If delivered car is slightly different to car ordered...?

[jonjc]

Speaking entirely hypothetically and not naming any dealer or geographical location (except that it's in the UK)...

 

If, in Jan 2014 I ordered a Race Blue VRS TDI DSG Hatch with winter pack, Cruise control, black pack and colour maxidot...

If I then I went in to sign the papers today for delivery/pick up on Saturday...

If I then got a message this evening asking me to call the sales manager tomorrow because of a slight discrepancy so that the delivered car turns out to be a Race Blue VRS TSI DSG Hatch with winter pack, Cruise control, black pack and colour maxidot...

 

What might I do, given that I wouldn't want to start from scratch and wait another 6 months?

 

I test drove both the TSI and TDI and was genuinely uncertain which one to go for but in the end the head won over the heart and I went for the diesel.  If the scenario described above were to happen I would be very tempted to go for the TSI and enjoy it enormously (probably more than the TDI) and I'd never again have to worry about the DPF needing to do a regen but struggling to find enough road to complete the task.  But I might want to push for some sort of compensation because (a) the car is simply not what I ordered ( b ) doing 25,000miles per year I would be spending a lot more on fuel.  I know that I could probably simply reject the car but deep down I don't really want to do this.  I suppose the dealer might have an ex-demo TDI that I could take without having to start the 6 month ordering process again.

 

Any thoughts?

If I go for the option of accepting the TSI does anyone have any thoughts on the maths that I might draw on to arrive at a compensation figure?

Edited 4 June, 2014 by jonjc

[Prykey]

I don't know about the maths however other issues to take into consideration are differences in Road Fund License costs, Insurance Costs and running costs as well as the obvious difference in purchase price.

[Shermo]

Ask them to contact SUK and make them build it properly in the next available build week (about 2 weeks time)? Unlikely to happen though as apparently they have no control over anything in their own business?

 

Alternatively accept the TSI with a refund on the cost difference and also a VERY good gesture of goodwill from SUK such as free servicing (if you didn't get it) and some winter tyres and warranty extending to 5 years?

 

I'd be pretty annoyed if after waiting that long they build completely the wrong thing, it's not like an option missing, it's completely the wrong engine!

[Shermo]

Alternatively, ask them to build the right thing and you'll drive the TSI until it arrives as a way of compensation

[Astec123]

I'd suggest that you push them to sort out a replacement for the car that arrived and offer you something acceptable on a temp basis at their cost until they get the replacement car through (ie the TSI). If you are doing that many miles a year then the TDI is going to win out without issue on fuel alone it's going to cost you 50% more, at the end of the day you settled on the TDI because your head won out in the decision making process and you'll only regret it later that you didn't hold out for what you paid for.

 

Out of interest does the spec sheet in the car say it's a diesel but a petrol engine in the bay or does it say it's a TSI throughout?

Edited 4 June, 2014 by Astec123

[fewie]

Are you taking the car on PCP finance? The cost of a petrol vRS per month would be significantly more to due to the extra depreciation.

At 25k per year the cost difference in fuel would be significant too.

Perhaps they could provide you a vehicle until a replacement arrives as well as compensate you?

[pipsyp]

I'd say rollocks to it and take the TSi. Its the better car of the two, isnt going to be as cheap to run but more rewarding and will save you waiting months on end for the TDi.

....in a perverse way i'd almost be thanking the garage for making that mistake if it were me!

..in terms of compensation...may be ask them to let you have the car at base price (so all options free of charge)?

Edited 4 June, 2014 by pipsyp

[jonjc]

Not sure if it's the dealer or SUK - but I would think it is more likely SUK that have mucked up (in this obviously hypothetical situation  ;-) )

[D@z]

As a tsi owner, at 25k a year it would be a tdi no question, unless you are rich?

[Toxicvrs]

The TDI model would cost you roughly £2457.50 per year in fuel where as the TSI would cost roughly 3406.99 per year! This is using Skoda MPG figures and fuel prices near me!

[Telboy5]

Bearing in mind we are talking DSG equipped cars here, I couldn't disagree more re the comments on taking the TDI over the TSI as the fuel cost would be so much more.

 

Do the maths, if the TDI achieves roughly 55mpg over 25k miles the cost of the fuel on an average per litre price of £1.32 would be around £2,730.

 

With the TSI achieving roughly 45mpg over 25k miles on an average per litre price of £1.26, the cost for fuel is £3,185 which is a difference of £455 or £37 a month.

 

And before anyone says you'll never achieve 45mpg in the VRS TSI MK3, think again, my best average has been 46.7mpg and I often easily achieve over 40mpg on all my runs.

 

The margin is smaller than most would let you believe, however to some the difference of £37 a month would be enough to sway it.

 

My colleague has the new Golf GTD and he struggles to get over 50mpg and is gutted on how well my car is performing compared to his.

 

I also do over 20k miles per annum and can only say what a great car the VRS is with the TSI lump in it, purely effortless.

 

Either way, both types of VRS are lovely cars and I'd be happy in either, just re run the numbers before making a decision as you might find the dealer is willing to discount the car enough to cover the difference in fuel costs, worth a try??

Edited 4 June, 2014 by Telboy5

[jonjc]

Thanks all - some really useful food for thought. 

But will I sleep tonight? 

And will I get to drive a brand new VRS on Saturday (as was the plan at 9.00am this morning)?

 

In addition to fuel costs the tax is higher in the TSI (an extra £35 pa), insurance is group 29 vs 26 so I guess may be significantly higher.  Not sure what the PCP differentials will be.

 

I'll see what they are suggesting when I ring tomorrow - let the sales manager speak first and see where it takes us!

[themanwithnoaim]

The fuel will be an issue, Telboy5's control of his right boot must be admired but can you repeat it yourself, I know with that much fun available I may not be able to resist. Depreciation is gonna be a big factor as well especially when covering 25k p.a., who's gonna buy a 3year old vRS TSI with nearly 80k on the clock ?

Between the fuel and the depreciation I'd be asking someone (ie. whos to blame) for £1,500 p.a. or £4.5K over the 3 year PCP, I wouldn't take servicing, breakdown, extra optional extras or any of that bull, its £4.5k off the PCP right from the start, or give me a loaner till the TDI I ordered arrives.

Don't be nice or you'll get shafted, you won't know till the end of the PCP but, there's probably £1,500 difference between the GFV and the trade in price of that TDI, you won't get that £1,500 if your nice right now. Of course its upto you.

[littleade]

I feel really sorry for you if it does turn out the dealer has ordered the tsi by mistake. Doing 25k a year the tsi doesn't make any financial sense and as those who've already been kind enough to do the maths for you have pointed out it will cost you so much more. You might want to check out a few other cars beforehand to see what availability there is and what they will cost. Ask about some of the Mercedes tdis, a bloke I know had an octy 2 tdi estate and now has a c250 which he got approved because of the lower depreciation. You could use this to beat your dealer up with and know what your options are if they don't sort this out to your satisfaction. Good luck.

[jrw]

Well one thing for sure is that I wouldn't worry about dpf issues doing 25k a year. Firstly there aren't any dpf issues on the cr engine and doing that mileage would let any passive regen to complete without you noticing. I do 12k a year in mine and never had the light.

As for getting an average of 45mpg in the tsi, I think this is unachievable. 45mpg on a run maybe but not a tank average. At 25k a diesel is a no brainer.

Get them to order the correct car (ask for original order form to see if dealer or skoda are at fault) and get either the dealer or skoda to supply a loaner depending on fault until the correct car arrives.

As you've ordered an octavia dsg then the loan car needs to be same size and dsg so they need to loan you at least a dsg diesel octavia.

[ruffday]

Check out Fleetnews.co.uk for running cost on most cars.

The figures include most running costs such as servicing, tyres, fuel and depreciation.

 

If you ran it for 24 months and 40,000 miles the TSi would cost around 3p per mile more than the TDi.

 

http://www.fleetnews.co.uk/costs/car-running-costs/manufacturer/24/40000/skoda/octavia/

Edited 4 June, 2014 by ruffday

[allyst170]

Early days, could be someone out there with a tdi rather than a tsi. Once both cases get to suk it may be easily sorted . Probably wishful thinking though.

If it was me, I probably would consider the tsi, but a significant compensation package would need to be offered.

[LadyVienna]

I would reject the car as not being what I ordered, get them to put the correct order in and by way of compensation, allow you to have the TSI on loan until your correct order is ready for collection. Best of both worlds then cos lets face it your TDI isnt gonna around in a couple of weeks is it haha 

 

Also think the TSI is really quite different from the TDI so is not a small difference!

[JoseDB]

I think I'd drive the nuts off the TSI while the built me a TDI... Best of all worlds - 6 months free motoring in a car you don't care about followed by the car you wanted.

[RobClubley]

"Slightly different" is a bit of an understatement.

[Sheldon.Cooper]

Bearing in mind we are talking DSG equipped cars here, I couldn't disagree more re the comments on taking the TDI over the TSI as the fuel cost would be so much more.

 

Do the maths, if the TDI achieves roughly 55mpg over 25k miles the cost of the fuel on an average per litre price of £1.32 would be around £2,730.

 

With the TSI achieving roughly 45mpg over 25k miles on an average per litre price of £1.26, the cost for fuel is £3,185 which is a difference of £455 or £37 a month.

 

And before anyone says you'll never achieve 45mpg in the VRS TSI MK3, think again, my best average has been 46.7mpg and I often easily achieve over 40mpg on all my runs.

 

The margin is smaller than most would let you believe, however to some the difference of £37 a month would be enough to sway it.

 

My colleague has the new Golf GTD and he struggles to get over 50mpg and is gutted on how well my car is performing compared to his.

 

I also do over 20k miles per annum and can only say what a great car the VRS is with the TSI lump in it, purely effortless.

 

Either way, both types of VRS are lovely cars and I'd be happy in either, just re run the numbers before making a decision as you might find the dealer is willing to discount the car enough to cover the difference in fuel costs, worth a try??

Better to use real world figures (i.e  what the majority people are actually getting from their cars) rather than one or two exceptions.

 

TDI DSG 46mpg, TSI DSG 36mpg. (Briskodian figures)

 

@ £1.349 per litre for diesel and £1.299 for petrol (unless you want 99ron when it's closer to £1.399) then the difference over 25,000 miles is £767 to £1082 a year.

 

Not as big a difference as you might originally think.

 

Good luck with getting any kind of compenstation from SUK or the dealer though.  It's their screw up so there is no legal binding to you having to accept the car.   You're options boil down to order again and hope they build the right one in 20 weeks time or walk away to another marque.

[jonjc]

"Slightly different" is a bit of an understatement.

 

Indeed - I was being ironic (or should I say sarcastic?).

Actually, short of delivering a completely different model of Octavia (e.g. a 1.2 S instead of a vRS) or a completely different model of Skoda (e.g. a Citigo instead of an Octavia) I can't really imagine a bigger mistake.  Even supplying an estate instead of a hatchback or a yellow car instead of a blue car would be less of a problem.

[BA Baracus]

Alternatively, ask them to build the right thing and you'll drive the TSI until it arrives as a way of compensation

 

This.

 

Seems a completely reasonable solution to a material failure by the dealer to meet fundamental aspects of the contract.  Stick to your guns as they will have their own 'ideas'.

 

Muppets.

Edited 5 June, 2014 by BA Baracus

[jrw]

Early days, could be someone out there with a tdi rather than a tsi. Once both cases get to suk it may be easily sorted . Probably wishful thinking though.

If it was me, I probably would consider the tsi, but a significant compensation package would need to be offered.

Highly unlikely. I suspect dealer error when putting it on skoda system but again highly unlikely you'll find out. The s and the d are next to each other on the keyboard after all.

[wantaskoda]

This amazes me, as I would have thought the order form was generated from the order that you signed.

 

Although not a skoda, I know somebody who orderd a Reanault scenic ones with leather seats, but that model didn't have the option, so when the car was delivered and it was noticed, they were told they could keep that car, and the new one would be ordered with the higher spec, and they wouldn't charge anymore when it arrived.

 

what car are you coming out of?? can you keep it.

 

I presume you have the order form. Then it is simple, tell the dealer to supply the car you ordered, or take 5k off the list price for the extra it will cost you over 3 years.