[gngdev]

I was looking for a car to replace our First gen Ford Figo that we sold in Feb 22. I was looking at CSUVs mainly and finalized Nexon EV.
We test drove many cars during the short listing process and incidently got a VW Taigun to replace my parents 2009 Dzire Zxi as well. (That story is documented here (Volkswagen Taigun Review)).

Now I was waiting for my Nexon EV to be allotted and the EV Max was launched. I changed my booking to the Max and continued to wait. While I was waiting for the car to be allotted, I started thinking whether I really needed a new car right now ? (I could say that the recession signals across the world was a factor in having this thought). I thought over this for many days and eventually got the booking cancelled 1 week ago as I could live without a new car. Today, I got a call from my SA that the car is allotted and if I would like to reconsider the decision. I halfheartedly confirmed that the decision to cancel is final.

This got me thinking, how the long waiting periods usually affect the purchase decision ?
What percentage ends up in a different make/model ? What percentage ends up cancelling it altogether ? I think the impulse decisions may be affected a bit as the head will get a bit more time to convince the heart that may be it is better to let go.

If I had got the car allotted earlier, I would have gone ahead with the purchase. I had even got the forms from Banks to apply for the loan. The VW Taigun purchase process was so fast that we had the car delivered in 5 days after the test drive, so there was no time to rethink the decisions. Eager to hear from the experiences of the eminent members of this forum.

[GTO]

I see a hell of a lot of Team-BHP posts where the original choice was dropped because of long wait times (e.g. XUV700). I have also seen many posts where a model was picked up because of quick delivery.

My expectations from my personal car are very high. Hence, if I really really love a car, I will wait even 1+ year for it. After all, if I'm going to drive it for 10 years, a year of waiting won't bother me. Will just use my existing car for a bit longer than planned.

[Raghu M]

Simple, I have the money and if I am ready to pay I should get a product right away. I am not a fan of waiting periods. Although 2 to 3 months sounds fine, more than 1 year (example - 7OO and Thar), is ridiculous. The company loses many prospects during this time. I also don't buy electronics online that have some window time during which sales are done. If you are the manufacturer, you need to be aware of the fact that every customer is important. I understand the chip shortage issue but it cannot run forever. Why are companies taking bookings that they cannot honor within a few weeks is beyond my understanding.

I got to know from someone that the 7OO's waiting period is well over 18 months. The world changes in 6 months. The markets were crazy in Feb/March, now they have nosedived. Tech changes overnight. I for one would not go for a car that is not available in a few weeks time. Many people change minds in between. They may see a better product, change their decision altogether or even need the booking money for some urgent needs.

[SSD2122]

When our family purchased Maruti Omni Van in 1996, we were told that only for white color you will have to wait for 6 months. We waited as that is what we wanted. Being the first 4 wheeler in our family, that wait was really special!

Then again when I purchased Getz Prime 1.3L, there were 2 shades of blue. Onyx blue and Deep pearl blue if I recollect. That deep pearl blue was metallic and the shade was beautiful, so much so that our neighbor decided that his next purchase would be a dark blue one. There too the SA said that Onyx blue is readily available where as the deep pearl blue would take 3 to 4 months. I waited and I got what my heart was set for. It was worth it. Coming to Nano twist and Fiat Linea Tjet, did not have to wait and got both of them in a month.

On the whole, I do not mind waiting so long as I get what my heart has set out for. After all it is likely to be with you for few years.
Coming to today's times, that wait can get sour considering the increasing prices and no price protection.

[Mumbaiker]

I am sure the longer wait time is going to change my decision about Honda city hybrid. I even went and test drove the Harrier. haha !
and now with the Toyota HyRyder looks like the confusion is going to be even more. Honda is going to lose a potential customer looking how the things are with the red car production.

[Shreyans_Jain]

Not going to wait for a car for more than a few weeks. A couple of months tops. We are talking about mass market cars, not something bespoke or made to order. If the manufacturer can’t get their production sorted, that’s on them.

I’ve seen that waiting periods have become a ploy to push buyers towards more profitable models or variants. Want a Fortuner 4x2 manual? “Saar 8 months waiting. But if you upgrade to GR-S, that can be made available in 15 days”. A Celerio CNG will require a 6 month wait, but the petrol AMT is available tomorrow. Kia Sonet base model, they will try every trick in the book to not take the booking and push you towards the higher ones. It’s as if certain models are created either for purely marketing purpose (starting xx.y lakhs) or as a legal and official way of charging extra premium for quicker delivery.

[pannags]

Opportunity Cost - something that's usually ignored but needs mention here. Are you willing to let go of the joy and experience of driving what could be your second best choice on much anticipated vacation drive or continue waiting for your number one option.

Depends, I guess, on the actual wait period and your current drive.

[Porcupine]

I recently made a decision based on wait times. I was in the market for a luxury SUV, and the wait times on 2 out of 3 contenders were a very noncommittal 6-plus months. The third contender was offered to me within 60 days, and actually arrived within 40 days.

[nickatnite]

I have put new car purchase on hold due to the wait times for all models right from the entry level hatchbacks to premium cars/SUVs. Meanwhile, the dealers want to take away the exchange car from you at the earliest without any firm delivery date of new car. My main worry is whether the dealer will even exist the course of the impending delivery and i will get the run around. I have decided to keep driving my Altis for the time being till things settle down however tempting the new cars released are.

[TheHelix0202]

Not a car but bike. I’ve been quoted a minimum of 45 days by every KTM dealer in Bangalore for the 390 Duke; everyone except the Indiranagar guys, maybe. They quote 120 days. Either they’re smoking next level stuff or they’re the only sane ones. It’s been 26 days since the 5,000 buck booking amount for a random colour has been processed (27 since we paid), as of Wednesday, the 29th of June. All this citing the semiconductor shortage.

There’s nothing else like the 390 Duke in the price range, or else I’d have gone for it by now. Except maybe a used 390. I don’t know how much longer the madness will last….

[narayans80]

Much before we knew something about semiconductor shortage, there were models that sold with ridiculous waiting times either at the time of introduction (Ecosport) or made up (2010 Swift).

All my first hand purchases have been for my primary runner. I am never a fan of these waiting times. Oh you have waiting time? You can keep it yourself and enjoy it yourself. I've just moved to models that were readily available or could be delivered quickly.

2010 i10 was delivered in 7 days from booking.
2018 S-Cross was delivered in 15 days from booking.

Waiting for the latter was hard, I was without a car for a 2 week and was an absolute pain to commute.

[rishi.roger]

I normally don't have the patience to wait for even accept a day of delay in deliveries. Experience from modern day digital services likely made me a spoiled shopper.

Initially, I was quite frustrated with the delay that most popular cars command lately, on an average its ~2-3 months for most.
However once the actual wait times started, I realized that it has it's own benefits.

Things that I feel positive:
-You can choose to book other upcoming/alternate cars and you get headroom for research. If you stumble across something, you can always change your mind.
Once you have booked a car, you are likely going to start to read about it more and more. Odds are high that you could end up finding something that can shape your decision.

-Easy to arrange the documents/paperwork/finances in the meantime.

-For newer models, with the wait times you don't get the car right after launch. There will be people ahead in line (and you can follow their ownership experiences so that you would know what struggles are there in the initial batches, etc.). So you can essentially save yourself from being a guinea pig for a little while.

-For someone like me who never doesn't have much of practical driving experience, we can do sparring on other used cars.

-You can sense how the sales/dealership is based on your interim experiences with them. For e.g. If I booked an order from X dealership and I am having difficult times following up, getting response - it's a red flag asking me to back out.
You can do parallel booking with multiple dealership and see who treats you better.
In India, customer relationship is horrible, so this is one of the grey areas we don't want to get caught into generally.

-Planning for unforeseen situations like Covid-19 or sinking economy, heck even foreign travels and stays. A friend on mine purchased a used car because he couldn't wait, guess what ? 2 months down the line he receives an opportunity to migrate to US and now he's busy selling that user car (lucky for him, it was a used car so less depreciation).

Things I see as a challenge:
-If you need the vehicle immediately for some usage, you are stuck.
-Difficult to gift/plan for occasions unless you're planning well in advance. For e.g. Let's say you have planned a marriage and need a car or let's say you want to gift to your son/dad/daughter/mother or better half (some models will need you to wait almost a year!!!).
-Not everyone has that level of patience to wait, it can drive most people crazy including me. I don't want to see my desperation, getting up in morning only to check the status and bother the dealership now and then.

[Indepth]

My 2 cents :

1. There is no harm in waiting, as long as the period is reasonable. Typically, one starts proper planning for a car max about 6 months ago, so 4-6 months is ideally maximum tolerance.
Anyway it sounds ridiculous when I tell myself that I have to wait 18 months for the car!!

2. Many things change during waiting period. For example, prices may shoot up beyond expectations, so a re-assessment on monthly basis is a must.

3. New launches/ facelifts happen all the time. A car not considered before can suddenly appear value.

4. The needs / preferences could change. I was a Sedan lover but got converted to SUV, simply because nothing in sedan segment appeared VFM (in comparison to SUVs).

5. 18 months is good enough to get married and even reproduce .
So, a Thar booking could suddenly become one for Carens, with or without your consent.

6. Slowly yet steadily, we are moving towards electrification. Do re-consider especially if wait period is in years.

[neoonwheels]

Originally Posted by GTO

I see a hell of a lot of Team-BHP posts where the original choice was dropped because of long wait times (e.g. XUV700). I have also seen many posts where a model was picked up because of quick delivery.

My expectations from my personal car are very high. Hence, if I really really love a car, I will wait even 1+ year for it. After all, if I'm going to drive it for 10 years, a year of waiting won't bother me. Will just use my existing car for a bit longer than planned.

Or go for an equally good car which you would get delivered faster

[yoscenario2000]

Originally Posted by nickatnite

Meanwhile, the dealers want to take away the exchange car from you at the earliest without any firm delivery date of new car.

Yes. I agree with you.

I'd booked a currently hot selling MPV with waiting period stated as 36 to 38 weeks at the time of booking. Still I'd gone ahead with the booking with the hope to get situation better with the time resulting early delivery.

I was wrong, waiting period didn't improved with the time.

On the other hand, SA was in hurry to evaluate & exchange my old car. I was firm on my stand of "share the new car's VIN with me then only look at my old car".

The next step, I was told that if I exchange the old car now with the dealer then I might get delivery bit early. Still I didn't budge & sweetly explained the meaning of EXCHANGE to SA.