New car buyers remain stalled

NEW-CAR buyers are still waiting months for delivery as component shortages and shipping delays continue to choke supplies of new cars.

The average wait time for a new car has blown out to 123 days, while buyers of the most popular models such as the Kia Sorento, Toyota RAV4 and Volkswagen Tiguan are forced to wait as long as nine months.

Some dealers are selling low-mileage used cars and demonstrators to impatient buyers for significantly more than recommended retail price.

The reason for the delays is a global shortage of semiconductors, increased demand post lockdowns and shipping constraints.

Alison Tooley, a schoolteacher from Brisbane, ordered her 2022 Kia Sportage SUV in April, but isn’t expecting delivery until December.

Ms Tooley has always bought used cars, but after seeing second-hand prices she decided to wait and go new.

“This is my first new car ever, and the reason why is it is too expensive to buy secondhand. Some used cars are almost as expensive as new cars but have 60,000km on the clock,” she said.

Buyers shouldn’t expect any improvement this year, according to major car brands.

Kia Australia’s chief operating officer, Damien Meredith, believes the situation won’t improve for another 12 months. Several other major car makers have expressed the same concern.

Mr Meredith said the issue wasn’t straightforward and wait times couldn’t be applied to every model or even every grade in a model line-up.

Head of the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries, Tony Weber, said buyers could cut waiting times if they were willing to compromise.

“Some cars can be delivered straight away. Some you are waiting weeks and months for, others over a year,” he said.

“If customers want a particular trim, colour or custom options they are likely to wait some time. We are hoping to see new car supply stabilise throughout 2022, but the pandemic and the state of global recovery continues to create uncertainty.”

Updated data from vehicle sales website Price My Car, shows some brands have better supply than others, making them a better bet for impatient buyers.

Chinese makers are some of the best performers. MG has an average wait time of just 56 days, Haval (69 days) and LDV (70). Mainstream brands Skoda (40) and Mazda (67) have also trimmed wait times.

Mazda has some of the shortest wait times across several popular models. According to the latest data you can get into a Mazda CX-3, CX-5 and CX-9 SUV in less than 60 days. Buyers of the Mazda 2 hatchback also have a similar wait time.

If that’s too long a wait, online used car marketplace CARS24 can deliver a second hand car to your door in just seven days,

Of the 30 best-selling car brands in the nation, Isuzu has the longest wait time of 213 days.

It was followed closely by Kia (199 days), Peugeot (199), Land Rover (197) and Toyota (191).

Isuzu put protections in place and late last month guaranteed no price rises if the vehicle was ordered, signed and dated before March 31, 2022.