Buying a car in 2022: a cautionary tale!

[king monkey]

Hi guys,

So finally picked up my Clubsport 45 this morning but what a week and it certainly wasn’t a pleasant one.

After months of waiting, I had the great news of getting a date to pick my car up! However, two days before pick up I received a call from the finance department at my dealers. Here are was told that ‘due to significant changes in the market since I ordered’ I would have to look at renegotiating my deal. This included the deal on the new car and the part ex on mine.

Firstly I was told that if I’d ordered today I’d get no discount on the car. I didn’t reply to this in detail but just stated that I ordered June 21, not February 22. After a king silence they then asked me to look at my part ex value. Again I didn’t answer. Lastly they then asked me to get new tires fitted, by them, and Kay for the cost plus the labour.

Luckily, I had everything in writing that nothing would change, no matter how long the car took to come. I asked this again on Monday and was told everything was ok. By Wednesday it clearly wasn’t.

In the end, I told them that they were already in breach of contract as the car should have been delivered by October 30th. This seemed to instantly change their stance. He phoned me back later to tell me that they would honour the deal as I was a long standing loyal customer. Nonsense.

This post isn’t meant to point the finger. I won’t be naming anyone but I hope it just helps others out. Get everything in writing. This is what ultimately saved my deal for the CS45.

Be careful out there folks!

[Yusee]

So do they give money off the agreed price when costs go down?

A deal is a deal.

Terrible behaviour by the dealer, well done king monkey- and congrats on the new motor.

[fredgroves]

That is not on!

Name and shame those clowns!

[king monkey]

Thanks guys. Honestly, I just want to warn people about the continued volatile nature of the market. Felt sorry for the salesman as he is a go between imo. Ultimately the finance people decide on the deal. Think they got it wrong from their side then panicked this week and tried to claw money back. Eg they gave me £2k more in trade in than WBAC.

[ajmoir36]

Maybe they were trying to scare you off so you would cancel and they could sell at a heavily inflated price.

[Carl_45]

That’s absolutely shocking customer service, presumably you won’t be back at that dealer for the ed50 GTI?

My dealer never once questioned my deal and in fact the salesman called me and offered me a lower monthly payment the week of collection because the 4 year old predicted residual price had increased on the PCP.

I don’t know if it’s common on brand new VW’s but I even got an unexpected gift pack with all branded stuff, a key ring, pen, thermal mug and personalised thank you letter from the manager. I can’t recommend Johnsons VW enough.

[king monkey]

It’s great to hear that you got some excellent service. I’ve had better when buying a pint of milk tbh. Sales fella is always great so felt a bit for him. But the finance guys….

Oh btw, your extras sound great. I got nothing! 

[Carl_45]

I’m not 100% certain it’s just a recent issue. I can tell you a story that’s nothing to do with VW…

I always liked cars growing up, but like many couldn’t afford the car or the insurance when I was young, I had a 1998 fiesta zetec (in that blue with the 4 spoke alloys and a the rear wing, if you’re old enough to remember ) as my first car, well at 19, after my apprenticeship, I started working away from home, not a bad salary but excellent overtime on top.

The 2nd gen (R56) BMW mini had just been announced, so I went on the configurator specced exactly what I wanted and headed to BMW/MINI garages with my list of options (and there were many, MINI cooper (couldn’t insure the cooper S), red, white roof and alloys, chilli pack, panoramic roof, spot lamps and loads of options).

Well I wondered around the forecourt and waited to get the attention of the salesman, when I did I explained what I wanted and handed the list of options, he started going on about the 5 year old second hand ones they had that were much cheaper “for someone of my age” (I’d also gone there straight from work so was in work trousers and company branded T shirt). He was so rude and every time I said I wanted to order a brand new one he tried to tell me that they’re expensive and the ones outside are cheaper, never once asking my situation.

In the end I just walked away and said I’ll try a different garage, he asked why and I said you’re not listening to what I want and you just presume I can’t afford it. He then asked if we could look at options and finances. I just said too late, he’d already made me feel like rubbish!

The next garage was a completely different attitude, listened to what I had to say, did a quote and I placed an order.

The moral of the story is, I’m a big believer on voting with your feet. Even with the CS45 I bought it over the phone/email (after initial contact via carwow) from a dealer 25 miles away as the nearest VW franchise had been bad during the servicing of my GTD, I always felt they treated me like 2nd class because it was LEX and not owned.

Anyway, enough rambling, hope it’s behind you and you’re enjoying the car?

[monkeyhanger]

King Monkey- did you you check the value of your p/x on Motorway.co.uk hadn't actually gone up significantly during your wait?

When I waited over 8 months for my Golf R in 2015, my salesman advised me that VWUK would compensate the dealership for the additional 4 months of depreciation on my car beyond the initially expected 3-4 months delivery.

In current circumstances, you have a dealer who knows if you walk away, they can easily get list price for your car, and also that your p/x has probably increased in value, so to try an renegotiate, they're taking the pass. If you have email correspondence confirming their attempts to alter your deal rather than phone conversations, I'd be raising a complaint to VW UK and the dealership's group head office.

[king monkey]

Good point that Monkeyhanger. Problem was it went down by £2k. Just one of the reasons they weren’t happy! Knowledge is power though so checking is always worthwhile.

Really enjoying the car now though so not thinking about it. Loving the pops and bangs from the akra.