Maybe!

:P

Fingers crossed SUK come up trumps mate, its certainly a good deal whether it costs you any more or not.

It's more years than I care to remember since I sold cars, and this situation never cropped up with me. but I seem to remember that the smallprint on the typical order form contained wording to the effect that specification was subject to change at the manufacturer's discretion, but if the price increased the customer had a period of time in which to accept the increase or walk away and get a refund.

Can't see that things would have changed - so that's the choice. Whether the dealer should morally be helping is another matter, and no doubt will depend on how much profit he gave away. The view I would take is, would you have bought the car if the dealer had originally offered a price that was £500 more? If so, then get on with it...

so they add nearly a grands worth fo extra's that you will use and will also add value to the car and are only charging you half of the retial value? i'd just get on with it

EVERY dealer or broker order for will have a "subject to mfr spec/price" clause in it.

so all the "they must honour the deal" whingers need to go and buy which! magazine and stop talking sh1te on the internet. Not the dealers fault or problem.

Buyer beware

you agreed to buy the car with x, y, z on it and you agreed a price. its not your fault they have changed specs and therefore as you signed a contract are not willinging to pay anymore as the contract is there to protect both you and the dealer. remind the dealer that other dealers do exist and contact DtD and explain it to them as no doubt they want there cut and iirc they are jointly responsbile as they were the ones who pointed you to the garage at the price quoted.

you might want to give your local trading standards a quick buzz and see what they have to say too

Your local trading standards will point you at the contract you signed which no doubt has a "subject to change in manufacturers specification" clause.

you agreed to buy the car with x, y, z on it and you agreed a price. its not your fault they have changed specs and therefore as you signed a contract are not willinging to pay anymore as the contract is there to protect both you and the dealer. remind the dealer that other dealers do exist and contact DtD and explain it to them as no doubt they want there cut and iirc they are jointly responsbile as they were the ones who pointed you to the garage at the price quoted.

you might want to give your local trading standards a quick buzz and see what they have to say too

As Tom says TS will show you the contract and tell you your option is to take your deposit plus interest back and walk away or take the car at the new price.

As for DtD, IIRC they point you at the dealer and as soon as you hand over a deposit to the dealer DtD get their fee and that is it for their involvement. Have a look at the details on their site as it does list this. It is also fairly clear that they are just an arranging agency and take no part in the contract for the car.

Yes thats all dtd do but after speaking to them yesterday they were more than willing to speak to the dealership to try and sort out the problem. I've asked them to hold off until Skoda UK get back to me but can't fault them so far!

glad they are willing to help, shows they worth their salt.

Conclusion!

I'm not sure how yet or whether or not its Skoda or the dealer that have sorted it but this is the result of me badgering them and not backing down;

I'm getting the car (with the extra extra's of course) for the original price!

So this is what I'm picking up next week.

Octavia vRS - Cruise Control, Maxidot, Reverse Sensors, 18" Wheels, Dual Zone Climate, Jumbo Box, Race Blue Metallic

All for £16,500!

Happy at the result but I still say it shouldn't have happened in the first place!

Doesn't matter if he's signed a bit of paper with the price stated on it?

The important term here is "frustration of contract".

The dealer is obliged to sell him a car at the agreed price with the "standard" specification , so no climate etc.

If , through circumstances beyond their control , this is no longer possible (as in this case because Skoda won't build the vehicle to this spec) then they are entitled to return the deposit and walk away from the sale.

They aren't legally obliged to give you the higher spec car at the same price but can't force you to pay more either.

Sorry but rubbish.

If the dealer couldn't supply the car for that cost it shouldn't have made the offer to supply at that price to dtd.

All dtd was point a customer at a dealer and let the dealer and customer hammer out the deal, albeit assisting via the website.

You can't blame the broker as the dealer offered it at that price. You should always put an amount into your "best" price to cover for the loss and this £300 looks like it was quite predictable. They could have stated £500 more than they did and probably still got the sales.

As for the who will lose money on it, well that depends.

If you have to give your client back their deposit plus interest and then have a registered car sitting on the forecourt losing money every week you might decide to take the smaller hit.

It isn't the customers fault for searching for the best price, it what everyone would do. It isn't Dtd's fault as they are just searching for good prices same as a supermarket does for their customers.

At the end of the day if the dealer can't supply it then they shouldn't have offered it.

If they have to give they guy his deposit back that's all well and fine, but then they will no doubt do their reputation no good.

why is it rubbish? how could the dealer see into the future and know this was going to happen? they put the price up there and could supply the car at that price, but then due to unforseen circumstances they are forced to pass the costs onto the customer. they still get a blinding deal and although its not ideal, its a result.

these brokers are whats causing dealers to close shops everywhere. you cant expect someone to sell a car at a loss, if something like this happens im sure the dealer wouldnt dream of doing it if there was margin in the deal. sadly if someone leaves even 500 quid in the deal the customer will go somewhere else, so they were simply doing what they must to try and sell a few cars.

as has been said there will be a clause in the contract that gets the dealer out of trouble should the manufacturer not be willing to provide the ordered car. im happy for the OP that they got their car at the price, i just hope their dealer is around in the years to come as sadly having all the best rep in the world wont pay the bills if everyone wants to pay broker prices.

Are you really telling me that if you get a car for 10k cost you would then offer to sell it on for 10k at a broker?

Of course not, you would add margin.

As for brokers causing dealers to close, that is poppycock.

Brokers are sending people to dealers via a referral and the dealers are getting business they would probably not have got otherwise. A lot of people to whom price really matters would have bought second hand from outside of the dealerships or imported from Europe when it was an option.

It's quite simple really, if a dealer is willing to give up all their margin to sell the car that isn't the customers fault and it isn't the brokers fault it's down to the dealer for making that offer.

If you pay £10k for a car and I offer you £9k you will say no unless there is a good reason. If I offer you £11k you would look at your overheads and decide if it was worthwhile. If it didn't cover your costs and enough profit then you would say no.

If a dealer can't afford to sell a car at that price they don't have to offer to supply it at that price.

All DtD do is source cars from UK dealers. If a dealer down south wants to charge more than one up north, that isn't my problem. The broker has just made it easier for me to find the best price by saving me phoning around.

c.f. the car insurance comparison sites, they are in essence the same and don't put the car insurers out of business.

I've never said the dealer must sell the car and always said they could just give the deposit back and say thanks but no thanks.

I just get very fed up of dealers moaning about brokers.

We have agency staff, contractors and outsourcing. The only way you can beat it is to be competitive but to not take work for joke money.

I'd be grateful that they have don't have direct imports from the USA with them being LHD. While they might not be great cars they cost next to nothing compared to even the most basic of UK cars and a lot of people who want a cheap basic car (say a skoda) could have one of them to run for a few years for a pittance.

How would the European manufacturers cope then?

As people seem to have missed my post.

Conclusion!

I'm not sure how yet or whether or not its Skoda or the dealer that have sorted it but this is the result of me badgering them and not backing down;

I'm getting the car (with the extra extra's of course) for the original price!

So this is what I'm picking up next week.

Octavia vRS - Cruise Control, Maxidot, Reverse Sensors, 18" Wheels, Dual Zone Climate, Jumbo Box, Race Blue Metallic

All for £16,500!

Happy at the result but I still say it shouldn't have happened in the first place!

Just to respond to the 'its not the dealers fault' people:

1, The broker didn't pressure them in anyway, they introduced me to the dealer and thats it, it was the dealer that cut its own margins down to get my business.

2, It wasn't the dealers fault, even I agree with that, but at the end of the day either Skoda or the dealer messed up somewhere, therefore it should be them that sort the problem out (as they have). They didn't even offer me my deposit back as an option and just assumed I'd pay the extra,

3, Why the sympathy for the dealers? They have to work for my custom, not the other way around??? I'm spending money, not asking them for a favour!

Are you really telling me that if you get a car for 10k cost you would then offer to sell it on for 10k at a broker?

Of course not, you would add margin.

As for brokers causing dealers to close, that is poppycock.

Brokers are sending people to dealers via a referral and the dealers are getting business they would probably not have got otherwise. A lot of people to whom price really matters would have bought second hand from outside of the dealerships or imported from Europe when it was an option.

It's quite simple really, if a dealer is willing to give up all their margin to sell the car that isn't the customers fault and it isn't the brokers fault it's down to the dealer for making that offer.

If you pay £10k for a car and I offer you £9k you will say no unless there is a good reason. If I offer you £11k you would look at your overheads and decide if it was worthwhile. If it didn't cover your costs and enough profit then you would say no.

If a dealer can't afford to sell a car at that price they don't have to offer to supply it at that price.

All DtD do is source cars from UK dealers. If a dealer down south wants to charge more than one up north, that isn't my problem. The broker has just made it easier for me to find the best price by saving me phoning around.

c.f. the car insurance comparison sites, they are in essence the same and don't put the car insurers out of business.

I've never said the dealer must sell the car and always said they could just give the deposit back and say thanks but no thanks.

I just get very fed up of dealers moaning about brokers.

We have agency staff, contractors and outsourcing. The only way you can beat it is to be competitive but to not take work for joke money.

I'd be grateful that they have don't have direct imports from the USA with them being LHD. While they might not be great cars they cost next to nothing compared to even the most basic of UK cars and a lot of people who want a cheap basic car (say a skoda) could have one of them to run for a few years for a pittance.

How would the European manufacturers cope then?

im afraid your wrong, i know cos i am a main dealer sales man, i know the margins in the cars, its the same for all dealers. and i can tell you that the prices i find are being offered about by the dealers who use those sites are using the full profit margin!!!

if i could be bothered i would show you our invoices to prove my point! this is why i dont bother with them. if a customer comes in and wants the car i will get as close as i can, leaving myself the margin for any problems, and to make sure the cars not sold at a loss. but that means my best price might be a few hundred quid higher than the broker, and i have lost sales over that in the past, but i wont quote for something that means i have no saftey net in case something goes wrong. which is exactly what had happened here to the OP!

i also know that talking to other dealers, that they all hate brokers for pushing more and more dealers to sell at no profit, and hope for back end money. becuase year on year that gets tougher, it would only take a few months missing targets for the amount lost to be too great and the dealers could be forced to close.

you clearly dont understand that to stay open they need to make a profit?? if we matched broker quotes all day long we'd make nothing from the car, in fact once you take in consideration everything (heat, lights, rent, coffee, staffing costs) ths dealership would close pretty quick.

as for buying in europe, that hasnt been viable for some time, have you seen the exchange rates? its been rumored that even skoda are selling cars at a loss to keep the prices as they are due to the exchange rate.

car insurance sites arent anything like the broker for cars situation. your not paying for something that actually costs anything until it goes wrong and someone claims. where as a car has a physical value that wont change for each car. and ive personally never found those sites to be anywhere near competitive

and competition form USA?? are you mad? look at any car in the USA, when it comes over here "offically" it jumps up in price massively due to the government wanting their piece of the pie. even shipping them in yourself isnt worth it these days either. my next door neighbour used to do it, but due to rising costs hes packed it in.

end of the day anyone who sits this side of the fence will tell you brokers are making money for themselves and thats it, will they help sort your car out for servcing? or get you a loan car? or help explain what features do what in your new car? ring them and try

i cant wait for it all to hit the fan and dealers start really disapearing, closely followed by these brokers.

Just to respond to the 'its not the dealers fault' people:

1, The broker didn't pressure them in anyway, they introduced me to the dealer and thats it, it was the dealer that cut its own margins down to get my business.

2, It wasn't the dealers fault, even I agree with that, but at the end of the day either Skoda or the dealer messed up somewhere, therefore it should be them that sort the problem out (as they have). They didn't even offer me my deposit back as an option and just assumed I'd pay the extra,

3, Why the sympathy for the dealers? They have to work for my custom, not the other way around??? I'm spending money, not asking them for a favour!

seriously im glad you got a result. but you havent a clue about these brokers. they push dealers to do these prices. the dealers have no choice! when you cant see who your dealing with, and theres a price A and price B for you to choose. all you have to go on is the price, so of course you choose the lower price, no one can blame you. but that means the dealers have to keep under cutting until they are the cheapest. which means you end up at the situation this dealer found themselves in.

why have sympathy for the dealers? how would you like it if i came into your work place and undercut everything you did and then simply took a cut and gave the work back to you for you to do? you'd feel pretty annoyed? thats basically whats happening. granted the dealers who started working with the brokers are teh ones to blame, but the simple fact is your helping to put hard working dealerships out of business

just to clarify, brokers are scum, people who buy from them are scum.

just to clarify, brokers are scum, people who buy from them are scum.

lol i would never call anyone buying from them scum!

i can see it now:

"hi there i want to buy that car but ive got a quote from DTD"

"SCUM!!!! get out!!!"

yeah that will work

lol i would never call anyone buying from them scum!

i can see it now:

"hi there i want to buy that car but ive got a quote from DTD"

"SCUM!!!! get out!!!"

yeah that will work

I would but i have to use the word scum cos all the other words that apply to them are ****** out......

I really wish we could go back to the days when dealers could just say f u c k off to anyone who didnt buy the car through the dealer network.

brokers / importers are criminals and thieves pure and simple preying on weak minded internet shoppers who know sweet f.a. about a good deal.

So should I put myself out financially because some dealers want to make more profit than others?

Let's not forget its a dealer that I'm buying it from. Does the broker have any power over them? No, its the dealer thats deciding to cut his/her margins down.

My 2 local Skoda dealers wanted £19,100 for the car I bought and both said thats the absolute best they can do. Very little profit in it one said!

So how can another offer me the car at £16,500? Its astonishing that when I told one of the dealers about this he came back to me with an offer of £17,800, a whopping £1,300 off his 'little profit price'.

I'm sorry but if you want me to pay people who use tactics like that then fine but when the customer looks around and 'fights back' (for want of a better word) then you cry fowl?

You want my business then stop bull****ting me,

Stop raping people on labour costs for work done,

Stop saying things need replacing when they don't

For example; Why did the dealers tell me that the Jumbo pack was a free upgrade? Rubbish! Not one of them mentioned that if I didn't want it I'd get £300 off the price, basically because they make more money if you go for this 'free option'.

It's business guys, if an honest place struggles I can understand, but I have little sympathy for people who are trained to squeeze as much out of people as possible rather than help them find the car they want. (yes yes not everyones the same but we're all generalising here!)

Oh and I do run a business, people undercut me all the time. My brother has been a joiner for 15 years and when Europe opened up it put him under pressure, only his quality of work got him through it.

When the quality of dealers (and honesty) improve then I'd pay the extra for the better service, until then, deal with it!

Disclaimer: This isn't aimed at anyone on here but through my experience from main dealers, I have plenty of examples to quote.

So should I put myself out financially because some dealers want to make more profit than others?

Let's not forget its a dealer that I'm buying it from. Does the broker have any power over them? No, its the dealer thats deciding to cut his/her margins down.

My 2 local Skoda dealers wanted £19,100 for the car I bought and both said thats the absolute best they can do. Very little profit in it one said!

So how can another offer me the car at £16,500? Its astonishing that when I told one of the dealers about this he came back to me with an offer of £17,800, a whopping £1,300 off his 'little profit price'.

I'm sorry but if you want me to pay people who use tactics like that then fine but when the customer looks around and 'fights back' (for want of a better word) then you cry fowl?

You want my business then stop bull****ting me,

Stop raping people on labour costs for work done,

Stop saying things need replacing when they don't

For example; Why did the dealers tell me that the Jumbo pack was a free upgrade? Rubbish! Not one of them mentioned that if I didn't want it I'd get £300 off the price, basically because they make more money if you go for this 'free option'.

It's business guys, if an honest place struggles I can understand, but I have little sympathy for people who are trained to squeeze as much out of people as possible rather than help them find the car they want. (yes yes not everyones the same but we're all generalising here!)

Oh and I do run a business, people undercut me all the time. My brother has been a joiner for 15 years and when Europe opened up it put him under pressure, only his quality of work got him through it.

When the quality of dealers (and honesty) improve then I'd pay the extra for the better service, until then, deal with it!

Disclaimer: This isn't aimed at anyone on here but through my experience from main dealers, I have plenty of examples to quote.

this is aimed at you:- I dont want your business, never did, you couldnt have afforded a merc then anyway, you cant afford anything else I sell now. Enjoy you tesco value beans.

this is aimed at you:- I dont want your business, never did, you couldnt have afforded a merc then anyway, you cant afford anything else I sell now. Enjoy you tesco value beans.

I guess that intelligent reply proved my point!

I guess that intelligent reply proved my point!

if your point was that I rate you less important than **** on my shoe yes it does.

credit crunch might affect you..... but as im not over mortgaged / over commited like some berk who goes to a broker to buy something he cant afford I cant say it is affecting me.

Credit crunch doesn't affect me, I look after 90+ schools so unless the government decide to scrap education I'm sweet!

Oh and I have plenty of equity thank you I just don't like to waste money un-necessarily!

Cue another insult!