Want an Evoque? Wait a year

Land Rover announced prices for its new Evoque this week, but if you're thinking of buying one you could end up waiting for a very long time.

According to the firm, so many orders have been placed that it can't give an accurate idea when an order placed now might be fulfilled.

"We've taken 3,000 orders for the UK, with the first deliveries expected in September," said a Land Rover spokesperson. "If people order now they'll go to the back of the queue and may have to wait a little bit longer. We just can't estimate waiting times. If you want a certain spec you may have to wait longer."

Prices for the luxury soft-roader start at a whisker under £28,000, and rise to £44,320 for a top-spec model. However, if you're after a base-spec ‘Pure' five-door manual two-wheel drive model - which starts at £27,955 - you can order now but the cars won't even be built until December.

A Land Rover dealer based in south-west England told Parkers that you could take what some dealers tell you about lead times with a pinch of salt.

"If anyone offers one for September they'd be lying," said the salesman. "Some dealers may be slightly creative with their lead times in order to get your order in, but the reality is cars will possibly be delivered before the end of the year, but more than likely during the first three months of next year."

Sure enough, three dealers that we spoke to stated they could supply cars in September or October. Five others told us that they just don't know when cars will be delivered. One told us he'd started taking orders four years ago - although the concept known as LRX was unveiled at the Detroit Motor Show in 2008 - and he said he already had quite a queue. Another told us that, in reality, it's possible the wait could extend to the second quarter of 2011, meaning a worst-case-scenario June delivery if you order today.

Parkers top tip:
When a car has a long lead time it's best to phone around and try to find dealers who haven't sold all of their allocated stock. Each dealer is given a set amount of cars to sell, so it's worth putting the legwork in and possibly travelling a bit to pick up a car earlier than your local dealer can supply it.