Hello All,

I went into my local Skoda garage to see what is on offer regarding new 2019 Skoda Octavias.

For an SE 1.5TSI (manual) the list price of 22910 was dropped to 21171. I've got no idea if the discount is normal for this time of year.

If I take out Skoda finanace then a further 2500 is taken off the discounted price.

 

The PCP option looks interesting but it's not something I have any experience of. 
Now here is my question - 
Q: What is to stop me signing up for this, making 2 or 3 payments & deciding it's not for me and opting to settle the figure in full with a lump sum payment?

Surely I would have to pay the original 21171 price minus any monthly payments already made i.e. losing the 2500?

Perhaps I mis-understood the salesman but no payment penalties were mentioned regarding this

 

For my 5 year old 2014 Octavia TSI SE (60K on the clock) they offered 6000.

The irony is that this is the best car I've ever owned for the least amount of time.
In fact I like it so much that it's potential replacement is exactly the same - colour, spec etc (not so good when you trying to flaunt the fact that you've got a brand new car)

 

Q: Anyone got any suggestions for useful addons worthwhile having?

 

Thanks 

Hi Scotty,

 

For the finance perspective; check the prices that online brokers (carwow, drivethedeal etc) can offer before heading back to your dealer. “Impulse” incentives that are advertised at dealers are by far and large not the cheapest you can get.

 

if you are willing to make a deal, find the cheapest price elsewhere, and be ready to shake on the day if you hit a price you are happy with.

 

As for PCP - the APR at the moment isn’t too tempting, so you are right to be asking!

The finance discounts are provided by VW Finance, and are entirely yours to keep, if you cancel within 14 days of the contract starting, you will not pay any interest, and you get the £2500. This is a very well documented suggestion on here.

2 hours ago, scottyboy235 said:

 

Now here is my question - 
Q: What is to stop me signing up for this, making 2 or 3 payments & deciding it's not for me and opting to settle the figure in full with a lump sum payment?

Surely I would have to pay the original 21171 price minus any monthly payments already made i.e. losing the 2500?

Perhaps I mis-understood the salesman but no payment penalties were mentioned regarding this  

Nothing to stop this at all. You have a legal right to settle any finance at any point during the agreement. They can’t stop you, or ask for money (deposit contribution) back etc. 

 

It is 100% possible. 

11 hours ago, scottyboy235 said:

For my 5 year old 2014 Octavia TSI SE (60K on the clock) they offered 6000.

The irony is that this is the best car I've ever owned for the least amount of time.
In fact I like it so much that it's potential replacement is exactly the same - colour, spec etc (not so good when you trying to flaunt the fact that you've got a brand new car)

 

 

There's an abvious question, why do you want to replace the best car you've ever owned? Just keep running it. Surely that makes more economic and environmental sense...

You might get an even better deal when the new model comes out as garages and Skoda UK will be keen to shift any remaining stock of the mark 3 models.

 

I would echo @Niyx's comments - definitely gather some quotes from Carwow so you have something to compare the deal to. 

 

You mention that you are interested in the 1.5 TSI manual. Check out the comments on here about the problems people have had with this combination in terms of being able to move off smoothly in first gear. If you are happy with your current car then I would advise you consider waiting a while until these issues have been resolved.

23 hours ago, scottyboy235 said:

Now here is my question - 
Q: What is to stop me signing up for this, making 2 or 3 payments & deciding it's not for me and opting to settle the figure in full with a lump sum payment?

Surely I would have to pay the original 21171 price minus any monthly payments already made i.e. losing the 2500?

Perhaps I mis-understood the salesman but no payment penalties were mentioned regarding this

 

There is nothing stopping you, but don't wait three months (despite what the salesman might say). Do it as soon as you collect the car, within 14 days. You'll then pay the minimum amount of interest.

 

Phone Skoda Finance and tell them you'd like to exercise your right of withdrawal. They then provide you with a settlement fee, which you pay off with your cheaper loan.

 

All discounts and dealer contributions / incentives remain unaffected. The price agreed when you sign for the finance is the final price, even if you withdraw from the finance agreement.

 

I did it when I bought our Kodiaq last year.

I did just this after signing on the dotted line for my MY18 VRS 230. Actually left it a couple of days and paid it off using alternative (cheaper) finance, keeping the 2 free services and £2500 contribution. I think I ended up paying about £12 in interest is all. Very easy to do - just ring up, ask for a settlement figure, they send confirmation and paying details - job done

+1 for using carwow - I'm terrible at negotiating and found it much easier and more rewaridng to let them do it for me, for free.

Plus check carfile.net there you can get a price without waiting or registering any details. I found them cheaper than any carwow dealer closer.

Wow - so many replies and things to think through.

 

It's much appreciated. Cheers lads

 

..does anyone have any feedback on the winterpack option (heated front windscreen, heated washer nozzles)?

I know you also have to pay for the heated front seats as well for this. 

 

Having had it as an option (heated screen) on a previous car it made life so easy - back in the days when we did have real winters

The one regret I have for the Superb is not getting a heated windscreen, and one option I’d thoroughly recommend.

We have a heated screen on Mrs Rubbles Octavia and it was the only option I wanted on the Karoq that I have on order. Really useful feature on a cold morning. Heated front seats are good and can get quite warm another nice  feature on a cold morning.

Heated screen may take a bit of getting used to at first. It did with me anyway,my eyes were drawn to the elements in the screen and at night it does refract (for want of a better word to describe it) the lights of oncoming cars. 

I love my heated screen and I would never go back to a car that didn’t have it. I have to ask though, why not an SE-L? The LED headlights are worth every penny and the leather/alcantara seating lifts the cabin from nice to very nice indeed IMO. If I were making a significant investment buying the same car I already have, I would want it to feel significantly different and the SE-L isn’t that much more expensive. I would regret it every time I saw another on the road. If you really don’t like the seats (that seems be the reason many cite, and to each their own) an SE Tech is worth considering as there are a lot of extra goodies

On 11/03/2019 at 18:20, RapidPaul said:

I would echo @Niyx's comments - definitely gather some quotes from Carwow so you have something to compare the deal to. 

 

You mention that you are interested in the 1.5 TSI manual. Check out the comments on here about the problems people have had with this combination in terms of being able to move off smoothly in first gear. If you are happy with your current car then I would advise you consider waiting a while until these issues have been resolved.

 

I've just come back to an Octavia mk 3 again with a 1.5 petrol engined car and don't think that it is too much of an issue, slightly jerky maybe if you're not giving it much throttle but I could say that about many cars that I've had over the years. My previous car was a Yeti 1.4 petrol engined car, it's engine wasn't exactly perfect at low speeds, often hesitating a bit as I drove off in first gear,  which was a bit alarming at times to say the least, at least the Octavia 1.5 petrol doesn't do that!

 

Regarding different spec levels, obviously the SEL, L & K and vRS models are a bit nicer inside the cabin but I can't say that I feel too hard done by with what I have with the SE Tech model that I have, I added metallic paint, variable load floor and heated seats to the standard specification which makes quite a difference. However, I think you can only get the SE Tech on PCH or if you're able to buy the car outright, pretty sure they've just changed the name to SE Drive on the run out models with larger alloy wheels and maybe a few other extras too.

When I was looking about a year ago I got quotes of 18,500 for a new 1.5 TSI SE L manual Quartz Grey via CarWow. I ended up saving a couple of grand by getting a ~10 month old 1.4 though.

 

As per Sasha the little extra for the SE L was worth it imho, I particularly would feel a bit hard done by spending good money to get halogen headlights in 2019, the LEDs are fantastic. 

Edited 13 March, 20197 yr by uchuff

15 hours ago, hatchy said:

Heated screen may take a bit of getting used to at first. It did with me anyway,my eyes were drawn to the elements in the screen and at night it does refract (for want of a better word to describe it) the lights of oncoming cars. 

 

No more lines / heating elements anymore.

 

The latest VAG heated screens use a layer of clear conductive material sandwiched in the glass instead.

Any online broker price, such as Carwow, should be your starting point, not your final price.

 

I took my best Carwow price to a non-Carwow dealer and got a further £1,000 off.

It's done. Went for the next spec Octavia up, still race blue - great colour in the sunshine.

 

I went for the PCP option after looking through this post: PCP and the £2000 incentive - early repayment

 

I did of course quiz the salesman beforehand without letting on how much I was aware of.

What he said more or less agrees with the post: settle amount early within cooling off period to avoid penalties - you get to keep the £2500 plus the 2 free services. 

 

Basically if you've got the finances, take out the PCP getting the cheaper car price, then settle the outstanding amount immediately 

Beautiful colour and great spec, congrats on the purchase!

 

Pressing question... how long are you having to wait for it to show up?

Estimated delivery date is early May, so not too long to wait.

 

The vehicle order form now has a clause about potential price increases due to Brexit. It doesn't mention any figures just that its a possibility.   

Be very careful with Skoda PCP at the moment, they are now offering very low final (Baloon Payments), whereas they used to around 50% of the retail price after 3 years, they are now 65%. I enquired about a new vRS at £30k, with various discounts got it down to £25k, however the PCP quotes shows a final payment of £9500, so basically after 3 years they are only guaranteeing a price of £9500, its highly likely the vehicle will be worth around £5k more but if the market crashes I will only get a guaranteed £9500. If I walk away and hand the vehicle back it would end up being an expensive 3 years of ownership. I challenged my local Skoda dealer regarding this and even though they have no control over the finance figures, agreed that VWFS are setting the GFV low to protect themselves as so many custumers are now handing vehicles back due to diesel gate and the crash in diesel prices, also it forces customers to take another PCP deal, hence repeat business, so without doubt best route get the discount, cancel PCP within 14 days and then use savings or lower APR loan and buy outright, PCP becoming less atteactive every year.

Edited 14 March, 20197 yr by jonnyboy78

26 minutes ago, scottyboy235 said:

The vehicle order form now has a clause about potential price increases due to Brexit. It doesn't mention any figures just that its a possibility.   

 

That's interesting. Can you remember the wording used?   Can't for the life if me see them getting away with increasing the price and holding a gun to the customer's head - I assume the wording states you can cancel the contract if there is a price increase?  If anyone tried holding a gun to my head, I'd tell them to stuff their car.

Edited 14 March, 20197 yr by Guest