[rajneeesh]

I have got all my cars within a month's time. I waited for a month for my Indiaca and SX4 for 2-4 weeks. However, this was due to the fact that I bought them thru the CSD canteen and saveda packet. On the otherhad got my Figo in 3-4 days . I got my Thunderbird 500 in lass than a moth. Booked it on Oct 13 and took delivery on Nov 11.

[Prawaal]

It all depends upon the severity of situation and how badly you need a commute.
Way back in 2006 when i bought Maruti Esteem, i had to change my color choice since i wanted to car in a week's time. If i had to go for my choice of color i would had to wait for 2 months, so i bought the popular silver.
In 2010 when i bought Scorpio, i was not too much in hurry since it would be a second car. So i waited for 6 weeks when my Rocky Brige scorpio arived.
I also booked RE Standard 350 around June 2012 and there is not hope that it would deliver to me before April 2013. But i am in no hurry since it would be a weekend ride for me and does not come in absolute essentials.

So it all depends how desperately you need your car.

[model-t]

The maximum our family waited for a car was back in 2000 for a Green Hyundai Santro. I believe it was around 4-5 weeks ( I think it was due to the uncommon color I insisted on, which was not the best decisions I made ). I got the Chevy Beat in a 2 weeks in 2011. It was readily available but the LPG installation took a while. The max I can wait for any car is 6-7 weeks. The waiting time of Ertiga and Swift is atrocious. I even considered a Diesel Swift in '11 instead of the beat , but the long waiting period (20-24 weeks) was a big turn off!!

I remember going to a Maruti showroom a couple of months back (after the lockout period) . The waiting period for Ertiga ZDi was over 32-38 weeks.

[HyperRetard]

Some of the cars these days have huge waiting periods. And they aren't hand build exotics like the Pagani either. Oh no sir. I'm talking about the more mundane stuff like the Duster and the Ecosport.
The EcoSport, for example commands a waiting period of one year(Source: one of dad's acquaintance works in a ford dealership).


Well, I personally do not have the patience to wait for a thing for that long.

Like when I was in the search of a hatchback(Dec 2011), I went to Hyundai and was told a waiting period of 9 months.
And that was that, I didnt even bother with the test drive despite the sales representatives persuasion. My reply was simple, "I cant wait for 9 months to get a car"
And 2 days later I went and bought myself a car which was readily available.



So the question is:
a) How long would you wait for to get a car?
b) Whether it is actually worthwhile to wait?

[mints21]

Like when I was in the search of a hatchback(Dec 2011), I went to Hyundai and was told a waiting period of 9 months.

Quite amazing, which Hyundai hatchback and which particular variant had a waiting period of 9 months in December 2011? They had only Santro, i10 and i20 hatchbacks at that time. I20 (Diesel)had a max waiting period of 3-4 months.

Which city was this? I had been buying Hyundai cars since 2006 but have never come across any hatchback having this kind of waiting period.

Before writing this post, I had checked with a few friends and dealers of Hyundai and they have confirmed that no hatchback ever had this kind of long waiting period in December 2011.

[RSR]

How long would I wait for a car?

Not longer than 1 week for a car in the volumes driven mass market segments, 2 weeks at the most if there is a genuine reason (such as a routine factory maintenance shut down etc.)

Not more than ~ 1 month for a car from the niche segments that is made-to-order against booking. I'm not someone who buys such niche cars (as they are way beyond my reach), but even in the mass market segments there are some variants which have to be specifically obtained from the factory. Dealers usually don't stock such variants - examples are the Hyundai i20 petrol Asta(O) with 6 airbags, some variants of Maruti Suzuki hatchbacks with optional safety features, among others.

Completely artificial, inflated waiting periods are a means by which dealers (and some manufacturers too) try to fool the uninformed car buying public into believing there is a huge demand for the product. The dealers then use even worse means to make a quick buck - such as allotting a vehicle out-of-turn for a premium, forcing customers to buy additional things from them etc. Such shady business practices would be eliminated or greatly reduced if car buyers are ready to walk away on hearing the word "waiting period".

In the notorious license raj era, buyers didn't have a choice and it was a seller's market due to the commie-inspired crap that was the economic policy. In this day and age, if there is an unreasonably long waiting period for a car (however good it is), it means the manufacturer is either deliberately milking the situation to create an artificial demand-and-supply gap, or is quite incompetent when it comes to managing the production of their own products.

If competitors are smart enough to cash in on such attitudes bordering on arrogance and incompetence, cars with long waiting periods would soon be piling up in the stockyards due to difficulties in finding buyers. As the market matures and the competition across segments intensifies, this would become a reality. In fact, some manufacturers have already realised that their products are not indispensable and are trying to make almost off-the-shelf availability the norm. Those manufacturers who do not realise this, will soon have to learn it the hard way!

[HyperRetard]

Originally Posted by mints21

Quite amazing, which Hyundai hatchback and which particular variant had a waiting period of 9 months in December 2011? They had only Santro, i10 and i20 hatchbacks at that time. I20 (Diesel)had a max waiting period of 3-4 months.

Which city was this? I had been buying Hyundai cars since 2006 but have never come across any hatchback having this kind of waiting period.

Before writing this post, I had checked with a few friends and dealers of Hyundai and they have confirmed that no hatchback ever had this kind of long waiting period in December 2011.

We asked in general, for the i20. They didnt even have the i20 test drive car. They offered to give us a test drive in some customer's car which had come to the service station.

I, refused to take the TD, but we did sit in the car to get a feel of the interiors etc.

And then we asked how long would it take to get the car, and he said that there is a lot of demand, and it would take 9 months minimum.

Oh, and the city is Amritsar, Punjab.

[Abh1nav]

Hey guys!

So I am still in the market for another car... Have wobbled from a used Civic to a used Fiesta to a used Fiesta automatic to now Ecosport AT.

Let me assure you that I am still going to change my mind a lot of times at that.

Today I got pissed at Ford really.


First of all, none of the Ford dealers in Mumbai have an automatic Ecosport for test-drive. Secondly, the waiting period for the car is 3-4 months. I am not going to wait 4 months to get my hands on the car.

This gave me an idea for this post.

Can we have the carbuyers post how much time their dealers have promised for the delivery of their vehicle?

Would be happy if the car-owners can also pitch in and tell us how much time it took for them to get the car from the booking to delivery!

I am sorry if such a post already exists but I couldn't find it.

I am 90% off buying an Ecosport simply because I cant wait 4 months. I am sure there are many like me. So, let's begin!

For me:

Ford Ecosport AT: 3-4 months, Mumbai.

[Chetan_Rao]

Waiting periods suck, no doubt. Esp. when it's a car you WANT, not a utility need.

Thread already exists for this topic though, you may want to consider posting here:

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...ou-handle.html

[d_himan]

Well, if there's there's a car special enough to set your heart upon, and if that car is available with a short waiting period, thank your stars!

For instance, I am 'downgrading' from an Accord due to parking issues. I wanted a world-class automatic, great ride quality, classic looking, fantastic build quality, engine refinement, power and a hatchback (99% solo city riding + ease of parking). Only 1 qualified - the Polo GT TSI. The on-road (corporate) is close to 10 lacs, but my budget was 20 lacs so I'm ok with that.

I've booked my car 3.5 months back and am expecting delivery early next month.


I contemplated buying the i20 Elite Asto Crdi but I want an AT only.

So, sometimes, there's no choice...

[Sheel]

So this thread pops up at an appropriate time, huh. I am supposed to wait till 15/12/'14 for the vehicle of my choice. Car was booked sometimes in mid October.

As per the dealer, the payment of my car will be asked on 4th December & then, it will be dispatched.

Scorpio 4X4, captain seats in mid in black color.

[manjubp]

Waited for 6+ months for my Maruti Swift ZDI, booked before official lunch. However had to sell the same before 2 years, now at hind site I realized that it was not worth the waiting. I could have chosen something in higher or same segment. Looking at the cost cutting in Maruti Swift, compare to my earlier version of Swift VXI, there is nothing called a deal of the century for which one needs to wait for months together.

[zenren]

Originally Posted by Sheel

So this thread pops up at an appropriate time, huh. I am supposed to wait till 15/12/'14 for the vehicle of my choice. Car was booked sometimes in mid October.

As per the dealer, the payment of my car will be asked on 4th December & then, it will be dispatched.

Scorpio 4X4, captain seats in mid in black color.

Originally Posted by Abh1nav

So I am still in the market for another car... Have wobbled from a used Civic to a used Fiesta to a used Fiesta automatic to now Ecosport AT.

...

I am 90% off buying an Ecosport simply because I cant wait 4 months. I am sure there are many like me. So, let's begin!

The common pattern I see in this thread is that the tolerance of waiting period is directly related to how long you intend to keep that car. Its as simple as that. If the waiting period is going to be a considerable fraction of your estimated ownership period, you are unlikely to wait. However, in case it is eventually going to be a small period in the relative time frame, people are willing to wait.

For someone who changes their car every 2-3 years, they cannot wait for 4-6 months for a car. Again, it doesn't make sense too, since they are probably going to be driving a car that they are not happy with during this waiting period. Even if they opt for a compromise candidate with lesser waiting period, they are likely to happier than their current ride and they'll anyway let it go by the time they start disliking it. Even if they waited for their choice car, it is very likely that they'll still change it after a couple of years anyway.

However, for someone who is planning to keep the car for 6-8 years, waiting for the best choice would make sense as they need to put up with it even after the initial charm is gone and that is the time when you start regretting the purchase decision if it wasn't your first choice.

P.S: Anything up to 2-3 weeks is not really a waiting period. Even if you place an order of your choice color and variant with the dealership today and the company starts making it immediately, it could take a good fraction of 2-3 weeks for the car to reach the dealership. Anything lesser simply means you are flowing with masses and would be getting a car that the company was sure someone would order in the next few days.

[bhaskaracs]

Most of us are having a very unique experience with Ciaz. Over 8-10 weeks have gone by since pictures of Maruti stock yard teaming with thousands of delivery-ready Ciaz's surfaced on the web. Surprisingly, a lot of us continue to wait for delivery. Last I heard, the dealer tells me the Ciaz which was allotted to me accidentally reached Bangalore instead of reaching Chennai

I have been waiting for this since August - the experience becoming bitter by the day. If I don't receive my car this week, I might instinctively go ahead and cancel my booking.

[ashwin49]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

In Europe, for most cars you will find a delivery time of anywhere from 8 - 20 weeks. Depends a bit per manufacturer. There have been cases with much longer delivery times. Year ago the then very popular Mercedes 200 series had a waiting period of up to two years. Morgans too have had notoriously long waiting times.

Superb answer here. Really hits the nail on the head with respect to regional variances and waiting period of cars. Having spent quite some time in the US, I often wonder why the cars in US were cheaper than Indian versions and there was also never a waiting time, you go to a showroom and drive away. Yes, one difference is volume we will take close to 15 years to catch up with China forget US. The number of cars sold in China in 2003 is equal to the number of cars sold in India today.