My Current Experience

[twistedinertia]

Hi Everyone,

I thought id join the forum as there seems to be important information on here, i am just going to write my current experience on buying a brand new polo GTI plus and would like some guidance on where i stand or what I should do (if anything.)

So in february i was looking for a new car as my current car is old, this would be my first time every buying anything this large on finance/PCP.

I go into the dealer and luckily I manage to go in on a special event day (special deals apparently) anyways they still cater to my needs and speak with me, asking what cars i have been looking at and I stated i had already looked at a ford fiesta st but wanted to see the polo GTI. So the gentleman at the desk asks what was ford offering me price wise and subsequently he beats them on price with a few extras which were the following on a polo GTI+ rear camera, winter pack, digital climate control and reef blue with iron dashboard.
He gives me paper work and says what do you think, i didn't jump on it, I just said i need to go back and think and ideally would like a test drive first, so we organize a test drive in two days time.
I drive it, it feels really nice and lets face it the interior feels far superior to anything in this class, i could instantly feel the low end torque at low speeds it was really nice and I was impressed… Fairly comfortable too.
We finish the drive and we sit down basically i say i am very interested, and he manages to give me a bit more of a deal. So I say to him okay if I go with it do you have one ready to go, so he has a look… Took a while and managed to find one.

He says good news we have one, I smile, look at paper and say you got yourself a deal and shook his hand. After that we sign papers and i give 500pound deposit. I was really needing it to be pre built as my current car is falling apart, so I thought a timescale of 2 weeks would be ideal.

Anyways few weeks later no news and I get a call, but I am not able to answer due to being at work, so i call back at end of shift and am told that he has gone to Germany to an event, so I say can i speak to anyone in regard to my order and am passed over to manager. Speaking to manager he told me that the car wasnt available and likely i would have to get one built which would be longer wait, i asked him how long roughly and he said 2 / 3 months, he then said wait for the gentlemen to come back from Germany as he will know the details better, so i agreed.

I get a phone call from the guy I shook hands with, and he told me sorry during the process of me agreeing on that car someone had bought it that day and that there was not another one in the country to the specification i wanted, he looked everywhere apparently. So i was like thats a bit annoying as i was really needing it soon, he stated that they would honor the price so I said okay go ahead with the build (thinking it would be 2/3month).

so here i am May 18th (build is confirmed) and due to coronavirus i have no idea what is going on I have tried to call them, no answer. Even tried to email and have had no reply. from the moment of agreeing to build over phone till now i have not heard nothing other than asking for build number in an email a few days after to put in app.

So I have contacted vw helpline today and was stated my build week was 20 which is 11th may but its likely delayed by 4 weeks.

At this point I'm feeling a little dejected and the whole process hasn't really felt that "special" i am putting down a large deposit as well. I was hoping of at least an email.
if i was to cancel would they take my deposit, even though they stated there was one built?

[SRGTD]

Welcome to the forum @twistedinertia, and sorry to hear of your experience.

It’s very disappointing to say the least if you’d agreed a deal on a specific car, only for that car to then be sold to someone else. I’d have been wanting an explanation from the dealer on why and how that could have happened - did the salesperson not secure the car for you on VW’s system to show it was sold so it couldn’t / shouldn’t have then been sold to anyone else? Also, why hadn’t anyone contacted you to tell you it had been sold to someone else?

Bear in mind that once the car is built, it’ll be in transit for 6-8 weeks from the Uitenhage factory in South Africa to your dealer, so if it is now to be built in week 24 (mid June), then it’s likely to be August before it reaches the dealer - that assumes there are no Covid-19 impacts/delays with the companies VW use for the various stages of the transit of cars from the factory to the UK dealerships.

You could always cancel your order, although you may risk losing your deposit (check the T&C’s in your paperwork). However, if you need a new car, you’d still then need to order another one - whether it’s a VW or another make, and with lockdown and the retail side of car dealerships currently closed, you probably won’t be able to do that until next month. You’d also be starting from scratch again if whatever alternative car you choose need to be a factory build, so an alternative car might not arrive any sooner than your GTI+ will.

I’d be checking with the dealer when they reopen next month to see what they can or are prepared to do to help you. I dare say that most dealers will be desperate for sales when they re-open, so won’t really want to lose a sale if you do consider cancelling. Presumably they were aware back in February that you agreed the deal on the original (sold) car on the basis that it was available for immediate delivery because you needed a reliable car there and then, and waiting for a factory build wasn’t really an option (although that’s the position you’ve been left in). It might be worth seeing if you can come to some arrangement with them to loan you a car until yours is available if your current car is no longer roadworthy. You might also be able to get the dealer to agree to some ‘freebies’ e.g. free servicing, full tank of fuel free VW accessories of your choice up to an agreed value.

Good luck. Please keep the forum updated on the outcome.

[monkeyhanger]

I don't think you're in that bad a position - a 6-7 month wait has been the norm for a fresh order until recently.

The first car getting sold from under you (if it was ever available) is either unfortunate or sloppy on the part of the salesperson not to get that car grabbed off the system before whoever else did.

You stayed with them when they got another one.on the system. Then Covid-19 came. That's no-one's fault (except the bat eaters in China perhaps! ).

Will you get another car that fits the bill as well as the GTI+ any quicker if buying new?You might if there are cancelled orders due to financial changes in the buyer...BUT...there's a big but here.

VW just brought in a significant (4.4%) price rise, and any car you renegotiate on will be sold based on that new RRP. You've still got your pre-pricerise deal locked in.

Thanks to Covid, people have a free pass on getting an MOT done promptly of your car is due one.

You might be getting a bit stir crazy with the lockdiwn, but it's worth riding the wait out if you want a Polo - pick it up on a new 70 plate in September...of you can wait the extra few weeks after its likely arrival.

[monty831]

Welcome to the forum. Sorry to hear about your experience.

My Polo was already built and during the negotiations, my dealer had put a hold on the car so no one else could buy it. I think that reserve only lasted a couple of hours but was enough time whilst I considered the deal on the table

I wonder if this was not done?

Either way, you have a right to walk away and hopefully as a gesture of good will, your deposit would be returned

I managed to get a deposit returned many years ago on a Seat Leon Cupra because my personal circumstances changed and I couldn't afford the car.

Even if the dealer has gone too far down the road with any order, it's not your fault. You shook hands on a car that was already built

Good luck and keep us posted

Sent from my ONEPLUS A6003 using Tapatalk

[monty831]

I don't think you're in that bad a position - a 6-7 month wait has been the norm for a fresh order until recently.

The first car getting sold from under you (if it was ever available) is either unfortunate or sloppy on the part of the salesperson not to get that car grabbed off the system before whoever else did.

You stayed with them when they got another one.on the system. Then Covid-19 came. That's no-one's fault (except the bat eaters in China perhaps! ).

Will you get another car that fits the bill as well as the GTI+ any quicker if buying new?You might if there are cancelled orders due to financial changes in the buyer...BUT...there's a big but here.

VW just brought in a significant (4.4%) price rise, and any car you renegotiate on will be sold based on that new RRP. You've still got your pre-pricerise deal locked in.

Thanks to Covid, people have a free pass on getting an MOT done promptly of your car is due one.

You might be getting a bit stir crazy with the lockdiwn, but it's worth riding the wait out if you want a Polo - pick it up on a new 70 plate in September...of you can wait the extra few weeks after its likely arrival.

That is a very good point re the price. Keeping the order would be the way to go if the OP can manage with the lead time and his current car situation

Sent from my ONEPLUS A6003 using Tapatalk

[Ima]

Indeed and the reporting is also saying that there is pent up demand for new vehicles with limited capacity and costs are being passed on to consumers. People are having to pay higher prices for new cars with less deals or going used where there is high demand as well as people aren’t wanting long wait times. I’d sit tight as the car you are getting is pre price rise and a good car for only a few weeks longer wait. I’m the same although build week 18 so only a few weeks ahead and I ordered in February like you did.

[green justin]

Maybe the UK dealers are the problem?
When I bought my car,my dealer In South Africa had a storage yard full of various specd GTI models.

Are the UK dealers ordering in advance and keeping reserve stock?

[Ima]

Only about 29 GTi+on sale on autotrader. Those that are on sale are mostly standard spec. From what I can see most don’t have climate control and Brescias which are popular options. Also when I bought they had a car with the exact spec I wanted but as a pre reg no financial incentives and it would have cost me £70 per month more for a nearly new compared to a new factory build. I was supposed to be lucky as there was a car on order ready to be changed for spec which without Covid would have knocked a month off build but that won’t happen now.

[stuartrendall]

Here in England cars are made to order rather then stocked for purchase. From my experience there is rarely stock of cars such as the Polo GTI.