Select Automotive wait time

[Zero]

My first post here hi

Ive decided to go ahead and order a Diamond black Mk5 GTI with DSG. Im thinking about going the imported route as ive had 2 imports before and never had a problem.

Ive heard select automotive has good reviews, Has anyone recently ordered or taken delivery from them and what kind of waiting time can I expect?

Thanks!

[Rayza]

There have been a couple of people who have ordered from them and have been very happy with their service. There is a very long thread here about Select if you try the search.

I believe the wait time is 12 weeks, but you will need to call them to make sure.

Oh by the way welcome!!

[scotw]

Hi,

My GTi came from Select and I was happy with the service. The only issue at all was delivery, I ended up with about 5 dates starting with Sep/Oct and ending up with 25th Nov that I actually picked it up. In the end it took more like 15 weeks than 12. Apart from that it was great

[silentandy]

I don't think it's that much different in delivery time than it would be from a UK dealer. I think there might still be some delays on DSG cars though?

[mu71rd]

yeah I had a car from select and it was delivered in 13 weeks - quoted 12. I think they're great - but that's almost as much to do with good feeling about not ordering from a VW $tealer

[RedRobin]

The problem I see with Select from a practical point of view is that:

1 - You don't get to know your delivery date until far into the whole period....Week 10 of the 12 or so, for example.

2 - Select don't part exchange and so it makes it much more difficult to reduce any 2-car ownership overlap and expenses.

3 - You'd be taking considerable risk by not taking their insurance on price/exchange rate protection. Also you would need to buy an extra year's warranty.

All this eats into your apparent savings and you have far less leverage to track and chase progress. Before anyone gets seduced into a £2-3,000 saving, make sure you are comparing oranges with oranges. Select and Euroimports seem to be the best of the non-VW dealers but the bottom line is that it's just another stealer.

In spite of positive recommendations being posted, as a result of my own experience just initially enquiring about a new R32, I wouldn't bother because the overall net saving isn't that great and I would feel very unhappy about not knowing how long I have to wait in the absence of a build week date. But, each to their own.

[mu71rd]

sorry Red, but I strongly disagree with some of your points.

Firstly, they do tell you a delivery date. as far as I can see, it seems about as set in stone as any other VW UK delivery date. They all have the potential to slip - after all, all the cars are coming from the same factory. Do you get compensation if they miss it, no. Do you get it from VW uk? not as far as I can see.

Secondly, if you actually look at how exchange rates fluctuate over a 12 week period, on a £20,000 car, my best/worst case fluctuation was several hundred pounds. I would say that is about between 1 and 2% at most, and not what I'd call considerable. A saving of nearly £3000 in my case is not to be sniffed at (nearly 7%), unless money is no option at all.

And thirdly, and what seems most important, is that Euroimports and Select are actually nothing like uk dealers, and have far more interest in keeping people happy, because of the nature of them being small businesses. Main dealerships demonstrate their lack of attention and care every single time I visit them, be it for servicing, sales, whatever.

[Simonl]

Sorry mu71rd, i have to strongly disagree with one of your points too.

VW uk did heavily compensate me for my many weeks of agonising over when/if my car was ever going to arrive. They gave me £35 towards my petrol for picking it up!!!!aarrggghh tight fecks!!!!

if the car weren't so feckin good, i'd have driven it straight into the foyer at Milton Keynes!

I could by from select, but TBH, the money wasn't a HUGE issue for me, I just wanted an easy swap 'car for car' pick up. Which in the end it was

£3k isn't to be sniffed at either, agreed. But I think Red was reffering to the R savings, which i believe aren't as big.

[RedRobin]

Hi mu,

My point about delivery date was simply that you don't get a delivery date at the time of paying deposit/ordering....It comes later....much later.....as in after as much as 10 weeks and not within 2 weeks as with approved VW dealers.

My second point is that IIRC Select charge £350 to protect against currency fluctuation. What's the cost of a third year of warranty? £300? £500 is what I've heard. So, to save £3K you must have taken the risk of not insuring and also you aren't bothered by a third year of warranty, I assume. And also you must have managed to sell your previous car in perfect timing so as not to introduce another real cost factor.

Thirdly, keeping people happy? If that was the case I wouldn't be writing my criticisms of them. Have they got back to me about (what was) my serious interest in a new R32? Still NO!! That, above all else, puts me right off any business. Right or wrong, I feel that customer service and response is extremely important.

As LeMan has suggested, the savings aren't as much on the R32.

Either way, I'm just expressing my personal view and disappointment with such importers and don't have any more to say on the subject. I am genuinely glad that your experience of importing was a good one.