Hi there, this is my first post but hopefully an interesting one. Last year, I was attracted to the Superb diesel estate, however, it was a bit above my budget. Last November, after much head scratching and discussions with dealers, I decided to buy the Superb saloon whilst taking advantage of the 0% VAT and 0% finance offer.

Last week, I got a call saying that my car had arrived. I have arranged the 7 day free insurance and have put the money in the bank so that I can pick it up on Wednesday. Tonight, I got a call saying that they have made a mistake and ordered the estate version.

After several discussions we have come to the following:-

1) they sell the estate and reorder the car (several months wait though)

2) I buy the estate at £1,500 more and as a second owner. They will give me financing at the lowest rate which includes 3 services at 10k, 20k and 30k.

Taking the estate means that it costs me £1,500 more on the purchase price, about £1,000 on finance cost less say £500 value for the servicing. i.e. roughly £2,000 more than I was expecting to pay, but a lot less than I could have bought the same estate for as it would have had VAT on top of the price.

Any thoughts on whether I should take the deal, haggle or walk away would be greatly appreciated. I am tempted, as I wanted the estate originally anyway but it didn’t have the VAT free or 0% finance. I believe that the specs are as ordered.

As the zero finance offer ends on 31st March (presumably the car has to be registered by then) you may not have a re-ordered car by then. If you reckon that this is the case then your only options are to take the estate at the current deal or try haggling with the risk that it might not work.

Given the wait times that people experience, the dealer should be in a strong position to sell the estate to another customer so haggling may well be risky.

You make an interesting point about the 31st March deadline. I hope though that they would honour the 0% finance deal. I was originally concerned about the lead times and questioned where I would stand if delivery was after the 31st March and they said that they would honour the deal.

Interesting though the lead time on a wrongly ordered Superb estate is only 2 months!

If you can afford it, I'd suggest some serious haggling... with a view to just taking it anyway. See what else you can squeeze out of them.

If you weren't willing to pay the extra then should be getting some serious compensation for their **** up.

Either way, make sure you win out of all this.

Thanks for your comments thejames. Just wondering where I should pitch my haggling, a bit more cash off or some dealer fitted extras which I fancy maybe. At the end of the day I can afford the extra and do prefer the estate. The way I see it is that they have equalled the 0%VAT offer, so they have already given me a discount of about £4,500 off the list price, so I can't see that they will move much further.

Reckon there's a little more room... There's always a little more room. They'll probably lose out anyway by trying to sell that car then trying to appease you with your next one.

I'm sure they just want shot of it. Go for cash first... and if that fails, push for extras. Extras cost them less.

My Dad has the big 4x4 estate Superb and it's a lovely car. I'd have had one if I could afford it!

Umm and Ahh a bit and drag your feet... Although make sure they know a further 2 month + wait isn't acceptable... Ball in their court etc. All that. Reckon you can squeeze a bit more out of this...

Sit in their showroom. Drink their coffee. Eat their biscuits. Look round it a few times. Test drive it. Be a pain.

Take the estate! I'm driving one and no regrets whatsoever.. you're right on the cash component.. not sure how it works in UK but in SG.. the dealer wont entertain further haggling on cash terms. Perhaps you can try ask them for upgraded tyres or freebies like boot net, dividers.. all the freebies available for the estate..dealers need to show a profit but if u want the estate and all the accessories anyway.. might as well ask for those.. my 2 cents worth.. hope u get your superb estate!

Why would you have to buy estate as second owner. Personally this doesn't sound right. Before agreeing to anything I'd request to see dealer principal and all paperwork and have him/her explain how the mistake happened. Only then if it all adds up correctly would I start talking numbers.

Cheers

Steve

Edited 10 January, 201214 yr by stevehg

Why would you have to buy estate as second owner. Personally this doesn't sound right. Before agreeing to anything I'd request to see dealer principal and all paperwork and have him explain how the mistake happened. Only then if it al adds up correctly would I start talking numbers.

Cheers

Steve

+1

Thanks for the replies. I was told that the reason for being second owner is that they get a discount from Skoda for demonstrators. Although it won't be used as a demonstrator, they need to use this route to be able to give me the discount which will equate to a VAT free offer. i.e. they are getting much of the discount from Skoda. I am likely to keep the car for about 5 years and put high mileage on it, so being the second owner is not that significant for me.

Sounds like the dealer has made a mistake - you wanted a saloon, they ordered an estate. Have you checked your paperwork/order confirmation?

I would be going straight to the DP and asking what the hell they have done and how the mistake has occurred. You shouldn't necessarily be having to do anything, it is their mistake so they should be putting right.

If it was me I would be suggesting to them that I take the estate for no extra cost. Although £1500 may sound alot on a £20k+ car, it will be quite a chunk to the dealer. This "2nd owner" business sounds a bit fishy also. It's a tough call because it would be stupid to walk away from the deal as the estate is truly excellent.

You may be in a good position here if it is genuinely their mistake.

Tell the Sales Manager he needs to supply the estate at the price you were paying for the hatch and that if this is outside his authority then he needs to speak to the Dealer Principal (DP) and/or the Skoda Area Manager.

Tell the Business (Finance) Manager you know his subsidy to reduce a standard rate Skoda Finance deal down to 0% is actually quite low and that if giving you that subsidy is outside his authority then he needs to speak to the DP and/or the Skoda Finance Area Manager.

Or go straight to the DP for both the above and mention that if either part is outside his authority - see above, or you'll ask Skoda direct for the deal above.

If they absolutely must register it as a demonstrator (which saves them up to 7%) then I'd be tempted to still go for that on condition you get both the above. However, to get the demo discount they may need to have it on site for 3 months in case Skoda arrive to audit them, or at least to not re-register it in your name for 3 months. If the former, you need a free of charge loan car. If the latter, there's no real loss for you.

If you get this result you've actually got a better car worth more money now and much easier to sell and for more money than the hatch in the future.

Good luck.

Yes the dealer has made a mistake, and it of course sounds like they are trying to limit their own liability by shifting alot of the discounting onto Skoda UK, ie, registering it as a demonstrator etc etc. I have always had the philosophy that mistakes happen in any walk of life, it's how they are dealt with which is important.

All the banging of fists etc etc wont change anything, and they do seem to have made a reasonable offer to you. Whatever you do, dont be a pain to them. I know many agree with "it's the squeaking wheel that gets oiled' mindest, but ive always thought "its the squeaking wheel that gets thrown out and replaced".

Push for a few 'dealer fit' extras if there are indeed a few bits you'd like, but it does sound like you will come out ok. Remember, they will still supply you with the car you originally wished for if you want, but you will suffer a huge delay, there's no breach of contract here. You both want 'you' in a Superb ASAP, so its just a matter of the fine details.

As an aside, i understand the issue of being recorded as a second owner if the car is to be registered as a demo, but im intrigued how they will get around the 3 month rule.

You may be in a good position here if it is genuinely their mistake.

I had to sign a contract for my car to enure these sorts of things don't happen.

If it says hatch on your contract then it is their fault and they should be keen to rectify the issue through a decent deal.

I would go ballistic if a hatch turned up now instead of an estate, having waited so long for the vehicle.

If you are happy with an estate go and get the best deal you can - they should be keen to pacify you.

I have tried the above and they are just not for shifting. They say that they have given me the demonstrator discount plus any other discounts and their profit margin.

The demonstrator discount they get is 8%. The list price of the car with the options it has is £30340. They are asking for £25,500. This equates to a 16% saving off list price. This saves me £4,840. However I have to pay £1,300 in interest charges but get about £300 in servicing value.i.e. £3,840.

The cheapest internet deal that I can get on this spec, including some finance is £27,800. Overall, I think that they have made a good offer. I have asked them to see if they can squeeze any more and am awaiting a call back.

Take the estate. You sound like you wanted it origionally anyway. The dealer made a mistake, it's no big deal. It's a good opportunity for you to gain a very good relationship with the dealer. You will probably always be well looked after due to this episode. That has a value.

Thanks for all your advice. They would not shift on the price at all, but have thrown in a few extras. All in all I think that I have got a great car at a very good price and have maintained my relationship with the dealer.

Take the estate - it looks much,much nicer

Go with the estate, and remember that you will get more for it when you sell it.

This means that the extra cost will be less than the £3800.-

I have little knowledge about used cars pricing, but my guess would be that you get £1-2000 more than for a saloon.

Do all of the above again and if they're not ahifting, buy a used one and save yourself £££

Thanks for all your advice. They would not shift on the price at all, but have thrown in a few extras. All in all I think that I have got a great car at a very good price and have maintained my relationship with the dealer.

If you are happy with deal that's the main thing. Like others, I personally think estate looks better too.

I have tried the above and they are just not for shifting. They say that they have given me the demonstrator discount plus any other discounts and their profit margin.

The demonstrator discount they get is 8%. The list price of the car with the options it has is £30340. They are asking for £25,500. This equates to a 16% saving off list price. This saves me £4,840. However I have to pay £1,300 in interest charges but get about £300 in servicing value.i.e. £3,840.

The cheapest internet deal that I can get on this spec, including some finance is £27,800. Overall, I think that they have made a good offer. I have asked them to see if they can squeeze any more and am awaiting a call back.

Bargain. Do the deal - I would.

I have tried the above and they are just not for shifting. They say that they have given me the demonstrator discount plus any other discounts and their profit margin.

The demonstrator discount they get is 8%. The list price of the car with the options it has is £30340. They are asking for £25,500. This equates to a 16% saving off list price. This saves me £4,840. However I have to pay £1,300 in interest charges but get about £300 in servicing value.i.e. £3,840.

The cheapest internet deal that I can get on this spec, including some finance is £27,800. Overall, I think that they have made a good offer. I have asked them to see if they can squeeze any more and am awaiting a call back.

Doing a quick price quote on Autoebid for a Superb CR170 DSG Estate with extras gives a list price of £30381 and then discounted down to £23775. To me there is still 'more' in the margin than your dealer is willing to give up.

On a separate issue of taking a car as an ex demonstrator, if the car is registered in the dealers name where do you stand under the law of running a car not registered in your name and the possible knock on problems with the insurance company.

As to what you should do - I do not know, its a tricky one

Wherever I went, I would have had to pay the interest of about £1,300. So my true discount is £4,840 + £300 (servicing) + £200 (extras) + £70 for a full tank of diesel. So total saving off list price is £5,410. Quite happy with that.

I had looked at the second hand market, but wanted ventillated seats, so it had to be new.

Hi!

Just want to add that little info that its a very high probability that the dealer himself is watching this forum and this thread. I would. Another tricky thing is the relationship between the buyer and the seller. Before and after. None are willing to do bad deal. The local market have a big influence as well as the world economy. In short: A chicken race.

Good luck!

/Superbjoser