NSW New car delivery date delayed for 3 months, what can I do?

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William Jin

Member
12 November 2019
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Bought the Toyota rav4 in Sept 2019.
The estimated delivery date is mid Nov on contract.

Received a call from dealer today, informing the wheels size of this Toyota manufacturer batch is incorrectly installed( should be 19 inch for rav4 cruise but 18 inch wheels are installed). And I need to wait until next Feb for the new car.

Is there anything I can do to this? Considering I will have to pay a 2019 car model in 2020 in the same price and also I want to ask if the dealer is breaking the contract if its estimated delivery date in contract? Is it reasonable for me to ask for some compensation?

Thanks in advance.
 

Rob Legat - SBPL

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16 February 2017
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I suggest you see what the contract you signed has to say about the issue. I assume it will have a provision to cover this event.

I doubt you'll find that the dealer should be held responsible for it (i.e. pay compensation) - remember, they don't get paid if you don't get the car.
 

William Jin

Member
12 November 2019
2
0
1
Thanks Rob,
So basically it's all about the contract. I don't see the difference of having an estimated delivery date or without it on a car contract. Because it's just estimated time, no matter what happened, I will need to accept it and wait. Is that correct?
 

Rob Legat - SBPL

Lawyer
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16 February 2017
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It's a little more complicated than that. From the dealer's perspective, they can't always control all the variables necessary to get the car to you. That's why the date is estimated. They also don't want a situation where they cannot deliver the car at all.

From your perspective you don't want to be waiting forever for the car. As a ridiculous example, you don't want to receive a phone call from them in 2 years to say your car is ready - you'll have made alternate arrangements in the meantime.

To cater for this, dealers often put in an estimated delivery date based off the information they have at the time of entering into the contract so that you have an idea of how long it will take. The contract should them refer to a maximum time period before you or they can terminate if the car isn't ready to deliver. That allows the both of you some certainty on the end date, and the in between time allows for the delays the dealer may run into without running the risk of you terminating for being any time past the anticipated delivery date.
 
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Scruff

Well-Known Member
25 July 2018
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Keep in mind too that we don't build cars in Australia anymore. All new cars are imported now, so when this kind of problem pops up, it takes longer to rectify. These are therefore "exceptional circumstances" that the dealer has no control over.