I just saved

[Redboy]

..sort of. I went to buy the TSI VRS on which I'd put a deposit on, at JCT600 Price Right near Leeds a couple of hours away. It had 22k miles and the toys I wanted. Arrived and was given the keys whilst "our" salesman was finishing off a deal. Checked out the car which I'd been told had not been there earlier in the week (even though the photos showed it reasonably clean outside the showroom) because it was off site for a tech check and a clean up. It had gained a fair few miles from the advert and was dirty inside, outside and under the bonnet. I knew from a Skoda dealer that it was on variable and last serviced 12000 miles ago, the oil was gloopy and black as expected and the water coolant down to the minimum line. I was prepared to purchase as I'd stated to the salesman earlier in the week, if it's serviced and I like it. Tyres had a 2-3mm above the wear indicators, so what with a service, private plate transfer, tax and tyres within 6 months, potentially it would cost me about £800 to £1000 within a few months. On the test drive I noticed the steering wheel was slightly off centre and the gear knob plastic chrome finish was broken, catching my finger, a small scuff on an alloy and the usual driver's seat bolster a bit worn already. Due to forecast snow I said I only wanted a short test drive with a bit of a straight or dual carriageway. After 3-4 miles of residential twisting A road leading into some villages, which I thought was leading us to a stretch to open it up, I was directed to turn around, I asked about a straight and he effectively said just boot it up this road. I did very very briefly in 2nd. The car was ok, obviously tighter than mine, the engine was smooth but a slightly different noise from the TFSI and didn't feel significantly more flexible or quicker. Post "test" I was still prepared to buy with an oil service, a good clean, tracking check, gear knob, and the few bits rectified. I sat down with the salesman. He then started to offer Gap insurance, Alloys insurance and Protective covering and finance at 3%. I then got a noddy lecture about GAP insurance, I acknowledged that he had to try to offer these commission-boosting extras but told him I wasn't interested in any cover, I wanted to px and pay the balance in cash. He then started a video about the protective coating and left me and my wife to watch it, returning 5 minutes later with a sheet of the final cost, including all the items I'd refused. This boosted the price by £800. I've bought loads of cars in 31 years and always buy cars very fairly, i,e my px is MoT & taxed and no major problems. I turned down the extra £800 of the 3 types of cover again. He then walked off to his boss's office and returned within a minute to say that the boss was not going to replace the gear knob. It seemed like being in the headmaster's office. There and then I knew that the other minor bits of work probably wouldn't get done. It seemed very trivial, I stood up and asked for my deposit back. I know margins are low and there's a routine to play between the salesman and customer, involving "I've got to ask my boss" but my px included 11 months of tax disc,which they'd cash in, and they would make a profit or move it on very quickly judging by my px and what similar cars are being offered at.

[FriendlyFire]

If you wait a few months till the launch of the new Octavia you will be able to buy that same car for a lot less.

I applaud your car buying skills. I always want the salesman to respect my hard earned and if not I walk on the slightest pretext.

[lozparry]

Well done!! pushy salesman who don't listen... , so right to walk away...

[bulls20042002]

Jct600 are very bad at pushing the extras ,they did the same to me! I told him to bring his boss out!

I told him i want the car but none of the extra crap or im walking out right now!

[JulieD]

Good on you! Plenty of good cars available from good dealers so there's no need to put up with this crap!

...but my px included 11 months of tax disc,which they'd cash in...

That used to be the case but isn't any more - only the owner can cash in the tax disc now.

[Ootohere]

Are you saying they were trying to sell you 'Paint Protection Coatings' on a used car with 22,000 miles on it?

Your description sounds to me like a pretty rough 22,000 mile car.

The Salesman and his 'Manager' sound very Swiss Tony.

Personally i think you are best to avoid them and look elsewhere for your cars.

Pay Cheap and get an honest car un-prepared, (then get good trusted valeters to do the vehicle & a good mechanic to do your service or any parts replacement..)

or pay for it to be joyed up before you collect and pay too much.,

the choice is always yours.

Probably as well going to an auction (with a friend who is a qualified mechanic) and taking the lesser risk,

cars just the same as that car seems to have been with the car you were looking at.

george

[james_19742000]

Is this place one of those 'car supermarket' style places? As I hate those places with a passion, never seen or ever been offered a good deal in any of them, for me personally its either main dealer, a good local independent or the good old private sale!

I remember years ago (about 20) I had a good condition Sierra and wanted a Diesel Cavalier, found a really good condition Cavalier at a supermarket place, checked it over, drove well, good condition, reasonable mileage and the history checked out, so was prepared to do a deal, so I asked what they were prepared o give me for my car, they replied 'oh no Sir, we dont give prices on part exchanges until you agree and have signed to buy the new car', my reply 'so you think I am that stupid to agree to buy a car before the finance side has been agreed? I suppose then you would attempt to buy my car for about £2K below what its worth then wouldn't you!!!' I got up and walked away.

I generally enjoy buying cars, if I am honest I can be a bit of an addict (just bought a new one for the wife this week) but sometimes I find it the most frustrating experience going!!!

[blackspaven]

Fair play to you, I'd have probably done the same thing.

Bought my octy from new, and when going to test a Toyota Verso, despite having booked a time, the salesman was in a meeting & kept me waiting without even coming to apologise or explain that he was gonna be delayed.

Just walked out.

[stever750]

Good decision. Only pay for what you want, not what they want you to have. I had to pay £300 for the paint protection thing, but then my car is only 1200 miles old, and I'm going to sell the monster bag full of every conceivable autoglymn product which must be several hundred £££s worth itself.

Did he not realise that you didn't need GAP if you were paying the balance in full - but then I'm not sure why you were looking at a finance deal? Just re-read your post, and you were paying with cash. I'm surprised you stayed that long You'd think selling cars would be easy, after all everyone wants one, and the majority need one; yet there are some muppets that still manage to screw it up.

[mat-vrs]

I've had similar at supermarket types in the past. Very aggressive sales techniques and in the end we walked away.

I think its either worth paying a little extra and going to a dealership or going for a private sale. People who sell cars for a living tend to be very good at lying or hiding the truth, where as you can usually work out if a private seller is honest and genuine pretty quickly.

[Peter.C]

... and the gear knob plastic chrome finish was broken, catching my finger...

Just a little note aside, you can buy the plastic chrome bit separately to the gear knob. Mine was all worn when I purchased my car, along with a few other small bits of trim such as the b-pillar and the driver's door handle, so I thought I spend a little bit of money just to enhance the cabin. Gear knob was about £65 from the main dealer, which I wasn't really prepared to spend for the sake of a bit of wear. Then they told me the plastic bit was available on its own for £5.70. Not exactly a cheap bit of plastic (the whole b-pillar black trim is only £11.42), but was worth it. I found it amazing how much of a difference that small bit of plastic made to how I felt sitting in the car.

It seems as though that car dealer mentioned here lost out on the sale for the sake of a £6 bit of plastic! I know you wanted more things done, Redboy, but that's where it started...

Edited 25 January, 2013 by Peter.C

[mr_awol]

Did he not realise that you didn't need GAP if you were paying the balance in full

GAP isn't just for finance deals. My previous car I paid cash for but for £250 I got 3 years return to invoice GAP. That meant if something had happened an the car HA been written off I'd have got all of my money back and been able to buy another new one rather than taking the insurance proceeds and having to try to replace it with something almost as good as what I'd lost, but not quite.....

[littleade]

Shows how dire some parts of the motor trade still are. Are there no vRS's on Skoda's website at a dealer that fit your bill. You shouldn't get the same (lack of) service from a main dealer. Most of the 'add ons' are not worth it IMO- the sealant isn't worth having unless you do loads of motorway miles (which's view not mine) and I got conned into taking the GAP insurance out. when I got home, sat down and worked out how much it was going to cost me and thought about the realistic chances of having a crash that would write the car off I cancelled it. The dealers get commission from both so the only person they're helping is themselves!

[Paul007]

The last one I went in was with my Mum and his opening gambit was "let's see if you can afford it, before you test drive your new car". Rowlocks. We're off. Thanks very much for nowt. Big car dealer in claret and blue country that piles em high but doesn't sell cheap.

[stever750]

GAP isn't just for finance deals. My previous car I paid cash for but for £250 I got 3 years return to invoice GAP. That meant if something had happened an the car HA been written off I'd have got all of my money back and been able to buy another new one rather than taking the insurance proceeds and having to try to replace it with something almost as good as what I'd lost, but not quite.....

Good point. Yes of course that makes sense.

I can understand it being compulsory in a finance deal, but optional with a cash purchase.

[Web Ferret]

They been on the phone yet with another offer?

[stever750]

They been on the phone yet with another offer?

They been on the phone yet with another offer?

Unlikely, given the half arsed at the first attempt.

[Zillio]

I had this from a Skoda dealer before added 20% onto the cost of the car in extra cover etc and only wanted to repair some of the cosmetic issues if I took out some of the cover I was not interested in. I walked out.

[999pooch]

Would just like to say this was my car. I had this from 100miles, so effectively from new.

It was detailed every week, always kept clean. Never smoked in. Never food eaten in. The rear seats were only ever sat in 2 or 3 times!

The car was serviced way ahead of schedule. It was on variable schedule, but was brought in every 12 months (usually 5k before required). I actually serviced the car at Dennis Horton (main dealer) the day before it was part exchanged for my new S4, so not sure why it states it was serviced 12000 miles ago.

The paintwork was immaculate, no supermarket dings (none whatsover, I always parked at the rear away from other cars).

I have to say this car drove perfect & gave me no problems & I'm sure it will be the same fore the next owner.

The only thing that I remember being not perfect was the gear knob, something that I always was going to fix.........

Honestly, a suberb car. One that I will miss.

[999pooch]

@redboy - just reading your post again.

You say the steering wheel was off centre. The car was 4 wheel alligned at ABC in Leeds by Piotr only 6months ago (because I am anal about these things!). He said it was within normal tolerance, but I had it adjusted to perfection, as Octavias suffer from 'sawtoothing'. I honestly don't recollect the steering wherl being anything other than straight.

With regard the oil, as I said in my last post the car can't have done more than 100-200miles since its last service (2nd variable). I personally paid for this at Dennis Horton before I traded it the next day at Lincoln Audi. The same goes for the coolant etc.

The tyre's, again these all had 5-6mm on them. So were all good.

I must stress this car is GOOD. The only bad thing I remember was a small imperfection on the gear knob!

Don't let this put you off a really good car.

[Ootohere]

6 months or even 1 month is a long time for a car that gets used as a Loaner/courtesy car, maybe even a Taxi, passed around the Trade and maybe to a few auctions.

1 careful owners then driven, kerbed and generally abused possibly, maybe even clocked in the time since the Private Owner traded it in..

10,000 done and mileometer only up 2000.

Not saying the case here,

but sometimes it is interesting when an Ex Owner goes and looks at their old car,

only to find the one in front of them is a Ringer.

george

[Redboy]

Pooch ok, I didn't think the tyres were as good as you saybut I am sure you're right. Hortons need to update their records, they stated it was last serviced in Jan 12. The oil did look black. The salesman didn't tell me anything about the service record despite me emailing. Therefore I asked Hortons to check the database, they said Jan 12 at 12000 miles. The salesman told me the previous owner was a woman and that's all.

If it had been presented well, with no hassle and the £6 worth of chrome ring etc I would have been happy. Perhaps I should have asked on this forum. It drove well and I liked the extras. It is a good price and will sell easily, just not to me. Please don't be offended if it was your car.

[999pooch]

6 months or even 1 month is a long time for a car that gets used as a Loaner/courtesy car, maybe even a Taxi, passed around the Trade and maybe to a few auctions.

1 careful owners then driven, kerbed and generally abused possibly, maybe even clocked in the time since the Private Owner traded it in..

10,000 done and mileometer only up 2000.

Not saying the case here,

but sometimes it is interesting when an Ex Owner goes and looks at their old car,

only to find the one in front of them is a Ringer.

george

Not sure what you mean there?

The car was traded 2 weeks ago, with the mileage that has been stated by JCT600. As far as I can tell it has driven from Lincoln to their other site.

[999pooch]

Pooch ok, I didn't think the tyres were as good as you saybut I am sure you're right. Hortons need to update their records, they stated it was last serviced in Jan 12. The oil did look black. The salesman didn't tell me anything about the service record despite me emailing. Therefore I asked Hortons to check the database, they said Jan 12 at 12000 miles. The salesman told me the previous owner was a woman and that's all.

If it had been presented well, with no hassle and the £6 worth of chrome ring etc I would have been happy. Perhaps I should have asked on this forum. It drove well and I liked the extras. It is a good price and will sell easily, just not to me. Please don't be offended if it was your car.

That's fair enough. I have no financial interest in the car any more, so don't need to try and sell you it. But the way it was described did not in any way sound like the car I traded 2 weeks ago.

The registered owner was my wife, we always do it that way as we only have 1 car in the family.

As far as the service history goes, I think it's ironic that a car that has been serviced well ahead of it's serviced schedule appears as a car that hasn't been serviced at all! This was definitely stamped in the service book left with the car.

I'm not sure how the car was prepared for you, but the car was almost perfect paint wise. The interior was spotless, except for the drivers bolster (a common problem on th vRS seats), and the £6 gear trim you mentioned.

The car was always warmed up correctly and never revved over 2.5k before the oil hit 90'C.

The car was treated really well & kept immaculate at all times.

It is dissapointing that all this info was lost (I gave a detailed account to the JCT600 Audi dealer). But then I guess he had nothing to gain by passing this on to the other franchise.

Anyway, it sounds like you have made up your mind on this one. Shame because it is a really good car. £12k for a 2 year vRS with the following options sounds like a bargain to me-

Columbus Sat Nav

Bluetooth

Front & rear parking sensors

Light & rain pack

[Ootohere]

999phoooch,

i did not see anyplace in the posts any idea when the car left your ownership, and from the OP it sounded like a slightly used and abused vehicle.

(the 6 months since wheel alignement & 100-200 miles since the last Oil change did confuse me,

from what the OP said about 'last service was12,000 miles ago' and the oil gloopy and black,

and more miles on it now than when first advertised.)

Actually the OP does make it sound as tho the 2 weeks since it left you were quite hard ones.

No offence meant on your stewardship of the vehicle, i was replying on the information being given in the posts and generally about buying vehicles where vague information is available on them.

It does seem that the Sellers in the Motor Trade, would have done better selling a nice honest,

' 2 registered Keeper, 1 private owner from 100 miles,

full service history, just serviced vehicle with high spec, immaculate vehicle',

Showing the Service History, receipts etc.

Rather than messing about and giving a bad impression from the outset. JMO.

george