It may just be me, but I got a bit grumpy today in my local Skoda dealer (which is excellent). Orders for the Mk 3 start in July 1. Less than a fortnight. But Skoda have not yet sent out brochures to dealers. The dealers don't know if orders initially will just be saloon or combi also. Dealers won't have demo vehicles...they also have to order them from July 1. No firm pricing dealer says (despite what is posted elsewhereon Briskoda). And so on.

It just smacks of complacency from Skoda HQ. In my case my L&K gets to the three year spot in January which is my usual change point - and it's likely there will be a long wait period. So I'm a keen customer...but currently put off buying as no cars will be available to look at - not even pretty pictures apart from on the web and thanks to those who've put up links in the forum).

Will anyone really order on July 1 if they've not seen the car? We've two Skodas...and will move for more. But only if we remain happy with the customer service which in this case is behind the curve.

Bah.

Will they actually be taking orders on 1st July, or will it be a sort of expression of interest or provisional order?

I was in a Jag dealer a while back talking about the XE, and they said they said they had taken a lot of provisional orders for the car. Thats before any dealers had seen the vehicle.

I get the impression they knew more about then than Skoda dealers do the Superb 3 though.

"Am I a grumpy old man?"

Quite clearly, yes

Joking aside, it does seem bizarre that you can't order yet if 1st July is a given date in the UK.

LHD brochures are in the showroom here (but only thin ones i.e. Not full ones) but no cars on show or available let. I'm not a customer for one but would like to see the petrol 280bhp estate as I think that'll be my next used buy in four years time.

Dave

Nah, not grumpy The thing thats keeping my from being grumpy is I know that if they had it - they'd tell us. I can't believe they would be sat on the option pricing etc and just not sending it out. 

The incompetence of the new breed of car dealerships astounds me........you know the ones........reception desk staffed by smiley faces, coffee machines, glitz and glamour.

I drove to one yesterday to see a new model that had been available since April. A member of staff had taken their one new model home and subsequently reported sick. Hence not one car to look at! (Mercedes Benz)

Grumpy is good!

How can they say there is no firm pricing when Skoda's official UK site has a news story posted on 02/06/2015 titled "Full pricing and specification announced for new ŠKODA Superb Estate". Located here BTW.

 

I want to test drive one first before I buy so I'm being patient waiting for the showrooms to have demo models available. The indication is this will be sometime in September. I was however expecting at least the car configurator to allow me to spec one up so I can see what options I need and have an idea of the final cost.

No, you're not grumpy - I was in our local dealer yesterday and when talking to a (the only) salesman in the showroom about the discrepancies between the Euro website and the pathetic UK one he clearly had not the slightest idea what I was talking about re the new petrol engines and the fact that some were offered on the euro site with 4x4 but not here.

 

He was due to depart today to Sardinia (?) for a training course on the new model and apparently the dealership had just put in their order for display models but the price list he had available was just the standard model list with nothing shown for extras on any of the model ranges.

 

It certainly appeared that I knew, just from surfing, much more about the new range than he did, and he admitted as such.  In my opinion It says as much about the motivation of the current breed as anything else.

 

IMO the dealerships are just an expensive waste of space these days -  I just tried to book my Superb in for a service and they can't do it for more than two weeks because of the unexpected delays caused by those new fangled bank holidays!!!! Easter was quoted as a particular problem, but mustn't grumble

 

How much could we save if we just ordered off Amazon like with everything else?

Edited 21 June, 201510 yr by Claymore

Skoda sales teams were in Europe last week for the sales launch, believe it may have been Valencia.

There could be more information available as a result or certainly not far away.

 

How much could we save if we just ordered off Amazon like with everything else?

 

That is how it should be. Although I have a very good local Skoda dealer, I would rather order a new car online. I like the Tesla model of cutting out the middle men (the dealers). I also feel everybody should pay the same price, it is crazy that I could go to on dealer and haggle and you to to another and we pay different prices. The prices should be fixed, and slightly lower, they should cut out sales people and their commission. Online ordering, with a few retail units for test driving (but the would be more like Tesla showrooms that the dealers we know today).

 

One can only hope a manufacture does this soon. Hyundai are already experimenting with this. http://www.driving.co.uk/news/news-hyundai-launches-salesman-free-dealership-in-bluewater/

That is how it should be. Although I have a very good local Skoda dealer, I would rather order a new car online. I like the Tesla model of cutting out the middle men (the dealers). I also feel everybody should pay the same price, it is crazy that I could go to on dealer and haggle and you to to another and we pay different prices. The prices should be fixed, and slightly lower, they should cut out sales people and their commission. Online ordering, with a few retail units for test driving (but the would be more like Tesla showrooms that the dealers we know today).

 

One can only hope a manufacture does this soon. Hyundai are already experimenting with this. http://www.driving.co.uk/news/news-hyundai-launches-salesman-free-dealership-in-bluewater/

Rockar is a dealership and therefore, there'll be their dealer margin on the sale price. This is a joint-venture with Simon Dixon, ex-owner of the Dixon Motor Group and Hyundai. Call a sales person an "Angel" if you like but they're they are, ready to sell you a car. And this "concept" isn't new; Ford and GM did it in the US in shopping malls in the 60's and GM tried a JV with Tesco 20 years ago.

Tesla whole marketing model has been based on direct sales because they've created this from the ground-up. VAG, Ford, GM et al have complete reliance on their global dealer networks, because that's their model.

Even when business I worked for in the 80/90's were buying 50,000 units a year, the dealers were still involved, to register/PDI the cars - and nothing has changed today.

Suzuki Price FIX. 20 years ago a new dealership opened in Hampshire and offered me £500 off others prices. I purchased a new vehicle from them but still had it serviced with the dealer I had purchased the previous 4 from. It did not take long Suzuki UK to step in...they shut that offending dealership down inside a few years.

Suzuki Price FIX. 20 years ago a new dealership opened in Hampshire and offered me £500 off others prices. I purchased a new vehicle from them but still had it serviced with the dealer I had purchased the previous 4 from. It did not take long Suzuki UK to step in...they shut that offending dealership down inside a few years.

Why would Suzuki shut them down? As long as they (Suzuki) are getting what they should for the cars, then barring customer complaints for poor service/attitude etc then they would leave them alone surely?

I went to White Dove in Cardiff with a price on my phone off Drive The Deal, and they told me straight that they couldn't get near the price, yet Drive The Deal would be sourcing the car from a Skoda dealership.

Edited 22 June, 201510 yr by Jaytip

Why would Suzuki shut them down? As long as they (Suzuki) are getting what they should for the cars, then barring customer complaints for poor service/attitude etc then they would leave them alone surely?

I went to White Dove in Cardiff with a price on my phone off Drive The Deal, and they told me straight that they couldn't get near the price, yet Drive The Deal would be sourcing the car from a Skoda dealership.

When there are 3 long standing Suzuki dealerships within 30 miles radius of the newby and all loosing sales...they have teeth.