[tirmason]

Went yesterday to collect my beatiful new XF. Insurance all in place and armed with Gliptone (thanks Vapourgrey and Roma) and couple of new CD's, I had cleared the day to enjoy the car. Sat down and went through the dealers pre-delivery chat with a not at all bad cup of coffee, getting very excited. Then was shown to the car...

THE DEALER HAD ORDERED THE WRONG COLOUR!!!

All the rest of the spec was okay. But the dealer had ordered Lunar grey instead of vapour grey! Although I like lunar grey, and I like the champagne and truffle interior... I just do NOT think they go together. In fact, they positively clash!

The dealer has agreed it is their mistake.

Unfortunately there was no one with the authority to deal with the problem available (holiday, mobiles off). The dealer has lent me a rather scruffy X-Type for the weekend, and am now waiting for Monday to see what happens.

Any ideas as to what I should reasonably expect/ask for?

 

[pekem]

Cripes :!: It seems that "Sods Law" is now the order of the day.
Sorry to hear that tirmason, really a huge disappointment.
What to do now? I suppose it is going to depend on a number of things, not least of which will be your willingness to wait for the car of your choice. If your car, specced as you want it, is available somewhere then I suppose it will be possible to get it to you fairly fast. If not, then it will be a problem for the dealer which I imagine they may feel that they can overcome with a sizeable wedge of cash back to you. After all, they are possibly holding a second hand car, although I think I read on the DVLA site that it might be possible to de-register the car in certain circumstances. If they can't then they will be stuck with a car that has been previously registered, and in a colour way that is not a Designer choice.
Unless, you are an ace at negotiating you might be best advised to sit back quietly and just wait to hear what the dealer management propose on Monday. Certainly, I think that you should be put in an XF in the meantime.
I do think it is a great pity and I do hope that you reach a speedy and amicable settlement within a very short time.

 

[penultimateblack]

Flaming Nora! If you haven't already been given a discount I would go in heavily and threaten to use another dealer if they don't knock at least £2500 off the replacement car. That seems to be the going rate for a PL 2.7D

 

[pekem]

£2500 as a discount may be fine but I would wait until the Chancellor of the Exchequer sets out his proposals on Monday, particularly in relation to any changes to stimulate car sales

 

[penultimateblack]

£2500 as a discount may be fine but I would wait until the Chancellor of the Exchequer sets out his proposals on Monday, particularly in relation to any changes to stimulate car sales

IF Vat is reduced to 15% that will be another £750 off.

BUT it might be good tactics to negotiate the discount BEFORE the VAT comes down.

 

[tirmason]

Unfortunately as I am buying the cars on a 3 year Jaguar lease, the cost price does not really affect me. It is the monthly payments which matter (which I understand are under Jaguar finance's control more than the dealers). As far as I can tell Jaguar finance have already negotiated a rock bottom cost price (and are now also under pressure from falling residuals).

There may be some opportunity to renegotiate.

I do wonder what they are going to do with the car which has come in if they can't get it unregistered. And as you say... even if they do, they are stuck with a car in non-standard colours in a reasonably tough economic climate.

 

[Roma]

Oh...my...God! Very sorry to hear about your misfortune.

You really deserve some compensation. It's a fairly difficult mistake to make, I would have thought...unless the dealer tried to pull a fast one and had a car already on order which they had decided to give you as they had misread the colour you ordered.

Mine turned up with the wrong wheels but I could live with that. But not the wrong colour!

 

[Roma]

£2500 as a discount may be fine but I would wait until the Chancellor of the Exchequer sets out his proposals on Monday, particularly in relation to any changes to stimulate car sales

My dealer is offering £5K off new XFs with 5 years servicing thrown in. £2.5K off should be very easy indeed.

 

[craig]

This happened to my dad a few years ago. He ordered an S-class in dark red with cream leather and ended up being delivered in white with burgundy! They replaced the car with what he had ordered and added on some choice extra options for free and while he was waiting for his proper car they gave him the mistaken car to use in the meantime (even though he did look like a pimp!)

I would also ask for the vat to be returned as it is likely to fall from 17.5 to 15 percent monday

 

[XFCAT]

My dealer is offering £5K off new XFs with 5 years servicing thrown in. £2.5K off should be very easy indeed.

What dealer is that?

 

[tirmason]

Update...

I am now told that there may be a car which exactly matches my spec MAY be available for delivery at the end of this week... I wonder if this is really possible?

My spec was:

2.7D luxury premium with
- Vapour grey exterior
- Champagne and truffle interior
- DAB
- Parking aid camera
- 19 inch alloys (Carelia)
- Rich oak

 

[penultimateblack]

Maybe that's the car you ordered. :twisted: :twisted:

 

[tirmason]

Could be, but I don't think so as the car they presented to me on Saturday had every other option I had requested, just the wrong colour (how likely is it to get the exact combination of stuff).

Although it all does feel a bit of a coincidence!

 

[pekem]

Update...

I am now told that there may be a car which exactly matches my spec MAY available for delivery at the end of this week... I wonder if this is really possible?

My spec was:

2.7D luxury premium with
- Vapour grey exterior
- Champagne and truffle interior
- DAB
- Parking aid camera
- 19 inch alloys (Carelia)
- Rich oak

Is a "be" missing from that sentence?
Anyway, on the face of it, it is good news and I will keep my fingers crossed for the weekend

 

[tirmason]

Is a "be" missing from that sentence?
Anyway, on the face of it, it is good news and I will keep my fingers crossed for the weekend

Yes... Have now edited and added the 'be' back in

 

[tirmason]

New car arrived today in correct colour (and no - I do not think they re-sprayed the previous one!)... Picked it up a couple of hours ago.

It is perfect.

Am impressed they managed to find one with the right spec so quickly. Given their mistake, full points to Hartwells of Bristol for recovering a potentially nasty situation!

Now to go and enjoy my car (which, so far, I can not fault).

No doubt my posts will soon start appearing in the "My car" section...

 

[pekem]

Brilliant news and yes, well done Hartwells.
It is really good to hear that it is "perfect"
Now get the camera out and let us see the pictures. Lots of people really enjoy seeing pictures, albeit, that they have seen them before in brochures and so on, particularly if it is showing their colour choice etc., and they are waiting for theirs.