I've finally decided to go ahead and get a Skoda Octavia 1.4tsi elegance hatchback. Still waiting for a test drive as my local dealer hasn't got a 1.4tsi in stock at the minute, but I really can't imagine it'll be a let down. So anyway, I'm planning to discuss prices with the dealer after the test drive.

With options (multifunction steering wheel, electric folding door mirrors, light assistant, curtain airbags, ESP, full size spare wheel, boot net) my model of choice comes to £17029.00

The best price I've found on the net however is £13713.67 on drive the deal. Is this a good price and does anyone think a dealer is likely to do a deal around this figure ?

17K sounds extremely costly for a 1.4tsi elegance. I have a 2.0 vRS on order for less than 16K. Your dealer should be able to get within £500 of the drive the deal price. If you have not part-x you could just purchase through the drive the deal site...

I've finally decided to go ahead and get a Skoda Octavia 1.4tsi elegance hatchback. Still waiting for a test drive as my local dealer hasn't got a 1.4tsi in stock at the minute, but I really can't imagine it'll be a let down. So anyway, I'm planning to discuss prices with the dealer after the test drive.

With options (multifunction steering wheel, electric folding door mirrors, light assistant, curtain airbags, ESP, full size spare wheel, boot net) my model of choice comes to £17029.00

The best price I've found on the net however is £13713.67 on drive the deal. Is this a good price and does anyone think a dealer is likely to do a deal around this figure ?

Just been doing some sums and I think the "tax free" price for your spec (which I believe is still on offer) is about £14600....but the DTD price is therefore pretty good...DTD is basically offering an introduction to a dealer so at least one dealer somewhere is willing to offer that deal.

There's no guarantee any of your local dealers will be willing to do so though.

Might sound silly but even if I do have to pay a bit more, I'd much rather go direct to a dealer than via the internet. The personal touch and all.

I guess 17k is quite pricey, hopefully I can get it down to 13-14k. Having said that inferior cars like the vx astra are at least 17k with decent spec and engine.

My local skoda dealer has offered me a test drive of a 1.8tsi, as he cant get hold of the 1.4tsi just yet. Although I'm tempted to drive it, I'd probably be tempted to buy the 1.8tsi as a consequence!

Have a read of this thread Allams and see if dealing with a dealer direct really matters (how much £ does it matter)!!

I did pay over dtd price with a dealer but got close enough for me....

A good price is one that your happy with and one that you research properly.

Don't be too optimistic but at the same time be concious that its a buyers market.

I spent several weeks looking at the best deals and spec'd a Octavia vRS with the bits I wanted at a price that was'nt too far from the Drive The Deal price.

In the end I approached my local dealer who matched the best price I'd researched.

If you shop around then make sure you have done your homework and print off any quotes you get to prove to the dealer that their prices are not the best and show them what they are up against.

A good dealer will match it. If they don't then drink your cup of coffee and walk out.

same as all these other guys, i phoned DTD and didnt like the way they came across and that was at the time when i had 17K to spend, who knows what they would be like if you had issues,

my local came in around £800 more but then they gave me a great trade in price

You will find a dealer to match or get extreemly close to drive the deal, we live in Hampshire & ended up buying in Kent, great dealer, great service. It just means a bit of time on the phone to find a dealer.

If you want a 1.4 then test drive a 1.4, not a 1.8. Just ring round dealers as someone will have one. A tip is to try a second hand one, gives you a better idea of the build quality after a ferw miles. Not always correct as the scout we tested with about 12k on it was squeek free, our new one is off to the dealers shortly to cure the trim rattles.

At 17K your paying far to much, shop around.

Edited 19 August, 201015 yr by Stuart_J

£17k, is that with the VAT free offer??,ouch. you can get a vRS for £16,900

Just to mirror all the other comments on here - use the DtD price as a yardstick and see how close a range of chosen dealers will come. I contacted around a dozen dealers and settled on one that we under £300 more then DtD. I too did not like the DtD approach when I contacted them, and a few extra quid to have a dealer who cared about me as a customer was certainly worth it.

Just to mirror all the other comments on here - use the DtD price as a yardstick and see how close a range of chosen dealers will come. I contacted around a dozen dealers and settled on one that we under £300 more then DtD. I too did not like the DtD approach when I contacted them, and a few extra quid to have a dealer who cared about me as a customer was certainly worth it.

Just out of interest what did you not like about the DTD approch? As the person I dealt with was very professional and helped me out with alot of qestions before being handed over to the dealer.

I could not find any dealers in Surrey/London that would discount let alone match the DtD so it was a no brainer. DtD were very good and you still deal direct with dealer, DtD are just a broker. I got my vRS Estate DSG fully loaded except SatNav for under 20k.

+1 for DTD. They are a broker so if you have issues you go to a local dealer or for more serious issues - Sales of Goods Act for Eg, your contract lies with the supplying dealer.

DTD just introduce you to a dealer. Don't know why everyone slates them, they take your spec and deposit and pass it on to the cheapest dealer. No brainer really and if anyone is going to use them let me know as I have a load of refer a friend vouchers for a case of wine i think Cheers!

+1 for DTD. They are a broker so if you have issues you go to a local dealer or for more serious issues - Sales of Goods Act for Eg, your contract lies with the supplying dealer.

DTD just introduce you to a dealer. Don't know why everyone slates them, they take your spec and deposit and pass it on to the cheapest dealer. No brainer really and if anyone is going to use them let me know as I have a load of refer a friend vouchers for a case of wine i think Cheers!

Ditto for DTD. Only possible downside is the distance to the supplying dealer they put you in touch with. I used them 5 years ago and found the experience totally painless. To be honest how many people do you know who have actually rejected a car under the SOGA? The vast majority of issues are resolved by warranty work which can be done at any dealer.

Get yourself a brochure.

Work out what the "get you going" (delivery, road tax, registration etc) costs are by removing the RRP value from the "on the road price" and keep this for later - i think it's about £800.

As the VAT free offer is still on, add up the "before VAT" price of your car and the options, (except the spare wheel, Light assist, net and mats, which a dealer should be prepared to throw in for free.)

Now add the "get you going" costs from earlier.

this is now the acceptable price for your car which the dealers should try and beat to give you a "good" price.

Edited 19 August, 201015 yr by Wet Kipper

To be fair if you are entertaining the idea of paying £17k for the Elegance you may find that you can get a 1.8TSI L&K which has most of the options you have listed above (with the exception of the spare wheel) for that money, and get 0% interest on it. That would be my choice, and I own a 1.4 TSI Elegance!

Get yourself a brochure.

Work out what the "get you going" (delivery, road tax, registration etc) costs are by removing the RRP value from the "on the road price" and keep this for later - i think it's about £800.

As the VAT free offer is still on, add up the "before VAT" price of your car and the options, (except the spare wheel, Light assist, net and mats, which a dealer should be prepared to throw in for free.)

Now add the "get you going" costs from earlier.

this is now the acceptable price for your car which the dealers should try and beat to give you a "good" price.

Skoda have a "tax free" price list here: http://www.skoda.co.uk/pdf/tax-free-skoda.pdf

Just add on the option prices before VAT from the standard price list to get the current "real" list price.

Any Skoda dealer will sell you one for that price, but there is some room for haggling hence the DTD price

Just out of interest what did you not like about the DTD approch? As the person I dealt with was very professional and helped me out with alot of qestions before being handed over to the dealer.

Perhaps it depends on the sales person. They wouldn't really commit anything on timescale and also decided the price shown on their website had actually gone up by £300. Skoda had increased prices - but that had been two weeks earlier. Just wasn't a good vibe and heard a few reports that the London dealer they used was pretty bad at communicating. So instead I looked further at dealers and found one that was responsive, knowledgeable and willing to deal. The complete purchase experience with them was superb.

Perhaps it depends on the sales person. They wouldn't really commit anything on timescale and also decided the price shown on their website had actually gone up by £300. Skoda had increased prices - but that had been two weeks earlier. Just wasn't a good vibe and heard a few reports that the London dealer they used was pretty bad at communicating. So instead I looked further at dealers and found one that was responsive, knowledgeable and willing to deal. The complete purchase experience with them was superb.

From what I have found dealer communication over a wide range of brands is generally poor(that's being polite) once the order is placed they do not really care. When I bought my Volvo last year the dealer is 55m from home. I arranged to pick it up on the Saturday the salesman(very poor performance) asked me to be there at 08:30 I said no I will be there nearer 11am. He said his boss liked people to come in early to pick up cars as they had customers in later in the day. WTF I had just paid cash for a brand new car. We arrived up about 11am, showroom was deserted handover was very slow, paperwork not ready kept waiting etc etc. Service book had not even been opened and PDI stamp not in book, no printout evidence of PDI was forthcoming despite Volvo CS intervention. Was Parks volvo in Ayr now use lloyds in Carlisle who seem much better.