Final difference                                £651

 

......and with the knowledge that the P/X had been inspected and agreed I went with the Skoda dealer (not I have to say my nearest local Chesterfield dealers who after 6 weeks haven't even rung me back to discuss a sale or offered the test drive I requested  via Skoda UK)

 

A long and maybe convoluted message but intended to show some of the many variables in a deal which contribute to the buying decision.

 

Be prepared.

 

Edit: In case it isn't obvious, there's no point having a good online deal in your pocket and not giving your local guy the opportunity to compete with it. In fairness to the online guys however, never disclose their identities because it is inevitable that concerted action will be taken to neutralise their effectiveness in getting you a more reasonable deal in future.

 

JimB

You have the figures confirmed for this? The "Skoda discounted price" and "Skoda PCP contribution" are both £2000. Sure that £2000 hasn't been considered twice? If they are giving you £2000 off the price they are a lot better than my local dealer!!!! But that is on a higher spec vehicle that maybe the online seller can't order as a "fleet" vehicle? Who knows. But also in the Oil Capital the dealers don't offer much. Mines (part of chain I've bought my last two Golfs from) didn't offer anything other than the £2000 dealer contribution. If it was ~600 difference I too would go with local over online. But mines would be over £2000 more expensive than online and over a £1000 more expensive than another authorized Skoda dealer,offering mats, full tank and free delivery! All my local offered was "Free interior supaguard" as they have "spare stuff lying around".

Edited 10 September, 201510 yr by Zapirian

David, if you think you're confuzzled you should be here right now where I hardly slept at all last night worrying about paying too much, sent a long email to my short....but soon to be long suffering Skoda salesman and far too much of today with a calculator trying to figure out what I was doing. As usual of course, just to increase the tension, it appears to be my sales guy's day off, so no reply yet.

 

You and I are old enough to remember seeing that old trick, usually in western movies, with the pea under one of three cups where you see it going under one and the three are then rotated rapidly around each other and you have to guess (with financial penalty if you fail) which of the now stationary cups the pea is under.

 

Motor trade financial deals are, in my opinion,  based on that trick.

 

And to ensure you have no thinking time it's often (but not in my case this time) a case of 'if I can come up with a deal now will you buy?' ...and the logic element of the brain often jellifies  and emotion takes over....danger!!!!!

 

I have many years of personal experience at the rod end of this philosophy but still sometimes get into a bit of a 2 & 8 when on the hook end, it's human nature.

 

I looked at a lot of options before I signed on the dotted line and before you say anything, this time I was happy to adopt the philosophy that I didn't want to be richest stiff in the cemetery - I'm definitely not rich, it's just to make the point that maybe this time I should get what I wanted instead of thinking about what it might cost.

 

Another factor was finally realising that 'options' on top of a designated model in a range will realise nothing when you trade the car in so if the next model up in the range has many of the features that you want (and no doubt many that you wouldn't ordinarily pay for) then go for the next model up because those included extras that you would have otherwise have paid extra for paid for will actually be worth something come trade in time as part of the locked in valuation of the higher level model.

 

I had options from a few online traders but I'm going to say that from what 'body language' you can sense from that world I would have happily dealt with two of them . One in particular became my favourite because they offer a trade in deal with you retaining the car until your new car is delivered by trailer or collected by you. Both however were professional, communicative and gave the impression that they knew what they were doing and cared about their own reputations.

 

Anyway, after a lot of faffing around (the salesman at the Skoda dealer who I bought my current Superb from actually refused to give me cost to change because he thought their figure it would insult me  ) I received contact from another guy at the same dealership after I had expressed interest on their web site (you know the pop up chat thingie) although it was actually the web site of a different dealership under a common 'umbrella company'...you couldn't make it up!

 

I went to the the Skoda dealer to discuss a deal and for them to inspect my low mileage Superb to see what they could do re the trade in value.

 

I won't bore you, or anyone else, further by detailing the model that I decided to buy but the list price, including quite a few options including the sexy tow bar and pano roof comes to £34,835.

 

Here are some numbers;

 

Retail on the Road price                   £34835

 

Skoda Dealer's discounted price      £32835

 

On line dealer                                    £27684

 

Saving                                              -£5151  (no brainer eh?)

 

Skoda Dealer better P/E  value       - £1000

 

Difference now                                 £4151

 

Skoda contribution to PCP deposit -£2000

 

Difference now                                 £2151

 

Lower cost finance from Skoda       -£1500 (@ 2.9% APR. not zero)

 

Final difference                                £651

 

......and with the knowledge that the P/X had been inspected and agreed I went with the Skoda dealer (not I have to say my nearest local Chesterfield dealers who after 6 weeks haven't even rung me back to discuss a sale or offered the test drive I requested  via Skoda UK)

 

A long and maybe convoluted message but intended to show some of the many variables in a deal which contribute to the buying decision.

 

Be prepared.

 

Edit: In case it isn't obvious, there's no point having a good online deal in your pocket and not giving your local guy the opportunity to compete with it. In fairness to the online guys however, never disclose their identities because it is inevitable that concerted action will be taken to neutralise their effectiveness in getting you a more reasonable deal in future.

 

JimB

Wow!!

 

Seriously, ta muchly for some very sound advice,+ I do agree with your thinking re. dead but solvent.

 

(My 1st wife died 10 years ago & the best advice received back then was to accept that it's now my life, & should enjoy it, 'cos you can't take anything to the grave.)

 

Also, 'tis true that adding options isn't cost effective, unless it's the only way you can get the car you want to own.,

 

We've looked at SE-L & L'n K cars in showrooms & now need to drive one ASAP.

If we like the new model, or if we feel disappointed with our car when driving away from the dealer, then we'll start running numbers, ( loosing sleep....), but I don't

want to make that decision until the drive.

 

Thanks again for your input, it's very helpful.

 

David C 

Agree with Zapirian that £2,000 discount from the dealer in addition to £2,000 finance contribution is either suspicious or a stunning deal.

 

I look forward to hearing how David's test-drive goes!

Agree with Zapirian that £2,000 discount from the dealer in addition to £2,000 finance contribution is either suspicious or a stunning deal.

I look forward to hearing how David's test-drive goes!

My local dealer offered a discount of £1610 (4%) as well as the £2000 Skoda contribution. I believe that if I said I would sign on the line if they upped that to 2K, they would do it. I can't see them losing a sale for the sake of £400, so the deals are definitely out there.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Edited 10 September, 201510 yr by Jaytip

Yes, oddly enough today I finally received a typed copy of the order form (although I already had a copy of the hand written original) and the figures I have quoted above are correct.

 

I suppose it 'helps' (me) that I like selling (and amateur psychology) and my career over the thick end of 40 years involved me heavily in that...but I hate being sold to.

 

Therefore what I always do is take as much care as possible to reduce the amount of negotiation I am exposed to and always have printed copies of my requirements and trade in and offers for both from third parties so I know my own 'bottom line' before I start.

 

It puts you in a much more comfortable position and you will always know whether to just walk away from what's being offered.

 

The prices you can see from the online dealers are in my opinion a pretty accurate reflection of what you should be paying for the car - I have no doubt that fleet buyers pay even less, but I have often been accused of having an over active imagination!

 

Anything above that is excess profit or funds required to finance the fat inefficient bloated and largely irrelevant dealer networks ( there might be just the slightest hint there about my current feelings on the subject, for which I apologise profusely).

 

The numbers, however, are neither suspicious or stunning.

 

Things might not be so easy now if the rumours of Skoda's inability to be able to cope with demand even before the official UK launch are substantiated.

Yes, oddly enough today I finally received a typed copy of the order form (although I already had a copy of the hand written original) and the figures I have quoted above are correct.

 

I suppose it 'helps' (me) that I like selling (and amateur psychology) and my career over the thick end of 40 years involved me heavily in that...but I hate being sold to.

 

Therefore what I always do is take as much care as possible to reduce the amount of negotiation I am exposed to and always have printed copies of my requirements and trade in and offers for both from third parties so I know my own 'bottom 'line before I start.

 

It puts you in a much more comfortable position and you will always know whether to just walk away from what's being offered.

 

The prices you can see from the online dealers are in my opinion a pretty accurate reflection of what you should be paying for the car - I have no doubt that fleet buyers pay even less, but I have often been accused of having an over active imagination!

 

Anything above that is excess profit or funds required to finance the fat inefficient bloated and largely irrelevant dealer networks ( there might be just the slightest hint there about my current feelings on the subject, for which I apologise profusely).

 

The numbers, however, are neither suspicious or stunning.

 

Things might not be so easy now if the rumours of Skoda's inability to be able to cope with demand even before the official UK launch are substantiated.

Glad you got a good local deal! My dealer wouldn't shift at all on a new model so I'm going to have to go with another or new-car-discount (who also offered me a better px value!).

Edited 11 September, 201510 yr by Zapirian

Yes - well done!

My dealer originally spoke about a £1310 discount, but his manager limited that to £1100. They didn't get the deal in the end (although that was for another reason, they were prepared to lose it over £200)

Edited 11 September, 201510 yr by thewinelake

Agree with Zapirian that £2,000 discount from the dealer in addition to £2,000 finance contribution is either suspicious or a stunning deal.

 

I look forward to hearing how David's test-drive goes!

We managed a short drive today, in a white diesel SE-L DSG estate. I won't name the dealer or their location, I'd prefer not to name & shame!

 

We did waste time talking about how we might purchase a car & possible part exchange prices but eventually we did get to drive the car.....

 

Basically it's an Octavia on steroids, bigger inside & out, but easy to drive with all of the toys you'd expect in an MQB platform car.

 

It's a good estate car, as long as you order the variable boot floor, quite chuckable for a largeish car, & it doesn't feel too big for UK roads,

not unlike the older Mondeos.

 

It's easier to jump in & drive than the new Mk 5 Mondeo, which always feels, (to me) bigger than it needs to be.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           We didn't get time for a proper drive or to play with the toys, but if you are used to VAG cars, the car has few surprises.

 

Dislikes, the interior & exterior mirrors are much smaller than the Superb 2, the initial step-off from rest wasn't always prompt, & the stop-start wouldn't work.

 

When compared with the Superb 2, there's not as much leg-room in the back, but still enough for most of us.

 

In our opinion, it's one of the best cars in it's class, but it doesn't feel "Superb" .

 

Given longer with the car we might find more reasons to change, but today's drive has only been a taster.

So please watch this space, our local dealers should have their cars next weeks so we might be able to obtain a longer drive! 

 

DC

e , but that might take a bit more time. 

What made you think their wasn't as much legroom in the back. Quoting the Autoexpress press review :

Now based on a stretched version of the VW Group’s MQB architecture, it weighs up to 75kg less than its predecessor but has grown in virtually every direction. It’s now 28mm longer, 47mm wider and 6mm taller, with a 80mm longer wheelbase, too. So while the rear legroom is identical (frankly, any more would have been overkill) there’s more elbow room (39mm more in the front, 69mm rear) and more headroom (3mm front, 25mm rear) than before.

I didn't think there was any less legroom in the rear when I looked at them recently.  Maybe it was just the positioning of the front seats at the time?

Rear leg-room, in both cars I set the driving seat to suit me, then sat in the rear seat, &  there was more room for my feet in the old model. 

 

Didn't have a tape-measure with me, so 't is only an opinion, & I was comparing a new estate with an old twin-door..

 

Agreed that neither car is tight for space in the rear, we peeked at a new Mondeo on the trip home, & rear leg-room seemed very tight, especially given the sheer size of the thing. 

 

Next task is to find a 2.0 TSi demonstrator!

 

DC

 

Next task is to find a 2.0 TSi demonstrator!

 

DC

Best of luck with that !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

David, if you think you're confuzzled you should be here right now where I hardly slept at all last night worrying about paying too much, sent a long email to my short....but soon to be long suffering Skoda salesman and far too much of today with a calculator trying to figure out what I was doing. As usual of course, just to increase the tension, it appears to be my sales guy's day off, so no reply yet.

 

You and I are old enough to remember seeing that old trick, usually in western movies, with the pea under one of three cups where you see it going under one and the three are then rotated rapidly around each other and you have to guess (with financial penalty if you fail) which of the now stationary cups the pea is under.

 

Motor trade financial deals are, in my opinion,  based on that trick.

 

And to ensure you have no thinking time it's often (but not in my case this time) a case of 'if I can come up with a deal now will you buy?' ...and the logic element of the brain often jellifies  and emotion takes over....danger!!!!!

 

I have many years of personal experience at the rod end of this philosophy but still sometimes get into a bit of a 2 & 8 when on the hook end, it's human nature.

 

I looked at a lot of options before I signed on the dotted line and before you say anything, this time I was happy to adopt the philosophy that I didn't want to be richest stiff in the cemetery - I'm definitely not rich, it's just to make the point that maybe this time I should get what I wanted instead of thinking about what it might cost.

 

Another factor was finally realising that 'options' on top of a designated model in a range will realise nothing when you trade the car in so if the next model up in the range has many of the features that you want (and no doubt many that you wouldn't ordinarily pay for) then go for the next model up because those included extras that you would have otherwise have paid extra for paid for will actually be worth something come trade in time as part of the locked in valuation of the higher level model.

 

I had options from a few online traders but I'm going to say that from what 'body language' you can sense from that world I would have happily dealt with two of them . One in particular became my favourite because they offer a trade in deal with you retaining the car until your new car is delivered by trailer or collected by you. Both however were professional, communicative and gave the impression that they knew what they were doing and cared about their own reputations.

 

Anyway, after a lot of faffing around (the salesman at the Skoda dealer who I bought my current Superb from actually refused to give me cost to change because he thought their figure it would insult me  ) I received contact from another guy at the same dealership after I had expressed interest on their web site (you know the pop up chat thingie) although it was actually the web site of a different dealership under a common 'umbrella company'...you couldn't make it up!

 

I went to the the Skoda dealer to discuss a deal and for them to inspect my low mileage Superb to see what they could do re the trade in value.

 

I won't bore you, or anyone else, further by detailing the model that I decided to buy but the list price, including quite a few options including the sexy tow bar and pano roof comes to £34,835.

 

Here are some numbers;

 

Retail on the Road price                   £34835

 

Skoda Dealer's discounted price      £32835

 

On line dealer                                    £27684

 

Saving                                              -£5151  (no brainer eh?)

 

Skoda Dealer better P/E  value       - £1000

 

Difference now                                 £4151

 

Skoda contribution to PCP deposit -£2000

 

Difference now                                 £2151

 

Lower cost finance from Skoda       -£1500 (@ 2.9% APR. not zero)

 

Final difference                                £651

 

......and with the knowledge that the P/X had been inspected and agreed I went with the Skoda dealer (not I have to say my nearest local Chesterfield dealers who after 6 weeks haven't even rung me back to discuss a sale or offered the test drive I requested  via Skoda UK)

 

A long and maybe convoluted message but intended to show some of the many variables in a deal which contribute to the buying decision.

 

Be prepared.

 

Edit: In case it isn't obvious, there's no point having a good online deal in your pocket and not giving your local guy the opportunity to compete with it. In fairness to the online guys however, never disclose their identities because it is inevitable that concerted action will be taken to neutralise their effectiveness in getting you a more reasonable deal in future.

 

JimB

I've voided the contract for sale with the dealer because they made what I believe to be an innocent error in presenting to cost of the purchase to me (misrepresentation, whether innocent or otherwise)....whereas it was stated to me that the  PCP was a 0% one (the example I made above was for the correct apr rate) and that therefore the deal would be there or thereabouts the same as on line dealers was incorrect to the tune of around £15000 (not in my favour). 

 

I had accepted the deal on the basis of verbal indication of the PCP being a 0% contract but neither I nor the salesman had checked the figures being produced from the back room.

 

The finance proposals did not show any apr, cost of finance or any other indicators which might have flagged up the issue.

 

So it looks like it's back to the drawing board for me although I'm now so sick of my experiences with dealers that to all intents and purpose they are all dead to me.

 

Unfortunately as a result of all this hassle I've now become rather fond of the Kia Sorrento so it may soon be goodbye Skoda!

I've voided the contract for sale with the dealer......

 

So it looks like it's back to the drawing board for me although I'm now so sick of my experiences with dealers that to all intents and purpose they are all dead to me.

 

Unfortunately as a result of all this hassle I've now become rather fond of the Kia Sorrento so it may soon be goodbye Skoda!

I felt the same when SUK wouldn't put my order through (or so the finance company informed me)

HOWEVER since I have decided that the Superb is THE car I want I moved on and placed an order with a different broker who assured me there would be no such issue with them (as they can supply cars for a cash sale, which is where we think the 'problem' really lay?)

All I can suggest you do is to repeat what I did above if your circumstances are the same.

That's a bummer, Jim. These dealers are good at innocent misinformation.

For some obscure reason I can't edit my previous post - the error is £1,500 not £15,000.