Drive the Deal delivery

[Bill_the_Bear]

Absolutely no way I want some random driver delivering my car.  You know they'll pay some minimum wage bloke to do it who will have a right party ragging the nuts off your engine.  You'll forever be worried damage has been caused.

Either pay for a trailer delivery, probably couple hundred pounds, or go get it yourself.

[DougL]

If it is coming from the same London dealer as my DTD order in North London, then you will be outside the charging zone. The dealer is easy walking distance from the tube too, and easy to get north again to Glasgow.

[Bill_the_Bear]

Do you have to pay congestion charge to drive out of London?

You pay it if you move a vehicle any distance on a public road at all while inside the zone.  That would include moving your parked car 1m along in order to fit another vehicle in behind it.

So be careful, as the government seems to consider this kind of think a AAA priority, far higher than reducing deaths in the NHS, ensuring the forces have adequate equipment or making multinationals pay their tax.

Just saying.

[monkeyhanger]

Do you have to pay congestion charge to drive out of London?

You pay it if you move a vehicle any distance on a public road at all while inside the zone.  That would include moving your parked car 1m along in order to fit another vehicle in behind it.

So be careful, as the government seems to consider this kind of think a AAA priority, far higher than reducing deaths in the NHS, ensuring the forces have adequate equipment or making multinationals pay their tax.

Just saying.

Would it be cheaper to get it transported just outside the congestion zone on the back of a flatbed?

[Bill_the_Bear]

Do you have to pay congestion charge to drive out of London?

You pay it if you move a vehicle any distance on a public road at all while inside the zone.  That would include moving your parked car 1m along in order to fit another vehicle in behind it.

So be careful, as the government seems to consider this kind of think a AAA priority, far higher than reducing deaths in the NHS, ensuring the forces have adequate equipment or making multinationals pay their tax.

Just saying.

Would it be cheaper to get it transported just outside the congestion zone on the back of a flatbed?

Just go at the weekend when its free!
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/roadusers/congestioncharge/whereandwhen/#page-link-hours-of-operation

Also you can see from the map its pretty central.

EDIT:
To be honest I'd be more worried about being stuck in serious traffic.  In London you have to know the best routes, which basically means back roads.  The north and south circular can get badly congested.  As can the A5 and A41... or basically any road for that matter (A5 and A41 are ones I've used a lot and you can sit on them for literally hours until your engine overheads!).  Parallel roads can be completely clear because everyone sticks to the main arteries.

If you can go early in the morning or late at night you can have a lot of fun though as you can speed across the capital on largely empty roads no problem.  Find out where the dealer is and see if any locals on here can give some tips on the best road and times, that would be my advice.

[Lagerlout]

I would get it delivered on a flat bed. Why? Its not great to run a car in by driving it for hundreds of miles on the motorway at relatively constant speeds. You need to give a new engine varying revs and loads. You could take A roads but I'd imagine that's quite a long jaunt!

[SRGTD]

Weighing up the pros and cons of arranging for a flatbed delivery or picking up from the dealer, I think I'd collect from the dealer. This gives you a better opportunity to thoroughly inspect the car before taking delivery and if there are any issues, point them out at the dealers premises and getting them to agree to rectify before signing the paperwork.

If you go for the option of arranging a flatbed delivery and you find any damage when the car's dropped off at your home, it could be more a case of your word against the dealers. As Hawaii-Five-O has said, the car is likely to have become very dirty during transit, making it difficult to do a thorough inspection, and if you subsequently find any damage, the dealer will almost certainly maintain the car was in perfect condition when it left them, so potential added hassle to get any problems sorted. I'd also be a bit nervous of possible damage being inflicted on those diamond cut alloys from the straps used to secure the car to the flatbed (seem to remember reading a post on the mk6 forum where someone's new GTI suffered wheel damage from securing straps on the transporter while in transit from the port to the dealership).

One thing's for certain; there's no way I'd let some delivery driver thrash the living daylights out of my new pride and joy, so the delivery driver option just wouldn't be an option for me!

[joet]

I got my GTI via DTD from a dealer in Kent. I went to collect it from Bucks as I didn't want some yobbo thrashing it on the way to deliver it to me.

When I mentioned this to the dealer he told me that they only employ retired guys who have worked in the trade and now need a bit of spare cash, and according to him they treat the cars as if they were their own.

I know you can't trust everthing they say, but I believed him. He threw in a full tank instead of the free delivery

[matchboy]

When I mentioned this to the dealer he told me that they only employ retired guys who have worked in the trade and now need a bit of spare cash, and according to him they treat the cars as if they were their own.

So you're saying retired guys don't drive fast, don't thrash cars and know how to drive?

Please.   

[joet]

No, that's not what I'm saying. If you read my post it says that 'they treat the cars as if they were their own'. Which means not thrashing them and not driving like looneys. Even though I'm sure they are very capable of it.