Went to the dealer today to get a part-ex quote for my existing car. The dealer will only honour a "predicted" value, in other words, what they think it will be worth when the Superb arrives.

This is clearly less than the value of the car as it stands today, and unfortunately means that I may no longer be able to afford the Superb without going over budget (something which I will not do).

I'll be calling into the dealer nest week to give them one chance to honour the value of my part-ex at todays price (or adjust the price of the Superb to suit)... either that or I'm going to have to cancel the order and walk away :'( Would the dealer really let me do that, or do I just have to take the risk that they will just let me walk away...?

Needless to say, I'm not happy that this could be the end of what could have been a wonderful relationship between me and my Superb.

always be prepared to walk away. Tell the dealer the p/x price you want & if he agrees & you're happy, sign up there & then. If not, walk away; if they want your business badly enough they'll try every trick to keep a potential customer.

I had two dealers within 20 miles when i wanted a Fabia vRS + Octy vRS & the Sales guys must have thought it was Xmas come early, but i played each one against each other until finally one wouldn't budge any more on his 3rd or 4th 'final offer'...... which i then took to dealer number two who beat it by £100 & he got the deal.

Funilly enough, the dealer i bought the cars from closed down about six months later & the remaining dealer now gets all my servicing / repair work

Problem is, in order to get the vat saving, I had to at least agree to purchase the car so that it could be ordered before the cut off of 30th September. So the value of the Superb is fixed (I think I got a reasonable discount on that) and I have put down a small refundable deposit to secure the order. Hence they would have to refund me this if they can't make the deal work for me.

One other option that I have not yet considered is to challenge the finance rate, which on Solutions they are currently quoting at 7.8%. Has anyone successfully challenged this?

I did a deal with my dealer over the phone - he agreed a trade-in price, that was a little below book i must say, for my part-ex, but did guarntee the price, until whenever the car arrived... this, i was happy with, and, i actually ended up selling it private anyway!

Al.

We are waiting for a Jaguar XF which is now two months late; after lots of ranting at the dealer principal and Jaguar themselves they have agreed a trade in value which was determined two months ago on a car which is being used daily and declining in value.

Why on earth manufacturers' can't accurately forecast delivery dates of such a "just in time" industry is beyond me.

Keep pushing them hard.

Justin.

In fairness to the dealer, the delays are not of his making. Couple with that, the dealers seem able to sell all the Superbs they can get their hands on, so to expect a dealer to honour a trade-in price, for an undetermined time, is asking a lot. That said, it's not beyond the possibilities for some dealers to be able to make the call, but, if they do,. be aware they are factoring depreciation into the equation.

How about selling your current car, privately? Getting some type of cheap run-around to last until new Superb arrives, then sell the cheap car.

You're quite right and make some valid points, the problem with the delay is indeed a Skoda issue... although would/should the dealer not take that up with Skoda, rather than expect the customer to compensate (I think I know the answer to this already!)

Needless to say, I've got some serious thinking to do... if I was to walk away, and the dealer let me, then I'll have also lost out on the VAT protection I gained by ordering the car before the end of September... that's another £550 or so to take into account

I feel sorry for the dealer. He has to guess when your car will arrive, guess what your part ex will be worth, compete with the Interweb Brokers and still find enough profit to fit an entire garage out (the equipment isn’t cheap after all). If the dealer hasn’t changed any of his figures yet, then it isn’t really his fault as I see it. If you cancel the order and go looking for another car, you will still have a delay, plus your current car is now 1 month older than it was when you ordered the new Skoda, so you have already lost some value there. I can see it’s annoying, but with all the discounts and the Skoda already being great value for money, you probably can’t get anything similar for your budget, even if delivery is quick. Definitely see if the dealer can help, but don’t bite the hand that feeds you (I am assuming you got a great deal however)

I would bite the bullet and hang on in there. Don’t forget the ‘Book’ price is only a guide and many times a dealer will make adjustments if a specific car is ‘behind book’.

Also, remember that the sooner you get your Superb, the sooner THAT will start losing value... and it will lose value at a faster rate than your current car. So the fact that there's a delay is actually SAVING you money in the long-term!! Crazy isn't it.

I'm not saying it's a good thing, that'd be stupid. But it's not as bad as you think, neither is it hitting you in the pocket as much as you think.

All cars depreciate remember. (Well, other than the classics, but that's just being pedantic!)

Yeah, I know you're all right

To be fair, the dealer has been very open so far, I just hope that I can get this sorted so that I don't actually have to cancel the order as I'm "really" looking forward to getting the new car.

I disagree with the most of you.Your dealer wants your business not only for the profit he will make on both of your cars but more so for the profit he'll make on servicing the car and more.... He also knows that the more cars he sells the cheaper he can buy in cars. I would drive a hard bargain. One alternative is that your dealer "shows" your car but the legalized selling would be your responsibility. This would make your life easy with optimal profit for you and it would be minimally costsome for your dealer