Photo: Daimler
The chip shortage has wreaked havoc in the auto industry. This isn’t by any means a secret. But all the struggles to deal with the constrained semiconductor inventory have pushed the automotive world into a ridiculous phase where customers are the ones affected in the most horrible ways.
A recent report from Canada highlights the horror experience that buying a new car has become these days, all because of the lack of chips that’s hurting automakers so hard.
On one hand, there’s a new car buyer who called a dealership recently because they wanted to order a new vehicle. Instead of actually placing an order, the customer was required to pay $1,000 only to be added to a waitlist.
The salesman couldn’t even tell the potential buyer when their new car would arrive, as the estimate right now is 2024. But what’s worse, the waiting time for a new vehicle sometimes goes as high as three years, and in some cases, customers might even have to pay more when the car arrives because you wouldn’t expect companies to take the risks of inflation and rising costs, right? Right.
Someone else says they ordered a vehicle in the spring of 2021 and eventually received it a year later. However, their hybrid came in a totally different configuration and with a different color. Given they were asked to pay $7,500 extras because of the options that were installed on the car, they refused the car, so someone else ended up buying it.
But as it turns out, declining the vehicle was a big mistake. They’re now being told to wait until December to receive a new car, obviously without knowing if this is the one they ordered.
This means they had to wait no less than 21 months to receive a vehicle that might not even be the one they wanted in the first place, all because customers are seemingly carrying the burden of uncertainty in the chip crisis.
On one hand, there’s a new car buyer who called a dealership recently because they wanted to order a new vehicle. Instead of actually placing an order, the customer was required to pay $1,000 only to be added to a waitlist.
The salesman couldn’t even tell the potential buyer when their new car would arrive, as the estimate right now is 2024. But what’s worse, the waiting time for a new vehicle sometimes goes as high as three years, and in some cases, customers might even have to pay more when the car arrives because you wouldn’t expect companies to take the risks of inflation and rising costs, right? Right.
Someone else says they ordered a vehicle in the spring of 2021 and eventually received it a year later. However, their hybrid came in a totally different configuration and with a different color. Given they were asked to pay $7,500 extras because of the options that were installed on the car, they refused the car, so someone else ended up buying it.
But as it turns out, declining the vehicle was a big mistake. They’re now being told to wait until December to receive a new car, obviously without knowing if this is the one they ordered.
This means they had to wait no less than 21 months to receive a vehicle that might not even be the one they wanted in the first place, all because customers are seemingly carrying the burden of uncertainty in the chip crisis.
Google News