Went to my local dealer for their VIP event with a view to looking at any deals they could do on a Citigo Black Edition

 

List price for a 3-door was circa £10050, and I was initially told that, even though it was a VIP event, they had no leeway on a Citigo as they are a 'loss leader'

 

However, I eventually managed to wangle a £500 discount, and agreed to take out the 3 year GAP insurance, quoted to be £399........it sounded a lot, but as it was added to the price on the 3 year 0% PCP deal, it was only just over £10 per month

 

Here's the sting........when the GAP policy came through, the premium showed as £200

 

I smelt a rat and rang the dealer to query it with them

 

The response I got was that the £200 figure showed as that due to the way they jiggle the figures, and that I had not paid over the odds, in fact it was to my benefit, as if I have to claim they deduct the cost of the product

 

My view is that I have paid £399 to the dealer for the GAP, but they have only paid £200 for it, therefore I've overpaid to the tune of £199

 

The guy tried to explain several times, saying he's been in the business 20 years, blah blah blah, and that there has been nothing underhand done

 

I still think that my £500 discount has in effect been whittled down to a £300 discount by paying £199 over the odds for the GAP

 

Anyone had any similar experiences

 

PLEASE KEEP RESPONSES ON TOPIC..........I HAVE FOUND OUT SUBSEQUENTLY THAT YOU CAN BUY INDEPENDENT GAP INSURANCE FOR PREMIUMS WAY UNDER DEALER QUOTES

Yeah sounds like you've been rightfully taken up the rear  

 

dealers will do anything to sell you gap insurance i don't bother never have ! it only replaces to the guide value of the vehicle..... but thats why i pay normal insurance.......

I've never liked the concept of gap insurance, I understand why and what it's for, but I can't shift this feeling in the back of my mind that it is one great big con added on to the con of buying the car, basically it's an admission that the price of the car is massively inflated from the outset, how can an object be worth less than what you owe for it? Why is it not illegal to knowingly sell a negative equity product? If it was any other industry they wouldn't get away with it, same goes for you regular car insurance too..

Yes you've been conned. Dealers selling loss leaders eh? That's an absurd notion, how did he manage to keep a straight face when saying that? Next they'll be paying you to drive the cars away.. The whole VIP day trick worked out for them becuase they got a sale out of it.. it's just a marketing gimmick

The only extras i would pay for when getting a car or any service for that matter are material extras 

 

they tried to sell me some G4 protection stuff when i bought the car, i denied but they also said they had cleaned and *power polished* the car the interior was flicked over and the exterior looked rushed.

 

so im thinking if i did pay for the G4 stuff would it have even been don't properly and the package was £300 plus if i can remember correctly 

 

it only replaces to the guide value of the vehicle..... but thats why i pay normal insurance.......

 

 

To be fair, as the name suggests, it makes up the difference between the market price of the car which you would get on normal car insurance, and the invoice price you paid new, so after 3 years it could be a reasonable gap

 

I don't have a problem with the concept, and if the policy document had come through showing the premium as £399, I wouldn't have looked twice

 

What's peeing me off is that on the face of it the dealer has charged me £399 for a service costing only £200

To be fair, as the name suggests, it makes up the difference between the market price of the car which you would get on normal car insurance, and the invoice price you paid new, so after 3 years it could be a reasonable gap

 

I don't have a problem with the concept, and if the policy document had come through showing the premium as £399, I wouldn't have looked twice

 

What's peeing me off is that on the face of it the dealer has charged me £399 for a service costing only £200

 

they would sell your rocking horse **** if they could find some.

We paid only £89.00 for the GAP cover on our brand new CitiGo Sport worth just shy over £11,000...It's the same cover as the one provided by the dealer just much cheaper.

If you can still cancel yours from the dealer I would give Chris Knott a call Bryan...

Dont forger Bryan, that most Insurance companies will pay put in FULL in the first year of a car

The wifes Fabia was stolen within its first year and she got a brand new replacement from the Insurance company

I wouldnt bother getting it TBH...Its a money making scheme after all

I got 4 years return to invoice on my Subaru for £200. Not from the dealer though. Never get it from the dealer, they will charge at least double. I don't have finance on it but its the type of car that suffers massive depreciation, so I considered it worth it.

Yes.

Usually they are about £200.

VW charged me only £250 and that was like a decade ago!

Thy are useless insurance (in my opinion) unless u have a waaaay undervalued car or its very nickable!

If you can still cancel yours from the dealer I would give Chris Knott a call Bryan...

+1

Yes cancel if u can!

Does the 'cooling off' period apply to these policies, so you can cancel them if you decide that the product is not what you thought is was?

I never use the dealer unless they can match the online price for it - £110 - £160 is what I've paid previously so yes I guess you've paid a little over the odds. Ive always taken it out though and usually use ala.co.uk or hitach finance direct iirc. You should be able to get out of yours via the cooling off period.

I do have the 14 day cooling off period from 29th September

Now, if I cancel the policy direct with Skoda Insurance they will presumably refund me only £200, since that is the premium showing on their papers

It will be interesting to hear the response of the dealer when I ask them to refund the other £199

But that's what I'm going to do

Even at £200 you would have been stuffed. I paid £95 last year for 3 yrs replacement cover for a 14.5K Roomster delayed by 12 months because my insurance covered year 1. Return to invoice was £65 at the time, both with Frank Pickles.

Bryan, the simple anser is YES.

 

Go back to the dealer, tell them you are cancelling and want the £399 back as they are taking the pish out of you.

Reading your plans above, it'll be interesting to see the response.

 

Never in all my years have I heard of such an expensive GAP cover.

I am in absolutely no doubt that they have just loaded the deal to whittle down the £500 discount you managed to (supposedly) get.

 

You'd pay less than that to cover a £50,000 car!

A reasonable rule of thumb is never to buy insurance from the guy that's selling you the thing. i.e. never buy GAP from a car dealer or travel insurance from a  Holiday company. Almost always cheaper to get from a 3rd party.

 

My Father in law paid less than you to gap insure his new A3 from a 3rd party.

Edited 6 October, 201411 yr by Aspman

Yeah sounds like you've been rightfully taken up the rear

 

dealers will do anything to sell you gap insurance i don't bother never have ! it only replaces to the guide value of the vehicle..... but thats why i pay normal insurance.......

Speaking of "being conned"; Any gap policy I've ever seen (on my own car or someone else's) repaid the difference between the motor policy's payout and your invoice value.

I found it funny that I had an insurance quote from skoda for a years insurance, including gap insurance, that was only a couple of quid different in price to the stand alone gap insurance they were offering.

yes as with any insurance product you can cancel within 14 days.

Re the extra £199 has that been added to the cost of the car?

If so you may not get that back BUT as with any financial product the seller of the GAP will be bound by FSA rules. Rules they may be in breach of. Citizens Advice Bureau will give professional advice.

 

DTD will do £587 off list price and the finance deals too.

 

You do know things like Gap and paint protection etc are huge commission earners for a salesman don't you?

Never ever believe what they tell you, they are not your friend just trained to screw as much money out of you as possible.

It's no wonder people are turning to brokers instead.

Edited 6 October, 201411 yr by loskie

And as from Jan 15 all dealers will have to disclose what commission they get paid for selling Gap, due to new FSA rules.

Look on the bright side, when you get your £399 back you can be confident that this particular Citygo for this particular dealer will in fact be a loss leader.

 

Serves them right.

I would definately cancel. Even if they swear until they are blue in the face that they are not taking the ****. Tell them you have changed your mind and are exercising your right to cancel.

Then go to someone such as ALA and buy a cheaper policy. They also have a better product which will actually return a new car, which covers you if the price of the car goes up.

To add to the above, I don't think GAP policies are a con, but you have been conned.

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Look on the bright side, when you get your £399 back you can be confident that this particular Citygo for this particular dealer will in fact be a loss leader.

 

Serves them right.

 

Unlikely as there are dealers around including the internet ones doing £500 off.

They won't earn much, but they are not losing money on the sale.

 

They have just used a sharp sales ploy because they thought they'd get away with it by baffling Brimma with bullpoo and would therefore cream off an extra few hundred pounds of profit.

 

A shame really as this might well be Dennis Horton who supported the big Briskoda Meet in August 2104.

If you cancel the Gap ins. part of the deal, could the dealer be awkward and remove the £500 discount?