information.

WTF
This is basically for all countries besides UK, Spain.

Long wait time is because of how Seat sale strategy has been planned. The car plant does not take any orders in from other countries except those 2 mainly with few exceptions who ordered 2016 before winter. They are just in "queue" for unconfimed date.

Thats the truth. My country has 2 deliveries since 2016 autumn. Those 2 were preordered in 2016 summer.
 
#15 ·
supreme said:
This is basically for all countries besides UK, Spain.
The UK does definitely have better deliveries for reasons that no one has yet explained but Spain has major delays. I waited 6 months for my Ateca and if you read the Spanish forums you will see that they are all complaining about the long lead times.
 
#16 ·
Fred99 said:
supreme said:
This is basically for all countries besides UK, Spain.
The UK does definitely have better deliveries for reasons that no one has yet explained but Spain has major delays. I waited 6 months for my Ateca and if you read the Spanish forums you will see that they are all complaining about the long lead times.
Then it has shifted towards UK market even more. I read this forum often and many who ordered cars in march already got their cars or about to.
I belive other markets in EU wont get their cars before the next Ateca model or refresh in fall of 2017 that will be showcased as model 2018 for next year sales.

To be honest i would have not ordered Seat Ateca if i would have been told that wait time is 1+ year as it is now for majority smaller EU markets.
My car can be delivered in 9-10 months if all goes well.
 
#17 ·
I wonder if there is a market to sell UK cars at a premium back to Europe?! Considering how unpopular the UK generally is by the Europeans, the favourable treatment is baffling
 
#18 ·
kee said:
I wonder if there is a market to sell UK cars at a premium back to Europe?! Considering how unpopular the UK generally is by the Europeans, the favourable treatment is baffling
Right side steering wheel versions to EU? Dont think so.
 
#19 ·
Has someone not suggested that they may be shifting as many to the UK as they can, because VW/Seat are assuming that additional trade costs to may come into place once Brexit is a reality?
 
#20 ·
Brexit is far too far away and unclear for them to make a decision like that. Also, to make any sense it would have to apply to the whole VAG range - rather unlikely.
 
#21 ·
Put a deposit on an Excellence 1.4 TSI DSG in Rhodium Gray, on Thursday, only added a spare wheel, and dual height boot floor. Understandably the dealer couldn't say when, but suggested it would be about 8 weeks from when Seat acknowledge the order, going on past experience. This is to the Channel Islands, so that's UK delivery + a few days. I've seen a few driving around, the dealer says they can't keep them in stock very long, due to demand. When I get any dates I'll post an update. Fingers crossed!
 
#22 ·
Stonedecroze said:
Put a deposit on an Excellence 1.4 TSI DSG in Rhodium Gray, on Thursday, only added a spare wheel, and dual height boot floor. Understandably the dealer couldn't say when, but suggested it would be about 8 weeks from when Seat acknowledge the order, going on past experience. This is to the Channel Islands, so that's UK delivery + a few days. I've seen a few driving around, the dealer says they can't keep them in stock very long, due to demand. When I get any dates I'll post an update. Fingers crossed!
Welcome and good luck! Be very interesting to hear how the Channel Islands deliveries pan out.

supreme said:
kee said:
I wonder if there is a market to sell UK cars at a premium back to Europe?! Considering how unpopular the UK generally is by the Europeans, the favourable treatment is baffling
Right side steering wheel versions to EU? Dont think so.
Uk in general seem to have good delivery times, bar one or two exceptions - and you could flog a UK spec to Malta or Cyprus I believe :) :mrgreen:
 
#23 ·
I ordered my SEAT Ateca 1.4 Eco TSi 150 ACT 4Drive Xcellence DSG 20 Dec 2016 in France

I have now been advised that my car will be delivered to the dealer in week 39 of 2017 (last week of September).

I have negotiated an improved deal but I still do not trust SEAT to deliver on time.
 
#24 ·
I had an email from the dealer yesterday, to say that Seat had finally given a build date, of week 50! They did say that it was likely to change. Today I had another email telling me that Seat had changed it to week 35, and that if that was correct I should get it the second week of September.
 
#25 ·
Stonedecroze said:
I had an email from the dealer yesterday, to say that Seat had finally given a build date, of week 50! They did say that it was likely to change. Today I had another email telling me that Seat had changed it to week 35, and that if that was correct I should get it the second week of September.
Congrats. At least you have a build week. I'm still waiting mine. Last time it was week 28 but now nothing.
 
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