PCP Contracts, Discounts and Salesmen [HELP]

[MrTomOates]

Hi,

I made a topic that wasn’t specifically on this sort of thing but it was kind of touched upon in a response and I thought it might be useful for people to have an insight on the offers or discounts people get from dealerships and whether you think you’ve got a good discount and it could turn up out to be a poor one. After being questioned on my PCP monthly instalments, it really does make me question whether I have had any sort of discount.

Here’s my problem.

I am a young 22 year old who had a previous car on PCP for 4 years and with it close to being the end of the 4 years I have decided to get a POLO R-Line on PCP for a further 4 years.

I am part-exchanging, I have a final payment left on my PCP however, the final payment minus the car value equals to +£1000 in equity. I’ve paid a minimum of £250 for a deposit and I am using the £1,000 difference from the car equity on a deposit (apparently that money can’t be mine to decide whether it can be used for a deposit?).

The VW Polo R-Line has (I know it’s absurd) around £5,600 in additional features making the car price of the R-Line POLO £25,087. This and the £1,250 customer deposit makes the monthly PCP payments over 48months £360 a month.

Naive as I am, and inexperienced as I am with having to deal with PCP contracts and what is a good deal, I’ve gone through with it and only at stage 2 of the deliver process (not even been given a build week). I ordered the car on June 6th 2020.

Is this even a dealers discount because I was made to feel as though he’s gone too and from managers to get a good deal.

Honestly, after coming on these forums you all seem to understand and have experience in these situations and has made me more aware of the other alternatives such as; GTI+. The GTI+ is £60 cheaper a month than what I’m paying (I can’t afford the monthly costs of insurance and etc so I’ve already decided I couldn’t get it at this moment) for the car alone.

What do you guys think?

If it’s not even an offer, do I have entitlement to request a discount at my stage now? Do I have the option to part-ways with the order? Do I get my deposit back if I do this?

I kind of need your help and advice, any would be appreciated!

Thanks guys.

[The Random Dan]

Personally I think 2 things about your situation..

1) Over £5000 on options for a Polo is ridiculous! Especially if you have no intensions of keeping it past the 3/4 years.

2) When I bought my GTI+ back in February, the first offer they came to me with was £345 a month over 4 years, and the PX valuation was £1000 less than anywhere else was offering me (car was a 2018 focus st-line with 6,000 miles and immaculate). I said no straight away and after some negotiations I got the extra PX money and reduced monthly payments down to £275 a month over 4 years.

I think they have possibly seen that you are inexperienced in this area so your at a disadvantage when it comes to negotiating a good deal with some salesman.

Always do plenty of research before even setting foot in a dealership, make sure you know exactly what you want and exactly how much you want to pay a month (realistically)

[SRGTD]

Tom, Your dealer hadn’t given you any discount - the £1,250 is VWFS deposit contribution which you get for taking a PCP contract. The dealer won’t volunteer to give a discount - you’ll need to negotiate this over and above VWFS’s deposit contribution, and good discounts are available.

My advice to anyone looking to buy a new car is do your homework and research first. Check out sites such as Drive the Deal, Carwow, Orange Wheels to see what discounts are available, and also know what your part exchange is worth. If you don’t buy a car though these broker sites but prefer the convenience of using a nearby dealer, then you can always use the discounts available from brokers as a bargaining tool with your local dealer. If they’re not prepared to deal, then there’s always the broker option.

I was tentatively discussing a new GTi+ purchase early this year with the dealer I‘ve used before. Discounts including VW’s finance contribution at the time were around 15-16% off list price. The dealer was prepared to pretty much match this, and I’d also have the convenience of buying from my local dealer at a broker-discounted price.

As said above, always do your homework first so you’re well prepared and don’t believe everything the salesperson tells you - they’ll be your best friend........because they want you to sign on the bottom line to clinch a sale. Make sure the sale is on your terms or at a figure you’re comfortable with. Also, never buy the overpriced add-ons from the dealer (GAP insurance, paint protection, alloy wheel and tyre insurance) - if you want any of these add-ons, there are cheaper and better options available elsewhere.

[S_94]

I was in the same boat as you mate with regards to the figures on buying a new car. Doing it for the first time can be quite confusing and like others have said you need to be careful they aren't ripping you off. Nothing to be ashamed of, it's all a learning curve!

I originally ordered a GTI with a £2000 deposit contribution at £240pm for 48 months. Luckily forum member @monkeyhanger gave me some really good advice and broke the figures down for me and I ended up switching to a GTI+ at £265pm. I was able to pick up a cancelled order, luckily with the spec I wanted. So maybe that could be an option for yourself?

Not sure if I'm alone in this thinking but £360pm for a Polo R-Line seems like madness. I know you said insurance would be an issue, what sort of quotes were you getting for insurance on the GTI?

[MrTomOates]

Knew you guys would save the day.

I am starting to dislike this guy that’s dealing with me, nothing but arrogance I get from him.

Where do I stand in terms of negotiating a better deal? Do I have a foot to stand on? Nothing has been signed other than the £250 deposit because it’s all down electronically due to COVID19.

The quotes for the GTI+ I’ve been quoted £250 a month whereas for the R Line I have been quoted £75 a month.

I’d absolutely love a GTI+ but the monthly payments for insurance is ridiculous, and I’ve seen that road tax is £500+ Not a fan of that.

[PhilArnold]

Knew you guys would save the day.

I am starting to dislike this guy that’s dealing with me, nothing but arrogance I get from him.

Where do I stand in terms of negotiating a better deal? Do I have a foot to stand on? Nothing has been signed other than the £250 deposit because it’s all down electronically due to COVID19.

The quotes for the GTI+ I’ve been quoted £250 a month whereas for the R Line I have been quoted £75 a month.

I’d absolutely love a GTI+ but the monthly payments for insurance is ridiculous, and I’ve seen that road tax is £500+ Not a fan of that.

Road tax is definitely not £500+ after year one, the car falls into the standard tax band of £150 due to the list price being below £40k. The first years tax will be higher than £150 as its based on CO2 output but this is included in the OTR list price you pay

[stuartrendall]

Knew you guys would save the day.

I am starting to dislike this guy that’s dealing with me, nothing but arrogance I get from him.

Where do I stand in terms of negotiating a better deal? Do I have a foot to stand on? Nothing has been signed other than the £250 deposit because it’s all down electronically due to COVID19.

The quotes for the GTI+ I’ve been quoted £250 a month whereas for the R Line I have been quoted £75 a month.

I’d absolutely love a GTI+ but the monthly payments for insurance is ridiculous, and I’ve seen that road tax is £500+ Not a fan of that.

£250 per month for insurance is insane! If I was in your situation I would call up a few insurance companies and get quotes that way, try your best to get the price down for a GTI+ and if that does not help then personally I would cancel your R-Line order and get a new quote from Carwow with a like for like spec and use that to negotiate with a dealer (maybe not the current one you're dealing with) that way insurance is cheap and you get a better deal on the car you originally wanted. Also i'm not sure if this is correct or not but my dealer paid for my first year road tax (£210 at the time) and the second year will be substantially less than £500.

[SRGTD]

Knew you guys would save the day.

I am starting to dislike this guy that’s dealing with me, nothing but arrogance I get from him.

Where do I stand in terms of negotiating a better deal? Do I have a foot to stand on? Nothing has been signed other than the £250 deposit because it’s all down electronically due to COVID19.

The quotes for the GTI+ I’ve been quoted £250 a month whereas for the R Line I have been quoted £75 a month.

I’d absolutely love a GTI+ but the monthly payments for insurance is ridiculous, and I’ve seen that road tax is £500+ Not a fan of that.

Is there anything in the small print (T&C’s) relating to cancelling your order? You may find you’d forfeit your deposit, but IMO losing £250 if you can save significantly more overall is worth serious consideration. As has been said (I think by monkeyhanger), your dealer hasn’t really incurred much - if any expense, so in your position, I’d be hoping for a deposit refund if you’re considering cancelling, but check the T&C’s in the document you’ve electronically signed. It might also be worth considering visiting a different VW dealer as your experience of the current dealer doesn’t seem to be great. That way, you can start with a clean sheet, and taking on board the views and advice of the forum members, plus doing some of your own homework and research, you should be in a much better position to agree a much better deal.

Is that an insurance quote form your current insurer or the cheapest available on a comparison site? There are things you can do to legitimately reduce the cost of your insurance; e.g. increase your excess, review your annual mileage and if you’ve overstated it in the past and you genuinely drive a lower annual mileage, your premium can be based on a lower mileage figure (I wouldn’t advocate being untruthful about your mileage though).

The GTI+ road tax of circa £500 is the first year figure only, and this tends to get ‘lost’ in the overall car’s purchase price. From the second year of ownership, the VED rate is the same flat rate as you’d pay on an R-Line; currently £150 per year.

[monkeyhanger]

I did the numbers to death on the other thread.

The salesperson has absolutely no incentive to offer you a better deal - it's not in their interests to do so. You negotiate before the deal is done. You've been quite lucky that they only took £250 deposit off you that's the most you will lose by walking away.

For the number of toys you want yo add to that Polo, you really would be better off with a SEL or Match trim Golf or equivalent A3 that will have a lot of your spec list as standard. It'll also have ACC built in as standard which will really help your insurance costs. If it's a brand new unregistered stock Golf (it's about to be replaced with the ugly MK8 Golf, so production has ceased) it'll come with 0% finance (which will save you a bundle on PCP interest). If there are any Golfs that suit, they will be immediately available or in the process of arriving at the dealers. Research the Golf ASAP, if there's a trim that ticks enough boxes then get onto a broker to find you one from stock.

If your Corsa on PCP only has a month left on it, what are you going to do when your Polo will take a lot longer than a month? Will you have the option to extend the PCP until the Polo arrives or will you buy it at the GFV quoted?

My advice is get rid of the Corsa separately by WBAC or Motorway.co.uk and get onto a broker for a proper discount.

I'd recommend calling Kim Draper at Listers Nuneaton (fleet sales). She will match or beat the drivethe deal price (the cheapest broker out there for VWs,) and the car will be delivered to you on a trailer. She sorted my last 2 Polo GTI+ sales.

[MrTomOates]

Hi guys,

I’m going to collect all the information from all of your responses and I will report back with updates.

@monkeyhanger

I’ve contacted Kim through email and hopefully I receive a response from her ASAP.

Thank you guys. Really goes to show, never rush into contracts .

[Simonz]

Hi guys,

I’m going to collect all the information from all of your responses and I will report back with updates.

@monkeyhanger

I’ve contacted Kim through email and hopefully I receive a response from her ASAP.

Thank you guys. Really goes to show, never rush into contracts .

Hope you get it sorted Tom, from what others say it's not too far down the line to cancel, maybe lose £250 but by taking a different approach will save that and more over 4 years.

[Steve_2019]

I would cancel too. Or at least talk to them and try get a better deal. For me on my income £300 a month on PCP is more then enough on a car.

[monkeyhanger]

Hi guys,

I’m going to collect all the information from all of your responses and I will report back with updates.

@monkeyhanger

I’ve contacted Kim through email and hopefully I receive a response from her ASAP.

Thank you guys. Really goes to show, never rush into contracts .

It seems like equipment levels are very important to you. Better buy a car that has them as standard rather than purchase additionally and see nothing back.at the end of your PCP. The difference in size between the Polo and the Golf is quite small now, the mid specs have more equipment than the equivalent Polo and there's 0% finance if you can find a new one. The polo is a great car but it's an expensive car if you load it up with all that equipment.

[monkeyhanger]

I would cancel too. Or at least talk to them and try get a better deal. For me on my income £300 a month on PCP is more then enough on a car.

I wouldn't try to negotiate - the dealer is holding all the cards. You might get a few freebies if they're feeling generous.

I would cancel and request your deposit back, citing tge fact that the order is not locked in with a commitment to build, therefore the dealer is able to cancel without penalty.

I would go in there saying you're cancelling your order and if they ask why, say your job is at risk and you don't think it's right to commit yo another car right now.

With a story like that, they'd want to entertain the possibility of a future sale and not do anything to lose you as a future customer by retaining your deposit.

If there's a suitable Golf to be found, Kim can help you with that, if not, she'll help you order a fully loaded Polo. She won't be interested in your part -ex though. Get rid separately.

You could save yourself a sizeable sum and lots of potential bother by losing the sun roof. They are nothing but trouble.

[Ima]

I’d agree on dropping sunroof. I have had many and all rattle and squeek.