2004 VIN, Build, & Delivery process questions

Hi all,
For all of us that have ordered '04's - what have your dealers told you for delivery time frames? Mine says late August/early September. Can't wait!!
Does anyone have an idea when we should be getting our VIN numbers? How long from VIN number till delivery? How long does it physically take VW to build the car?
Again - can't wait!!!

It all depends. You don't "order" a VW per se, you "request" one and hope that one meeting your specs rolls off the ship before the end of production and isn't grabbed up by a dealer with higher priority than yours.

If you don't have a VIN, you don't have a car. Once you have a VIN, expect to wait 2-4 weeks for transit. If you don't have a VIN yet and want your car ASAP, keep shopping. Another dealer might get one sooner. In my experience the estimated time of arrival given by the dealer is nothing more than an optimistic wild-ass guess.

Do not forget that I was 'yanked around' by the first dealer I 'orderd' from.

Yes, he explained that one just 'requests' a vehcicle and when one of them rolls off the assembly line, it can be 'earmarked' with my name.

UNFORTUNATLY.... Aftter putting down a deposit, I waited and waited and finally got the word that a 2 vehicles of my desires were on a ship (GOOD NEWS). I waited and waited... then got word that the ship was in port... then I waited some more... The dealer told me that it takes time to 'sort thru' 1000s of new cars and get them on trucks.

Then... after more waiting and many phonecalls to the dealer... I WAS TOLD THAT BOTH OF THEM WERE SOLD BY ANOTHER DEALER!! I went into this dealership and asked if there was ANYTHING that could be done to get me what I was looking for. They said "NO" and gave back my deposit.

I then telephoned another dealer 80miles away and described the vehicle I was looking for.... He called me back in 20 minutes and said he could have one on the lot in 6 days.
For the same price that the 1st dealership had setteled on, I had my new Jetta totally purchased over the phone and ready to pick up.

BIOTTOM LINE: Choose your dealership wisely

i don't think that VW is ready to take orders for
2004s yet.. probably because they need to rid the
excess inventory of 2003s. the dealer here in
seattle was almost ready to take 2004 orders then
abruptly went silent. they consider themselves
to be ethical in not taking deposits on cars that
they do not have papers on. as of now there are no
order sheets, no pricing and no detailed specs on
2004, so any dealer taking deposits right now is
simply getting an interest free loan from customers.