Hi folks,

 

I'm test driving a Fabia Monte Carlo tomorrow and hoping to order it straight after if all goes well

 

I've had various offers from dealers and am trying to gauge what constitutes a good deal / percentage discount?

 

This is the best offer I've had thus far: 

 

Oddly the dealer I'm seeing for the test drive has retracted his original offer!

 

Advice welcomed!

 

 

Any ideas why they retracted?

 

Did you present the cw offer to them for a match?

 

Is it a cash sale or a part ex? Maybe the part ex offer has shifted on turn of month/plate... quite a few variables.

 

One of my 'briskoda' ideas form the wall of ideas is related to this. Could I ask you a few more q's in reply to your q ?

 

How far are you willing to travel?

How many dealers have you contacted?

On a rating 1 to 5, how much is price overtaking convenience where 5 is price is all that matters?

On a rating of 1 to 5, how much is the dealer service in presales appealing to you to buy specifically from that dealer, where 5 is dealer service matters the most?

 

Cheers,

 

Colin.

Edited 11 September, 201510 yr by ColinD
refactored questions

In my opinion, for what you are trying to do, it would have been best plan to get Drive The Deal and Orange Wheels quotes in as well before having a chat with your local Skoda dealer, as well as having, as ColinD said, a clear idea of what your priorities/preferences are with respect to how far you are willing to travel for the best savings. When I went into my local VW dealer to see what they could do for me back in April, I knew exactly all my figures that I needed to get hold of, and knew what I was willing to add to my ideal price to take the deal locally. In my case that worked well, shook hands after 10 minutes or so, what I basically did, was present the salesman with a document clearly defining the car I wanted (it would be a factory order), and the price I was willing to pay.

Any ideas why they retracted?

 

Did you present the cw offer to them for a match?

 

Is it a cash sale or a part ex? Maybe the part ex offer has shifted on turn of month/plate... quite a few variables.

 

One of my 'briskoda' ideas form the wall of ideas is related to this. Could I ask you a few more q's in reply to your q ?

 

How far are you willing to travel?

How many dealers have you contacted?

On a rating 1 to 5, how much is price overtaking convenience where 5 is price is all that matters?

On a rating of 1 to 5, how much is the dealer service in presales appealing to you to buy specifically from that dealer, where 5 is dealer service matters the most?

 

Cheers,

 

Colin.

 

Hi Colin,

 

My original contact with the dealer was off the back of them sending me an offer on carwow. So it was purely two quotes for buying the car outright and having it on finance. Like I said, there offer has since been retracted?!?

 

I've had six different dealers get back to me so far.

 

On a rating 1 to 5, how much is price overtaking convenience where 5 is price is all that matters?

I'd say 4 because naturally I want a good price but ideally don't want to travel 400 miles to get it

 

On a rating of 1 to 5, how much is the dealer service in presales appealing to you to buy specifically from that dealer, where 5 is dealer service matters the most? 3 - I'm indifferent about how the dealer is presale and indifferent about the process of buying a new car. Had I not known about carwow I could have spent another £1000+ on the car, the dealer wouldn't have offered up that discount. Therefore I'm very wary of car dealers in general! So in summary how pleasant / helpful they are is irrelevant as long as I get the right deal, even then I would obviously not wish to give  my money to an uncommunicative dealer who doesn't give two hoots about my custom!

 

But generally I'm just trying to get a feel for what is a good deal and what isn't??

 

Thanks

Rob

In my opinion, for what you are trying to do, it would have been best plan to get Drive The Deal and Orange Wheels quotes in as well before having a chat with your local Skoda dealer, as well as having, as ColinD said, a clear idea of what your priorities/preferences are with respect to how far you are willing to travel for the best savings. When I went into my local VW dealer to see what they could do for me back in April, I knew exactly all my figures that I needed to get hold of, and knew what I was willing to add to my ideal price to take the deal locally. In my case that worked well, shook hands after 10 minutes or so, what I basically did, was present the salesman with a document clearly defining the car I wanted (it would be a factory order), and the price I was willing to pay.

Thanks for the additional tips.

 

I'll do a quick check on 'Drive The Deal' as they usually provide some good discounts. I guess travelling to get the car isn't an issue if it's, at worst, a manageable train journey away. 

 

Do they tie you into having servicing done with the specific dealer? Or can you use any official Skoda dealership?

If the car has a UK Manufacturers Warranty for 3 years or 5 Years you can use any Skoda Dealership 

or Volkswagen Group Dealership, VW, Audi, Seat,  or since it is a Free Market in the EU/UK any Vat Registered Workshop using OEM parts to the Service Schedule / Guidelines.

 

For the ease of Warranty Work you will probably want to stick to Franchised Dealers Serving but you are not tied to it, 

or any particular dealer.

If buying a Service Plan, then check the T&C's on that.

I tried the "get a load of on line quotes and then go and see your local dealer and twist their arm" approach touted by so many here. It completely and utterly failed in my case. They immediately said that they're only a small dealership and didn't have the large margins to play with that the multiples may have. They were happy to quote for the spec of car I asked for, but weren't interested in seeing the competitors quotes I'd got hold of. When I told them the best price I'd been given, they asked if they could have the dealer's details, as it was less than they could buy the car for!

 

I was very surprised by the quote variation I got from Skoda dealers when going through Carwow. The Drive the Deal discounts fell apart as soon as I asked for the 0% PCP to be included. Also, they have this barmy limit of 2 formal quatation requests per calendar year, per user. So you need to use your two silver bullets wisely.

Edited 11 September, 201510 yr by Citigopher

I tried the "get a load of on line quotes and then go and see your local dealer and twist their arm" approach touted by so many here. It completely and utterly failed in my case. They immediately said that they're only a small dealership and didn't have the large margins to play with that the multiples may have. They were happy to quote for the spec of car I asked for, but weren't interested in seeing the competitors quotes I'd got hold of. When I told them the best price I'd been given, they asked if they could have the dealer's details, as it was less than they could buy the car for!

I was very surprised by the quote variation I got from Skoda dealers when going through Carwow. The Drive the Deal discounts fell apart as soon as I asked for the 0% PCP to be included. Also, they have this barmy limit of 2 formal quatation requests per calendar year, per user. So you need to use your two silver bullets wisely.

That's really useful, thanks mate

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

I tried the "get a load of on line quotes and then go and see your local dealer and twist their arm" approach touted by so many here. It completely and utterly failed in my case. They immediately said that they're only a small dealership and didn't have the large margins to play with that the multiples may have. They were happy to quote for the spec of car I asked for, but weren't interested in seeing the competitors quotes I'd got hold of. When I told them the best price I'd been given, they asked if they could have the dealer's details, as it was less than they could buy the car for!

 

I was very surprised by the quote variation I got from Skoda dealers when going through Carwow. The Drive the Deal discounts fell apart as soon as I asked for the 0% PCP to be included. Also, they have this barmy limit of 2 formal quatation requests per calendar year, per user. So you need to use your two silver bullets wisely.

It does show we are getting a polarised market. Large groups and online brokers with cheaper prices, or local smaller dealers which can only offer great service but can't match the price.

If you are doing a part ex can usually get a better price with your local dealer especially if they have the service history as they don't need to factor in an amount to fix unexpected faults, and if it's the same brand can often resell it rather than send off to an auction.

I got round the drive the deal limitation by using a second family email address and doing the quote lunchtime at work so it had separate IP. Also have a look at the forums for other models in Skoda range, there is similar discussion in the new Superb section with some other companies listed.

Update: took a Monte 110 out for a test drive yesterday and took the plunge and ordered one!

Managed just over a grand off which was a few hundred shy of the best carwow offers I received BUT they were from dealers a 200+ miles away, so that combined with the fact that the car is on 0% finance meant it was a fairly negligible amount. I'd rather travel 30 minute to collect it than 4 hours and those extra few hundred, over 42 months amount to very little!

Gone for a 1.2TSI 110 Estate, Metal Grey with extras: 17" alloys, centre arm rest, rear electric windows, heated front seats.

Build week 48 (23rd Nov) so should be a pre-Christmas delivery.

Chuffed!

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Worth noting also that the dealer I bought from was unable to match the better quotes as he seemed to think those dealers were breaking even on those deals. Hence he's pulled the plug on using carwow as he said the margins are too tight.

He was quite honest and said he couldn't match it and was happy for me to go elsewhere for those deals.

I left the dealership all set to head north when I totted it all up and decided to forgo the extra savings in terms of convenience, so I went back in and did the deal.

Plus, like I said, he was very honest and didn't pressure me in the slightest.

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Quote:- " Do they tie you into having servicing done with the specific dealer? Or can you use any official Skoda dealership? "  

 

None of the quotes to supply tied me to any thing other than buying the car, for me, getting the price I wanted at my local dealer made me quite happy to buy their "2 or 3  years service package" - I've forgotten which package as one was a big saving - the other very small savings, but there was no pressure to do that, ie it was not a condition of them agreeing to my price.

 

Edit:- glad you got the deal you wanted and locally as that makes a lot of sense.  One thing that I'm guessing about these car brokers, I kind of think that the dealers are playing along with this a bit as my best prices (I am in central Scotland) were on the South coast. One other thing that dealers can do, I think, is bunch your "cut price" order up in with a fleet order which sounds a bit like VAG supply fleet orders placed through their dealership chain at a "better" price. With all that going on, who can blame us "chancers" for trying to get our part of the action.

Edited 13 September, 201510 yr by rum4mo

Deal thus far: Fabia hatch Monte Carlo 1.2TSI 110BHP extras; Meteor Grey, Cruise control, larger twist alloys, heated seats, front arm rest.  PCP 12000 miles a year for 36months. £1500 deposit (£1000 from skodaUK/dealer, £500 personal) - 35 monthly payments of £200 per month. Basically £7500 over 3 years. Is this a reasonable price to be paying. I think I'm getting a good deal bearing in mind all the extras etc.....

 

Thanks in advance

One of my 'briskoda' ideas form the wall of ideas is related to this. Could I ask you a few more q's in reply to your q ?

 

How far are you willing to travel? Nationwide... but the closer the better

How many dealers have you contacted? All the local ones and a few not so local, about 7 or 8 in total

On a rating 1 to 5, how much is price overtaking convenience where 5 is price is all that matters? 4

On a rating of 1 to 5, how much is the dealer service in presages appealing to you to buy specifically from that dealer, where 5 is dealer service matters the most? 4

 

Cheers,

 

Colin.

 

I have only ever bought 3 new cars:

MKII Superb Estate Elegance 

F/L Yeti L&K

MKIII Superb L&K

 

All 3 had a fair amount of options added to them, the Superb Estate was bought through Broadspeed... the least said about them the better, suffice to say I would not recommend them to anybody.

The Yeti was bought through Carwow and was supplied by a fairly local dealer (75 miles away) the dealer was fantastic and if they could have got close to the Newcardiscount price I used for the MKIII Superb then I would have used them again, left to me I would use them for servicing as well... they are that good, it’s a pity the 4 dealers who are within 40 miles of me are NOWHERE near as good. 

 

I offered all the dealers a chance to get close to the quotes I had been given, some couldn’t be bothered to quote at all and some just couldn’t get anywhere near (£2,000 away)

 

We live in an online shopping world and dealers need to be competitive to win business IMO, those that simply quote the RRP when others are offering 20% off will not survive. 

Yes customer service is very important... more so than just the price, but when you only get mediocre service from them anyway then I have no loyalty to them.

 

Someone I know was VERY loyal to their local dealer and had bought several new cars off them, when they ordered their last car the dealer virtually stitched them up (IMO)... so much for loyalty.

 I think I'm getting a good deal bearing in mind all the extras etc.....

 

Ultimately this is all that matters

Ultimately this is all that matters

 

Its the "think" bit too haha

Oh for the good old days of "car importing" from mainland Europe agents or main dealers - fantastic deals, sensible prices for factory fitted options and being treated like a buyer!  Yes all that and a crazy drive home - 1000 miles in one case - having recovered all your travel costs by buying wine/spirits in France on the return trip, only negatives being driving on maybe not proper insurance cover prior to landing in UK (only discovered later, UK insurance company not quite up on insuring cars bought in mainland Europe!) and getting stupid comments written on service/MOT receipts - "labels missing" or "Imported" - just small talk as nothing broke any UK regs -  by local VW dealer's workshop!  That worked well if you were willing/planning to run these cars into zero value, ie 12/13 years old. 

Edited 17 January, 201610 yr by rum4mo

Or the Ford's and others imported to the Channel Islands and still brand new with seats still covered in plastic and never driven further than to a compound yet when available Cheap in Great Britain they had 3,000 miles showing. The good old days not that long since past.

Or the Ford's and others imported to the Channel Islands and still brand new with seats still covered in plastic and never driven further than to a compound yet when available Cheap in Great Britain they had 3,000 miles showing. The good old days not that long since past.

Are they not the holiday rentals from Jersey/Guernsey. Sand in the carpet is usually a sign.

MJA used to sell a lot around Surrey.

That was what HMRC used to accept them as being even though brand new and 'clocked up' not clocked down in miles.

Edited 17 January, 201610 yr by GoneOffskiroottoot

Are they not the holiday rentals from Jersey/Guernsey. Sand in the carpet is usually a sign.

MJA used to sell a lot around Surrey.

 

Correct, in the case of wife's Fiesta 1.1Ghia just about 1900 miles and 6 months old, never did get all of the very fine sand out of that car!

 

VX played this game as well, I think each used its own island, wife's Fiesta was ex-Jersey, it came from the days when a boat load were dumped at a mainland port and reg'd there her car was YPA - so that made it a "YA" reg'd car.

 

Stupid Mitsubishi sales guy dumped the key number tags and emergency (small) key in his bin - I got him to hand them over with the documents, it even still had its original reg written on a "30MPH Max" sticker in the glovebox!   A lot of car for the money.

 

Seem to remember that the plan was to smooth out the RHD car market build at quiet times, it was win-win for "other marque" dealers and buyers, not so good for Ford and VX dealers though, the Fords, at least came with one former owner, FoMoCo, and did not come with any Ford new car warranty, car dealers supplied their own used car warranty.

Edited 17 January, 201610 yr by rum4mo

Or the Ford's and others imported to the Channel Islands and still brand new with seats still covered in plastic and never driven further than to a compound yet when available Cheap in Great Britain they had 3,000 miles showing. The good old days not that long since past.

 

For me that was in the early 1990s, and you had to take what was available and be quick for the more desirable ones, the importing from Europe for me was an early 2000's activity and it was factory ordering for all cars in the VAG - I seem to remember that Canada Garage in Bruges (?) tended only to supply a few versions of Fords, so less flexible - there was a very helpful Alfa garage near where the "bridge too far" was located.

That was what HMRC used to accept them as being even though brand new and 'clocked up' not clocked down in miles.

 

I seem to remember that DOT had clear conditions for what constituted a car as being "new"  1500 miles seems to right a bell to qualify for "new at first registration", or maybe 3000 miles, either way it was intended to cover delivery mileage and allow individuals to transit their new purchases without fear of losing the "new at first registration" tag.

 

I don't know the savings available right now if trying to import, currency exchange rates would dictate as to if there was enough of a market for mainland Europe main dealers to be interested, we are given the impression that it is not worth it - but there again dealers would say that as would their chums in the car mags?   For the brave, Denmark is the place to start at!

Edited 17 January, 201610 yr by rum4mo

I have only ever bought 3 new cars:

MKII Superb Estate Elegance

F/L Yeti L&K

MKIII Superb L&K

All 3 had a fair amount of options added to them, the Superb Estate was bought through Broadspeed... the least said about them the better, suffice to say I would not recommend them to anybody.

Can I ask what you disliked about Broadspeed? I've just ordered my Fabia with them, which is my fourth Skoda and second they will have supplied. Admittedly the first time I used them was in 2008 so some time ago. For my next two vehicles I got great deals from the local dealers. When I went to order the Fabia late last year, the local dealers weren't prepared to move at all on pricing so I went back to Broadspeed. Should I be worrying?