Why is my lease car being delayed by WLTP? How long are lead times? How I do I resolve a delay on my lease car?
The car leasing process is not always a straightforward and easy one. Vehicle production, testing and delivery is not always the quickest and customers need to take the time to carefully consider their lease arrangements (existing vehicle and new vehicle) before making a decision.
When issues do start to arise, they need to think about the best course of action.
All of this was particularly prevalent for our existing customer who recently received the beautiful Audi A5 pictured here. A no-deposit (no initial rental) company car allowance customer, they were essentially looking for the best value deal at £450 per month and didn’t want to commit for more than 2 years.
Added to the complication, was that they were replacing a Mercedes C-Class and wanted to keep it to another luxury brand!
So what went wrong!? At CarLease UK we get in touch with our customers circa 6 months before the vehicle is due to be returned.
This avoids any nasty surprises at the collection apart (mileage/service history/tyres) and lets the customer know when they need to start thinking about a new car.
Should I order my new car 6 months before? While this is possible, it might be a tad early with certain vehicles; for anything pure electric or a bespoke luxury model this is actually recommended now with the longer lead times. For more industry standard cars, the stock and allocation style deals, which are the backbone of the contract hire and leasing industry, means that many cars are available for delivery almost immediately or within a 2-3 month period. For certain deals, our customers will benefit from the “best price” by waiting closer to the contract end date.
With our customer here, the deal was actually based on a factory order and their order was placed some 4 months before the contract end date; seemingly well in advance of when the car was required. A factory time could anywhere from 8 weeks to nearly a year!
Always check with the broker/finance company as to when you can expect the vehicle and what status the vehicle is – is it a stock deal? Allocation deal? Factory order deal? Read More…
While everything was very much prepared, we experienced some delays in the process as a result of two things: 1) WLTP; and 2) Brexit. The latter is a blanket excuse for much (or so it seems) but for our industry, it has caused some nervousness about productions and import/export tariffs. Some of the recent news of plant closures (Ford and Honda) have been blamed on the Brexit. Some of the issues would have happened regardless; changing customer habits, driving styles and economic adjustments are making life more difficult for manufacturers.
You either adjust and develop or you go.
No manufacturer is immune to this, even Jaguar and Land Rover have been up against it recently – there have been widespread rumours of PSA investing or purchasing the group.
So how is WLTP affecting the delivery of cars?
The Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Testing Procedure (WLTP) are into effect for all new cars registered on or after September 2018; this will come into effect for vans in September 2019.
Essentially, the way in which cars, and vans, are tested for their key statistics will change – this is to provide a more honest account of fuel consumption and CO2 emissions.
The previous testing under NEDC has not been considered to be the most reliable and efficient of measures. Going forward all vehicles must be tested for longer periods of time, covering longer distances, higher speeds and will now take into account all potential options which can be added to the car (and which will influence the key statistics).
From April 2020, company car users will have to use the WLTP provided CO2 statistics for their car.
In an effort to ensure compliance, manufacturers have been under further pressure to test vehicle more rigorously and honestly. This is apparently causing a knock-on issue for those awaiting their new car.
What happens where a lease car is delayed? It is situational dependent on the best course of action to take. CarLease UK do not make delivery a condition of the contract; if your car is delayed then you cannot walk away from your obligations to us (so long as you are outside of your cooling-off period). If you are in a vehicle which is on lease (especially if we have arranged it), there may be some flexibility with arranging an extension. At the end of the contract we organise the collection of all vehicles with customers. However, for those customers who have a delay we can normally (with the finance company approval) organise an informal extension so that the customer can keep the same vehicle on a month to month basis until the new one arrives.
In the meantime they will pay the same, or similar, monthly rental for the vehicle.
They key advantage here is that the customer does not need to hire a vehicle, which would be considerably more expensive in comparison. If your car was not organised by us, you may need to make your arrangements to organise this. One key point to note is that the supplying dealer will often be unable to hire a car for you, or organise a demo. Some customers do expect this and we can wholly confirm this is a very unlikely resolution. There just isn’t the resource available to do this.
For customers organising a replacement for the lease car, just make sure you clarify when the car is due to arrive and when yours is due to be returned (taking into account any informal extensions which may be available). Going back to a consistent theme we discuss – price is not everything.
Make sure you consider the whole package to ensure the product and arrangement is suitable for your needs and requirements long term.
In terms of the car shown here, the Audi A5 SPORTBACK 35 TFSI Black Edition 5door S Tronic (Petrol Auto), this is based on the following configuration:
· Mythos black Metallic Paint
· Alcantara/leather – Black with rock grey stitching
· Piano black finish inlay
· 20″ 5 arm rotor alloy design wheels with matt titanium finish
As standard the car includes manual seat adjustment, 4-way electric lumbar support, leather/alcantara upholstery, cruise control, LED headlights, electric folding mirrors, Audi sound system, heated front seats, LED interior pack, rain and light sensors, windscreen with accosting glazing, hill hold function, ESC with ABS and EDL, multi-collision braking, smartphone interface, Audi parking system plus, stat-stop system, power tailgate, 7” driver information display, MMI navigation, auto dimming rear view mirror, DAB radio, S Line body styling, climate control, high beam assistant, 3 spoke flat bottomed steering wheel, gearshift paddles, stainless steel pedals, warning triangle and first aid kit, 40/20 split folding seats, 20” alloys, keyless go, immobiliser and an anti-theft alarm. In terms of additional factor options, consider upgrading to the Tech Pack (adds a 8.3” display, integrated navigation,10GB hard drive memory, wireless charging and the 12.3″ virtual cockpit) or add on the panoramic glass sunroof, comfort and sound pack or the electrically adjustable front seats.
On the technical-side company car and business users can note the P11d at £38,790.00 and CO2 at 135g/km. The 1984CC 7 speed petrol auto engine delivers 47.9 combined MPG (EC), 38.7 (WLTP), 150ps and 0-62 times of 9.1 seconds. The service intervals on the petrol A5 are every 12 months or 9000 miles, whichever lands sooner.
So would the Audi A5 be your select leasing option? Or would the BMW 4 series, Mercedes CLA or Volvo S60 be your choice?
Find the very best lease car deals and car lease service for a new Audi A5 @CarLease UK – or – check out more business and company car options below…
