Currently looking at ordering a new car and finding options hard to weigh up. I haven't divulged prices to anyone  ( I don't like the "playing one dealer off against the other" game ) 

 

Local dealer has come down to within spitting distance of Carwow. The lowest Carwow dealer is within an hour's drive which I regard as 'almost local'.  Thing is, DriveTheDeal broker price is cheaper still by £800.

 

Was just wondering for those of you who bought thru a broker, which part of the country did you collect your car from ( you don't have to divulge the dealership if you don't want to ) and what was your buying experience like.

 

There are pros and cons to using a broker - I've experienced both. If the broker were the other side of the country to me, I'd question if a £800 difference was worth it. However if the broker were within a few hundred miles - happy days, I wouldn't hesitate in using them.

 

I think I'm correct in saying those who bought SEAT's travelled to North Scotland. I myself had to travel to other side of country to buy a Honda ( Kent ). The buying process was brilliant, the aftersales turned out to be a pain-in-the-neck. Had a look thru the forum but can't work out which part of the country is favourable with Skoda.

 

 

Bought a different brand not Skoda, but found the process quite cold.  Dealer just wanted the money and us gone really, didn't even get a handover.  Here's your keys have a nice day.  Maybe I got unlucky.  I guess the discount made it worth it, sales people rarely care once they have their commision.

I bought mine through Coast2Coast, it was a cancelled order with a dealer and it was delivered (on a trailer) to my front door so the location of the broker (and dealer were irrelevant).

Bought my old focus through DriveTheDeal. No problems at all, and my car was delivered to my workplace. Dealership was in London and car delivered to Ipswich.

 

1 hour ago, RajaStyle said:

Bought a different brand not Skoda, but found the process quite cold.  Dealer just wanted the money and us gone really, didn't even get a handover.  Here's your keys have a nice day.  Maybe I got unlucky.  I guess the discount made it worth it, sales people rarely care once they have their commision.

 

After this afternoon's saga ( over 2hrs in a showroom just to get the price of their car and my part-ex ), I'd pay a premium to simply pay money and get out a.s.a.p.  They want as much money as possible, I want to give them as little money as possible - Brexit negotiations are easier!

Edited 12 November, 20196 yr by Guest

1 hour ago, SunsetZed said:

I bought mine through Coast2Coast, it was a cancelled order with a dealer and it was delivered (on a trailer) to my front door so the location of the broker (and dealer were irrelevant).

 

I hadn't heard of them. Just had a look - it's a leasing company. I want to buy the car - my fault for not mentioning - apologies. The trouble with leasing companies is you need to press them for overall costs, I just want to know the total that's coming out of my bank account.

 

Skoda have special deals on at the moment which end 21st which apply to both Skoda financing and buying outright - would have to go thru Skoda finance to receive the incentive offer ( and cancel after a few days if I take up the £159 two services offer using PCP).

I prefer carwow as it basically gives you contact with a handful of dealers who are willing to do a decent discount and their opening offer is just that it many cases and you can negotiate further. Drive the deal are harder to deal with as you can only talk to the broker pre order, their prices are fixed and they are typically based in factory orders so wait times are long. Drive aren't necessarily the cheapest either. 

15 hours ago, Scot5 said:

 

I hadn't heard of them. Just had a look - it's a leasing company. I want to buy the car - my fault for not mentioning - apologies. The trouble with leasing companies is you need to press them for overall costs, I just want to know the total that's coming out of my bank account.

 

Skoda have special deals on at the moment which end 21st which apply to both Skoda financing and buying outright - would have to go thru Skoda finance to receive the incentive offer ( and cancel after a few days if I take up the £159 two services offer using PCP).

 

Coast2Coast don't just do leasing, I bought (not leased) my car through them and I also took the Skoda Finance option to get the  offers that they had at that time (£3k discount & 2 free services), before cancelling after a few days like you said.

 

I did CarWow first to see what I could get but the price from Coast2Coast blew them out of the water.

I have used 'Orangewheels' when purchasing my Octavia, GTi and R and always got the best deal available at the time after comparing with all the other discount sites available - last purchase was 4 years ago though so things might have changed.

My Dad bought through Drive The Deal in 2003 - no issues with the process, but the dealership were trying it on.  They tried to give him a car that wasn't his, before the next round of registrations!  He stood his ground and got what he wanted in the end.

I’ve used “Discounted-New-Cars.Com” recently and previously 3 years ago,and have been very satisfied.

It’s not for everyone,because you have to know exactly what you want before you start the process,but,that being the case,you thankfully avoid having all the showroom messing about....the broker gives the best price which you accept having done the relevant research.

My car arrived at my home on a transporter with almost zero miles with no problems.

The irony was that although the broker is Manchester based,the car came from a Skoda dealer quite close to me who I have used before! ....but I  am convinced there is no way I would have got the discount achieved if I had gone direct to this dealer.

On 12/11/2019 at 17:55, Scot5 said:

 

 

After this afternoon's saga ( over 2hrs in a showroom just to get the price of their car and my part-ex ), I'd pay a premium to simply pay money and get out a.s.a.p.  They want as much money as possible, I want to give them as little money as possible - Brexit negotiations are easier!

Now i guess that is a big plus ... I used Broadspeed FYI

6 hours ago, Nogrille said:

My Dad bought through Drive The Deal in 2003 - no issues with the process, but the dealership were trying it on.  They tried to give him a car that wasn't his, before the next round of registrations!  He stood his ground and got what he wanted in the end.

To me that’s not a true broker deal.

The broker sources the car at best possible price and you buy off the broker with no dealer involvement.If the dealer is going to get involved then it follows the price increases!

On the other hand you have to trust the broker because you pay for the car before you get it,and I can understand how some would not be happy with that.

I bought from a broker called https://www.new-car-discount.com/

Paid £500.00 deposit with a credit card and the rest when I collected the car.

Very easy and painless for me.

 

Thanks AG Falco

I used carfile.net, found through a user of this site and also honestjohn. They're not a broker really as they use a single source supply for each brand (that was the experience with skoda anyway). The benefit is that the prices are up front, no log in required.  No payment to them, everything through the dealer.

 

14 hours ago, *JP* said:

To me that’s not a true broker deal.

The broker sources the car at best possible price and you buy off the broker with no dealer involvement.If the dealer is going to get involved then it follows the price increases!

On the other hand you have to trust the broker because you pay for the car before you get it,and I can understand how some would not be happy with that.

 

 A broker is mearly a 3rd party. Whether you buy off the broker or the dealer is irrelevant.  I'd be very wary of paying that sort of money to a 3rd party for goods I haven't seen, in fact I haven't seen any broker who operates the way you say in the UK for many a year.

 

Not sure if you've ever used the companies folk have mentioned but you're wrong. You get a price from the broker, they put you in touch with the dealer and the dealerships only involvement it to confirm your order, advise on delivery dates and take your deposit. It's only if want to deviate away from the original broker deal / order that prices increase.

Edited 15 November, 20196 yr by Guest

20 hours ago, Nogrille said:

My Dad bought through Drive The Deal in 2003 - no issues with the process, but the dealership were trying it on.  They tried to give him a car that wasn't his, before the next round of registrations!  He stood his ground and got what he wanted in the end.

 

A broker has a list of prices negotiated with a dealer. If you want the lowest price then you really shouldn't be expecting anything more than the car you've ordered.

 

Example - a dealer may need to sell a set amount of cars before a specific date to make their bonus so they'll advertise at a 'special' price. If you then want that special price, you have no say on when the car is delivered because all you've requested is a new car. As JP replied, if you then start to deviate away from the Broker's offer then that's where problems may occur.

 

What do you mean by 'trying to give your father a car that wasn't his"?  How did he know what was 'his' car?

1 minute ago, Scot5 said:

What do you mean by 'trying to give your father a car that wasn't his"?  How did he know what was 'his' car?

 

Because the spec was completely wrong!

14 hours ago, *JP* said:

To me that’s not a true broker deal.

The broker sources the car at best possible price and you buy off the broker with no dealer involvement.If the dealer is going to get involved then it follows the price increases!

On the other hand you have to trust the broker because you pay for the car before you get it,and I can understand how some would not be happy with that.

 

The dealer WAS involved as that's how Drive The Deal works - or at least it did in 2003.....

I used carwow as a negotiating tool to buy my new Fabia.

Took a while but eventually got a big amount off the price then added all my extras after the deal.

I'm in Preston and the best offer was in Weston Super Mare (I was prepared to drive 200 miles).

I went to a local dealer and they matched it. Happy days.

 

10 minutes ago, Nogrille said:

 

Because the spec was completely wrong!

 

But that would make it a completely different order.

 

Sorry I misunderstood, when you said your father stood his ground, I thought you meant they were giving him a 03 plate rather than a 53 plate. Perhaps 'stood his ground' is the wrong terminology in that circumstance. 

Edited 15 November, 20196 yr by Guest

6 minutes ago, Scot5 said:

 

But that would make it a completely different order.

 

Sorry I misunderstood, when you said your father stood his ground, I thought you meant they were giving him a 03 plate rather than a 53 plate. Perhaps 'stood his ground' is the wrong terminology in that circumstance. 

 

and you are correct, they were trying to deliver the car early

1 hour ago, Scot5 said:

 

 A broker is mearly a 3rd party. Whether you buy off the broker or the dealer is irrelevant.  I'd be very wary of paying that sort of money to a 3rd party for goods I haven't seen, in fact I haven't seen any broker who operates the way you say in the UK for many a year.

 

Not sure if you've ever used the companies folk have mentioned but you're wrong. You get a price from the broker, they put you in touch with the dealer and the dealerships only involvement it to confirm your order, advise on delivery dates and take your deposit. It's only if want to deviate away from the original broker deal / order that prices increase.

Read my earlier post.

No involvement with the dealer at all. The broker I use gets great prices by contracting to buy,say,100 cars a year from a particular dealer.The dealer has no involvement with the customer except to deliver the car on the day,why would they want to when they are being screwed down to a price?

You don’t pay for the car in advance,only a deposit,you pay the balance when the car is delivered,I know and trust the broker I have used twice already and would do again,but as I said,this way is not for every one,not if you want to visit a showroom.

The people who just put you in touch with a dealer for a flat rate fee,say £500,which you may or may not be aware of if it is worked into the price,I would call them agents,they have no purchasing arrangements with dealers.

The broker I used also operates a specialist leasing company which is how they get their high volume and low prices.

PS I was wrong in the earlier post to say that the car was paid for  in advance,although I did transfer the funds to them just prior to delivery,(after a 3 month wait) which does involve a trust element,but that was my choice.

 

Edited 15 November, 20196 yr by *JP*

Drive The Deal. 2016. Very easy process.

 

Selling dealer was on the south coast. Handover was brisk but thorough.

 

I made a trip out of collecting the car by visiting several car, military, air museums between the south coast and Scotland.

 

Final day was the longest journey the Octavia ever made.

 

Replacement car is coming from (VW) dealer 15 miles away. Hopefully by xmas.