...it might not be as "new" as you were expecting it to be...!

I've just been having a conversation with one of the sales reps regarding the delays for the Superb. Skoda will only honour the 17.5% VAT deal if the car is registered within 14 days "from the day it arrives in the UK"

Ok, so what about those stories of hundreds of cars sitting at Grimsby... there's no way that they're going to clear them all, deliver them to dealers, PDI and register them within 14 days... but if what was suggested next is correct (and I hope it's not) then you may want to take notice of this next point...

...they may look to register the cars whilst they are still in the docks :S :S

That would take the pressure of clearing the backlog... but it could mean that a car could be up to a month old by the time it is handed over to the customer...!!

Now before I get shot down with reasons why this can't be done, I'm just relaying what was discussed, and I'm in the same position so I could equally be affected if this turns out to be true.

Options... well, I've agreed to buy a "new" car, not a pre-registered car, so I guess there would be a case for some form of compensation?

What do others think...?

...it might not be as "new" as you were expecting it to be...!

I've just been having a conversation with one of the sales reps regarding the delays for the Superb. Skoda will only honour the 17.5% VAT deal if the car is registered within 14 days "from the day it arrives in the UK"

Ok, so what about those stories of hundreds of cars sitting at Grimsby... there's no way that they're going to clear them all, deliver them to dealers, PDI and register them within 14 days... but if what was suggested next is correct (and I hope it's not) then you may want to take notice of this next point...

...they may look to register the cars whilst they are still in the docks :S :S

That would take the pressure of clearing the backlog... but it could mean that a car could be up to a month old by the time it is handed over to the customer...!!

Now before I get shot down with reasons why this can't be done, I'm just relaying what was discussed, and I'm in the same position so I could equally be affected if this turns out to be true.

Options... well, I've agreed to buy a "new" car, not a pre-registered car, so I guess there would be a case for some form of compensation?

What do others think...?

Mine won't be turning up till around march/April as I only ordered last week. I ordered through Drive the deal, I have a letter of confirmation from the dealer saying they will honour 17.5% VAT as the car was ordered in Dec.

With regards to pre registering - If you have ordered a car new where you are first registered keeper I don't believe they could prereg in the dealers name, I'm sure if they did you could request your money back and walk as the car would be worth even less then the usual depreciation. It usually states in the contract about the first registered keeper.

Edited 17 December, 201015 yr by Sw1

I'd be tempted to confirm the vat deal with the dealer, as mine said the same, but that they are all subject to this 14 day registration period.

I hear what you're saying regarding pre-registration and yes, there would be an opportunity to walk away if the car was in fact registered in the dealers name. What about if they register the car in the customers name, then make the customer wait until they get round to clearing the backlog?

I'd be tempted to confirm the vat deal with the dealer, as mine said the same, but that they are all subject to this 14 day registration period.

I hear what you're saying regarding pre-registration and yes, there would be an opportunity to walk away if the car was in fact registered in the dealers name. What about if they register the car in the customers name, then make the customer wait until they get round to clearing the backlog?

I have that in the contract, it states that if the car is not registered before the VAT increase the dealer will honour the 17.5% VAT rate. I guess time will tell :wonder:

I'm guessing the could register in your name and hold it up, I don't know enough up the process to be able to confirm, I guess there is a point when this would become unacceptable. I've had around 10 new cars in my life and the most I've had to wait from leaving the factory to pick up was around 2 weeks.

I have to flog my Bmer anyway so the notice will do me good

Edited 17 December, 201015 yr by Sw1

The VAT free offer being pushed on the Octavia according to Skoda means that those who order a car now and take delivery next year are actually giong to be saving 20% because the deal is just that VAT free so they can't pass the increase on to you.

So I would take that t mean when you orderd the car with VAT at 17.5%, then that was the contract you enterd into with the dealer and the balance left after deposit/part-ex on that order receipt is what you will pay. After all, it isn't your fault the car has taken so long to arrive and then had a delay in delivery due to the bad weather. My car was supposed to have been registerd by the end of October, but as it still wasn't at the dealer it was never pre-registerd, the V5 shows clearly that the date of registration is the date that I collected the car.

The definitive answer would be in the Consumer Act.

I'm not surprised that dealers would consider this move, as I posted on another thread, each Superb registered after 1st Jan might cost it's supplying dealer an extra £600 in VAT. That's potentially a big bill when you consider some dealers might be waiting on numerous cars stuck at port.

I would sympathise with the dealers dilemma but, bearing in mind depreciation starts as soon as a car is 1st registered, if my dealer wanted to do that I'd expect to be asked up front and then I'd be thinking about some form of compensation. Mercenary attitude you might say? Maybe so, but not my fault my new car is sitting shivering on the side of the Tyne stuck in a long queue. As the customer here I'm the one suffering when I should already have taken delivery.

If any good comes out of this I hope that the archaic delivery from port system gets overhauled. My dealer has told me that I can't take delivery because a car transporter can't retrieve my car from the queue. I asked about personal collection, response, 'they won't let us do it'. 'They' being the port authorities. Beaurocratic b.s. If you consider that someone from the dealers could go to the port and get my car on trade plates, then drive it back to the dealers for it's pdi, that's 2 hours of someones time, a 40 mile round trip and less than 1 gallon of fuel. Cost? a bloody sight less that £600 I'd suggest.

Coming from a professional background where situations like this would not be allowed to happen I strongly resent complacency and especially so when the customer may be asked to foot the bill in the form of weeks or months of depreciation on a car they haven't got.

This weather might drag on until February or March, who knows? Are we still going to be sitting here in 3 months time waiting for cars registered 3 months ago with still no delivery date in prospect?

The solution surely has to be clear the backlog by whatever means it takes (personal collection for all cars if necessary) not charge the customer.

Mark.

Edited 17 December, 201015 yr by 2slo

I'm not surprised that dealers would consider this move, as I posted on another thread, each Superb registered after 1st Jan might cost it's supplying dealer an extra £600 in VAT. That's potentially a big bill when you consider some dealers might be waiting on numerous cars stuck at port.

I would sympathise with the dealers dilemma but, bearing in mind depreciation starts as soon as a car is 1st registered, if my dealer wanted to do that I'd expect to be asked up front and then I'd be thinking about some form of compensation. Mercenary attitude you might say? Maybe so, but not my fault my new car is sitting shivering on the side of the Tyne stuck in a long queue. As the customer here I'm the one suffering when I should already have taken delivery.

If any good comes out of this I hope that the archaic delivery from port system gets overhauled. My dealer has told me that I can't take delivery because a car transporter can't retrieve my car from the queue. I asked about personal collection, response, 'they won't let us do it'. 'They' being the port authorities. Beaurocratic b.s. If you consider that someone from the dealers could go to the port and get my car on trade plates, then drive it back to the dealers for it's pdi, that's 2 hours of someones time, a 40 mile round trip and less than 1 gallon of fuel. Cost? a bloody sight less that £600 I'd suggest.

Coming from a professional background where situations like this would not be allowed to happen I strongly resent complacency and especially so when the customer may be asked to foot the bill in the form of weeks or months of depreciation on a car they haven't got.

This weather might drag on until February or March, who knows? Are we still going to be sitting here in 3 months time waiting for cars registered 3 months ago with still no delivery date in prospect?

The solution surely has to be clear the backlog by whatever means it takes (personal collection for all cars if necessary) not charge the customer.

Mark.

If your dealer pre registers the car, then he should pay the first registration fee, roughly £400 to £500, he cannot have it all. I would be very tempted and bloody minded to demand my deposit back and walk away. At the end of the day it is only a car. Then I would go to plan b and buy an E class merc estate with about 3000 on the clock for the same money.

I checked my paperwork, it clearly states 17.5% vat, and I will be buying a new vehicle, skoda know the score, you can walk into a showroom today and still get a car with 17.5% vat, so as frustrating as it is, just stick in with it.

You could always ask if you could borrow the dealers trade plates, pick the car up and deliver it to the dealer to do the PDI, then collect the car from them 2-3 days later.

Edited 17 December, 201015 yr by darren tt

I believe it is Skoda UK, not the dealer, who is taking the hit on the extra 2.5% vat, which is why they have stipulated to dealers that all vehicles must be registered with 14 days. I'm not sure though if the dealer has to take the hit if it takes longer than 14 days.

With all this bad weather, and what appears to be a steady flow of cars (not just Skoda) coming over from Europe, this could get a bit messy.

Unfortunately, being in Cheshire it's a bit more difficult for me to get to Grimsby to collect my car, but I can't imagine any port company allowing anyone in to remove single vehicles. The operation of shifting 1000's of vehicles would be bad enough without some of the vehicles disappearing out of the queue.

I think I'll be preparing my case for compensation (including the first registration fee) just in case it does go this way (oh, that'll be on top of the 18 week compensation too... £150 isn't it??).

Edited 17 December, 201015 yr by Superbalicious

You could always ask if you could borrow the dealers trade plates, pick the car up and deliver it to the dealer to do the PDI, then collect the car from them 2-3 days later.

I have asked and they declined, again blaming the ports protocol 'transporters only'

Ironically, when I looked at the port's website yesterday the news section stated 'business as usual'

One of the naysayers quoted by the dealer suggested that the cars can't be moved because staff can't defrost car windscreens to get them onto the transporter. That doesn't even warrant a response.

Maybe it's some union nonsense, e.g. transporter drivers must be used and if the transporter is iced up, tough, nothing moves. I don't know but I really can't see why individual cars couldn't be released. After all, the factory manages to transport them to Emden and I bet they see worse weather conditions than we've got.

Frustrating, but I can't see anything happening before early January now.

Mark.

I hear what you're saying Mark... and I agree, especially on the basis that they seem to be moving around Europe without too much difficulty... but then of course, we're Britain... which means everything is that little bit more complicated...! Surely this must be affecting other mfrs? What about Vauxhall's coming over from Germany (or doesn't that happen any more?)

Just out of curiosity, do you know how long it took your car to get from the Factory to Emden once it had been built...?

I hear what you're saying Mark... and I agree, especially on the basis that they seem to be moving around Europe without too much difficulty... but then of course, we're Britain... which means everything is that little bit more complicated...! Surely this must be affecting other mfrs? What about Vauxhall's coming over from Germany (or doesn't that happen any more?)

Just out of curiosity, do you know how long it took your car to get from the Factory to Emden once it had been built...?

Apparently mine was built on 6th December (I don't know if it was on that day or during that week) when I spoke to my dealer on Tuesday 14th December his computer showed the car had arrived at Emden Mon 13th Dec. and was about to be loaded onto a ship.

So in 8 days the car has been built, progressed out of the factory, transported to Emden (500 miles) sailed across to Jarrow (port of Tyne) and there it sits. For how long, nobody knows.

If it's any consellation, apparently there is also a huge backlog of Nissans in the same situation, nothing moving. Usually you lose count of the number of car transporters going in and out of Port of Tyne (I know the area very well)

Mark

Edited 17 December, 201015 yr by 2slo

...it might not be as "new" as you were expecting it to be...!

...they may look to register the cars whilst they are still in the docks :S :S

Well, well! My wife's Fabia Estate is sitting in Sheerness docks at the moment, having arrived on Thursday 14 Dec. I've just had the paperwork through showing Confirmation of Reg. Details with the date of Reg. shown as 14 Dec. My wfe is supposed to sign this as correct for the DVLA. I suppose we should wait until we are picking up the car, should we? The cars are registered electronically. When I picked up my Superb it was registered on the day I took possession of it!

Hmm, that confirms that theory then!!

So when signing for the dvla, I guess you are also confirming the reg on the car matches the paperwork... I can't see how you could sign it before you see the car.

Hmm, that confirms that theory then!!

So when signing for the dvla, I guess you are also confirming the reg on the car matches the paperwork... I can't see how you could sign it before you see the car.

Sign for it before you see it? With no date for delivery offered? Trusting that the spec is correct and it doesn't have any damage? Yes, certainly, where do I sign?

They must be joking.

Mark.

Sign for unseen, no way....an unscrupulous dealer ( it is possible there might be one ) could hold you to your signing, if anything is wrong with the vehicle, and could say you should not have signed, to try and cover themselves.

Perhaps they would be prepared to state the reason for such a signing in a written contract, agreeing to rectify any problems found when the vehicle arrives, and compensation for road tax.

My dealer insisted that I checked everything, within reason before he even mentioned any signing.

I'm not sure if RedDog's dealer is trying to force them to actually sign tho just yet, he may just be alerting to the fact that it is part of the process for confirming the reg number to the dvla...

I wonder what form of compensation could be sought... I mean, if I was to try and hire a superb estate (or similar sized vehicle), I guess it would be upwards of £50/day...? So there's a starter for ten I suppose, £50 for every day beyond the registration date that the car fails to arrive.

Other than that, I can see there being a number of cancelled orders...!

Edited 18 December, 201015 yr by Superbalicious

Annoyingly, despite being told by the dealer that my car was on a boat on Monday evening, he has now told me that it actually remains in Emden, nearly a month after it arrived there.

Apparently Grimsby is full of cars so no further deliveries until they have sorted the backlog out, but SUK will absorb the VAT increase.

Annoyingly, despite being told by the dealer that my car was on a boat on Monday evening, he has now told me that it actually remains in Emden, nearly a month after it arrived there.

Apparently Grimsby is full of cars so no further deliveries until they have sorted the backlog out, but SUK will absorb the VAT increase.

A phrase including the terms p*** up and brewery comes to mind to describe the organisational skills evident here.

Mark.

Why wont people just pop down to there local dealer and talk about there issues regarding delivery. After reading all the stuff on here I decided to pop and see my dealer, we sat, had a coffee and I got all the answers I needed, all in all a very pleasant experience.

To answer a few of the issues on here, 1stly the dealer picks up half of the 2.5% vat bill for cars reg after 4th jan. 2ndly if a dealer pre registers the vehicle then simply walk away. The dealer is taking the p***. 3rdly, the letter from DVLA asking you to verify the registration is by no means a contract saying you are accepting the car, its simply you verrifying the vehicle reg.

Cars have now been sat at Grimsby for up to 3 weeks, mine has been at Emden now for 3 weeks, the docks will not allow individuals to pick up cars.

What we did talk about was the feesability for flying to Czech rep car factory to pick up car, visit factory and drive home, would definately push for this on my next car. Would love to see the museum and factory.

sorry to say, but simply a case of being patient and waiting, should hopefully be early Jan now, and my dealer was pushing me for a 2011 reg and not a 2010 reg. Did say if it went on till end of Jan then I wont be as pleasant.

Popping down to and talking to my local dealer resulted in this thread being started I hear what you're saying though, it's easy to make assumptions without giving Skoda the opportunity to provide input.

I really like the idea of collecting from the factory, not sure how it would work with registration, would it have to be brought back on trade plates? It could be a group visit. I see a guided tour of the museum and factory is about £35

Edited 18 December, 201015 yr by Superbalicious

Popping down to and talking to my local dealer resulted in this thread being started I hear what you're saying though, it's easy to make assumptions without giving Skoda the opportunity to provide input.

I really like the idea of collecting from the factory, not sure how it would work with registration, would it have to be brought back on trade plates? It could be a group visit. I see a guided tour of the museum and factory is about £35

Imports from an EU member state are easy. You get it on an export plate from the country of origin which allows you to drive it home and get it registered. You would insure it on the VIN no and then advise the ins co of the UK VRM once issued by the DVLA. I did this with a Merc some 10 years ago and it was quite straightforward.

Mark.

Imports from an EU member state are easy. You get it on an export plate from the country of origin which allows you to drive it home and get it registered. You would insure it on the VIN no and then advise the ins co of the UK VRM once issued by the DVLA. I did this with a Merc some 10 years ago and it was quite straightforward.

Mark.

Looks like its the future then, all we need to do is put pressure on Skoda to allow customers to pick up their cars direct, its too late for this car, its now sat getting in the way at Emden, 3 weeks and not turned a wheel, with the worry of another 3 weeks sat at Grimsby. I am going to get in touch with Skoda UK to push for me picking up car from docks, I think this is exceptional circumstances, so rules definately need to be bent.

Looks like its the future then, all we need to do is put pressure on Skoda to allow customers to pick up their cars direct, its too late for this car, its now sat getting in the way at Emden, 3 weeks and not turned a wheel, with the worry of another 3 weeks sat at Grimsby. I am going to get in touch with Skoda UK to push for me picking up car from docks, I think this is exceptional circumstances, so rules definately need to be bent.

Let us know how you get on with that please. SUK might still be reluctant to do anything, but how long can this go on? If they are taking a hit on the VAT increase, they may be more amenable to common sense proposals.

Weather is too often used as an excuse for work not getting done. It's winter, we can expect snow and ice, so what, lets get on with it. That's how I look at it anyway.

Mark.

Let us know how you get on with that please. SUK might still be reluctant to do anything, but how long can this go on? If they are taking a hit on the VAT increase, they may be more amenable to common sense proposals.

Weather is too often used as an excuse for work not getting done. It's winter, we can expect snow and ice, so what, lets get on with it. That's how I look at it anyway.

Mark.

Been in touch with Skoda UK, unfortunatly the delivery process is cast in stone, there is no flexability on picking up cars from the docks. What he did say is ' the backlog at Grimsby has been sorted and cars should not have the 3 week wait anymore' watch this space, Ill let you know how it goes on.

We spoke of picking cars up from the factory, he is going to pass this on to Skoda Czech, he even said that Mercedes do this, could be the future.

cars should not have the 3 week wait anymore

What have they done... pushed them all back into the dock

Hopefully things should start to improve, although I can't see how with this weather at the moment, unless the North East isn't badly affected...