It would be interesting to see how they can prove that it is not their fault. Was the quoted delivery date confirmed to them by Honda? If they guessed the delivery date, I would suggest that they were negligent. Did they place the order on the day that you signed the contract? If there was an administrative delay, or they group orders, I cannot see how they could deny responsibility. You might want to contact your Citizens Advice or Trading Standards for advice if you want to question the legality of the contract.

You've given the dealer chance to explain themselves. Write to the Managing Director of the dealer and cc the letter to Honda (UK) Customer Relations, write it on the bottom so that the dealer know that you are serious. Politely explain your complaints and list out what you expect them to do about the situation. I suggest that you start with delivery in June and at the agreed trade-in value. If you do not know the MD's name, it may be in the dealer's section of the Honda (UK) website. It will probably take a long time for Honda (UK) to contact you, but what they will do is to speak to the dealer and work with them to come up with a solution. It seems that Honda (UK) prefer the dealer to resolve issues, but the dealer is monitored by them to ensure that the customer is happy. If you are short of a car for a few months, I could offer you a very nice Accord 2.0 executive auto. It belongs to the manager of the Customer Relations department, but I'm sure he would not mind you borrowing it if I ever get my car back.

 

Your delay doesn't surprise me at all...... it all sounds like salesman talk......

I went for tests in the S2000 back in Feb this year and expressed an interest...... they said if I wanted one it would be delivered by the end of April....... I tested some other motors for a couple of weeks and went back to Honda wanting to order........ yes sir place your order today and your Nurburgring Blue with blue leather will be with you in early May...... so I signed.

Started calling Honda for updates in mid April...... sorry our system only shows an aprox date...... late May.....

Late May...... the computer now shows early June......

My car is now due this Thursday BUT Honda still can't tell me for sure whether it will arrive on time or not...... they don't even know where the car is at the moment!

I'm bracing myself for a call saying that its been delayed again!

 

The Dealer is only as good as the information it gets from Honda UK.
Honda UK is only as good as the information it gets from Honda Japan. That is where the comminication break down is.

If you are having problems with delivery dates being put back then I suggest GO in and talk to the Sales Manager, it's easy to fob you off on the telephone, but it's harder to do that eye to eye.

Work out a compromise, and stand your ground. They don't want to loose your order. They work on the principle if you want it so bad they can screw you as much as they want.

Honda dealers are having a rough time as they can't get the number of car required by customers.

Honda Jaz 3 month wait
Honda Civic 3 door two month wait
Honda Civic Type R one year wait
New CRV 4 month wait
S2000 4 month + wait

I'm not siding up with dealers but they can only sell cars if they have them.

I always stand my ground and never fall for the sales pitch, and 90% of the time get what I want.

 

I knew the CTR was popular, but not THAT popular. Thank god I decided to go with the S2000 - it makes a 4 month wait seem positively trivial!

I guess it just further screws UK dealers since it makes punters even more inclined to look at importing one instead, since the delay might not be as long.

 

The CTR is popular, but they can't get engines from Japan.

Dealers could sell 3 times the number of cars that are made, only if Honda would make them.

 

Thank you all for your support - it is good to know that you feel the same way as me and that I am not over reacting.

I am (quite) happy to "walk away" it they welsh on the original deal I will just keep driving my 00 silver/red. My wife is hoping that I will - she has already suggested that instead I could replace her car and get her a BMW 330 cabriolet!

 

See my previous thread on BMW 330 drivers!!

(How do you cut & paste a thread?)

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by johnnyuk
[B]See my previous thread on BMW 330 drivers!!

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by johnnyuk
[B]See my previous thread on BMW 330 drivers!!

 

Here is a draft letter to my dealer. I would welcome and comments.


HONDA S2000 ORDER

I am writing further to our telephone conversation last Friday 7th June when you told me that the delivery date for my car was now going to be September rather than this month as originally promised.

Firstly I would like to express my disappointment in the way that I was allowed to find this out. I feel sure that your company must have had knowledge of this delay for some time now (probably from the date the order was placed with Honda). Why did nobody have the common courtesy contact me to tell me the bad news? I understood that before the order was place the availability of the car was checked, how is it that suddenly this has slipped by three months?

I am enraged that you could consider going back on the deal that we agreed. I made it very clear to you throughout our negotiations in March that there was a price I was prepared to pay over and above my existing car. I understood that you had obtained authority to do the deal on this basis, because it was unusual, but now you tell me that that self-same authority had told you that this could no longer be honoured. The delivery delay is certainly no fault of mine and I entered the agreement in good faith. There is a school of thought that would say you should be compensating me for the delay rather than endeavouring to penalise me.

The early delivery of my current car cost me thousands of pounds. You may recollect that this was originally scheduled for delivery in 2001 (per the order form) but was in fact delivered in March 2000. Shortly after I took delivery the price of S2000's was substantially reduced.

It would seem that with Honda cars supplied by your company there is a "no win" situation. If the car is delivered early it costs me money and now you are suggesting that if it is delivered late it should cost me money! All I want is for the vehicle to be delivered when promised in accordance with the deal we agreed.

I did ask you to get your Managing Director to telephone me if your company was still intending to "welsh" on our original deal. I assume that the absence of any such call means that the deal will stand as originally agreed. Please would you now forward written confirmation of this together with copies of all correspondence with Honda regarding the order and delivery of my vehicle?

I look forward to your early reply