I've been a member here for a while but never posted before today.

I'm picking up a new vRS at lunchtiime, my first car for six years, and prior to that about 10 years, so I'm not too experienced.

First things first, I took the interest free option, which is fine and worth a few quid in itself. However, I got absolutely no other concessions, despite my attempts, I bought my last car from this dealer so I guess I was expecting a bit of loyalty, even a tank of diesel would have been nice, but no. Anyway, I signed up for it.

I'm then asked to call in and sign the finance agreement and discuss some FSA issues. I was told it'd take about an hour. An hour and a half later and all I got was pressure sales for the folowing:-

Gap Insurance

It has been a long time since joining and posting. 3 Years:eek:

Welcome to Briskoda and posting.

There was a thread on delivery milages, if i find it ill post it up.

gap insurace is a must.....

if for some reason you write off the car in an accident, you could end up owing more than the insurance company pays out.... the gap insurance covers this

I know, its not good is it! I joined to find out some info, I think it was for my 1.4 mpi, which I've still got, fond the info and I never came back sadly.

I always dreamed of getting a vRS but couldn't afford it when I bought my Comfort, but a lots changed since 2001 and now two cars in the family is going to mean a great deal of convenience so here I am.

I've also bought a load of gear to self service my Comfort so will no doubt take part in more discussions.

Seems I have the bug!

GAP insurance can be bought for half the price outside the dealer, including payment protection to.

I got gap insurance with my loan. Came with the repayment protection and didn't cost much.

You can get the Supaguard paint coating / protection kit off Ebay (also includes fabric treatment) for less than £30

Having been through a similar process recently I got the same treatment with two dealers (used their finance in neither case there are cheaper options elsewhere). I think the FSA requires those whom it regulates to give "best advice". That is used by sellers of financial "products" as a licence to try and sell all sorts of stuff on the the pretext of avoiding some spurious legal claim in the future along the lines of "you never told me about sickness insurance/gap cover/paint treatments and now I have written the car off (or whatever) and my insurance policy won't buy me a new car and therefore you are liable in negligence". I am not convinced about any of these "products" one pays one's money and takes one's chance/choice.

If however these "products" are viewed as needed I am with others on the issue, shop around. I am confident similar "products" are available elsewhere much cheaper.

One of my dealers recommended Norwich Union as an insurer and the other expressly advised against Skoda Insurance as being expensive. I ended up insuring both cars with NU.

There was a thing in the guardian recently - they can't force you to listen to the FSA stuff if you're not interested in it.

Salesmen use legal compulsion ruse to flog car cover | Insurance_ | Guardian Unlimited Money

"A spokesman for the FSA dismissed the claims. "A dealer who is registered with the FSA is certainly entitled to sell these products. However, these products are wholly optional, and there is certainly no obligation under FSA rules that car buyers have to be taken through these products before they can leave the showroom. If the buyer says they are not interested, that should be the end of it," he says."

As far as delivery mileage is concerned, I was told my new car (when it arrives ) will have ~11 miles on it, to cover transporting, and the trip to the petrol staion and back to fill up.

Check your current Insurance company for the Gap , if you are going fully comp , most insurers cover for a New/ Value replacement within the first year , i know this is on mine with Direct Line so you are therfore paying for the next 2 years on the policy being sold by the dealer , sure there are cheaper alternatives through normal insurers . Gap is worth buying at the right price , if you are unlikely to be able to afford a New replacement in the 2 and 3 year of ownership , very few if any go beyond the 3rd year anyway . On repayment insurance , again check details as they most offen only cover for a 12 month period of repayments . All of these can be picked up after purchasing the car from more competative sources than a car dealer would sell them at .

Hi

I was offered the gap insurance when I bought my fabia classic 16 months ago, it seemed very expensive then so refused it. The car was not bought from a Skoda dealer nor new, but was on offer at £2750 2001 Y reg 39 000 miles. I did however get the Jewel ultra finish for £200. Not sure about the gap insurance but you can if you want it get the finish applied somewhere else and no doubt the gap may be availalble too.

BTW my faba has no toys open door wiv keys mirrors by hand to alter etc. However I have never regreted the jewel ultra finsh and yea I know that can be bought on ebay but what about the 6 year guarantee??? if you apply it yourself.

Oh yes forgot to say I only ever once bought a new car and that had 01 miles on it when taken off dealer, Rover Metro eeeeeeewwwwwwwww!!!!!!!

First things first, I took the interest free option, which is fine and worth a few quid in itself. However, I got absolutely no other concessions, despite my attempts, I bought my last car from this dealer so I guess I was expecting a bit of loyalty, even a tank of diesel would have been nice, but no.

The reason they wouldnt give you anything is that you got the car on interest free.

There is no such thing as interest free. The dealer gets charged a percentage of the sale price to cover the cost the finance company loose in interest. I sell interst free stuff and if we dont want to make a loss we have to build in 12% on top of our normal prices.

So, if you had paid cash they may have been more willing to throw in a couple of extras but they couldnt as their profit margin was hit due to the money they had to pay the finance company. Hope that explains why you didnt get anythning.

Wow, thanks for all the replies, its very much appreciated.

Lots to get my teeth into there.

gap insurace is a must.....

if for some reason you write off the car in an accident, you could end up owing more than the insurance company pays out.... the gap insurance covers this

Too right, worth the money.

Yeh, don't take anything a dealer tells you as gospel!

When you mentioned high pressure sales, DM Keith sprung to mind. Then you mentioned Huddersfield & Leeds so I'm guessing that's where you're getting it from.:P

Insurers will pay out the market value of your car, minus your excess amount. If you're getting a new car, gap insurance may be worth it as your car will lose value the instant it's driven off the forecourt. If it's a used car then there's less to lose by not getting gap insurance so you've got to consider whether it's worth it or not.

Payment protection I've never bothered with for cars, as I've made sure the value of the car should always be higher than the loan amount. That way, if you lose your job for example you can always sell the car to pay off the loan. A bit more complicated with finance though as you'd have to get any buyer to pay off the finance company directly and then pay you the difference before they can take the car.

I've never taken out the payment protection either. My loan is ussually less than the value of the car, so if the shi*te hits the fan i can just sell the car.

I get full sick pay for 12 months and 6 months half pay after that, so i should be good as long as i dont get the sack for being on Briskoda all day at work.

Yeh, don't take anything a dealer tells you as gospel!

When you mentioned high pressure sales, DM Keith sprung to mind. Then you mentioned Huddersfield & Leeds so I'm guessing that's where you're getting it from.:P

snip...

lol, your powers of detection have been good to you!

I raised my concerns with the dealer yesterday and got a very understanding shrug of the shoulders.

I suppose I'll know for next time anyway.

As for the car, frickin' 'ell its fast! The Doris took it out last night and was shocked by it too.

One thing I will say is that the welding on the boot (the bit just below the badges which looks like it joins the number plate section) is a bit ropy, all the others were the same but my 2001 Comfort is far better.

Once again, thanks for all the info, much appreciated.

I'm picking up a new car on friday 13th... my dealer told me he has to show me the stuff about gap insurance ect... but his "trained" assistant told me there is an exclusion for driving instructors, so he didn't try to sell it to me! lol...

Wouldn't touch anything a dealer offers you. There not looking out for your best interest.

The dealer in question is taking the p!$$ right out of you. If it were me and I hadn't put any money down I'd have walked away, no question.

If you go in with a positive attitude then hopefully the dealer should respect you a bit more and not bother with hard sell tactics.

40 miles on a brand new car before you even get in to it? **** off! I'd rather travel 40 miles on foot to buy from a dealer with a better attitude.

If your Fab vRs is brand new then your car is covered for the full value in the event of a write off in its first year on your car insurance (my own Fab vRS insurance covers this) . Gap only comes into its own on the second and third year if you still own the car..

gap is a must i just got

mine had 8 miles on it when i collected it.

My car had about 8 miles on the clock when I picked it up.

Your GAP insurance seems a bit high, I only picked my car up at the start of March 07 and my GAP was £299 on an Octavia vRS. I can't fault the salesman when it came to the extra stuff they offered, he explained each product fairly and didn't pressure me into buying anything, the only thing he personally recommended was the GAP and perhaps the tyre insurance (which I didn't take), the rest he admitted wasn't really worth it.