Discount when buying.

[Borris]

Some months ago anyone looking to buy a new or secondhand VW California really had their work cut out with firstly trying to find a suitable van to meet their needs and secondly trying to get a decent discount from the dealers. However, if you are currently looking, that situation has now changed considerably at least when it comes to finding a suitable vehicle. Out of interest I have just checked the three main sources and currently there are 180, yes 180 being advertised, with VW Commercial having 89, Autotrader having 65 and the Club site having 26 vans for sale. Even allowing for the possibility that several of these vehicles are being advertised on more than one of these sites there is still a very nice selection of Californias to choose from.

So if you are currently looking to buy it might be worth bearing this in mind and using this current increase in availability to your advantage when negotiating a deal. I suspect that some dealers may still try to avoid giving much in the way of discount but others will be more accommodating. Good luck.

 

[frenchie]

Having spoken to a few dealers last week, only two would move on the price. Being a cash buyer means they don't get the kick back from the financing company. If people stopped taking out the mad pcp plans prices would stop going up and deals would be more available. Interestingly mercedes have changed from know deal to ringing me up with better offers on their ex demo vans, the best of which was 5000 pounds bring the van in at under 47,000 pounds. But I am not a great mercedes fan.
I think that if interest rates rise,the prices will start to drop, so I am just hanging around waiting. F

 

[kurienp]

Spoke to a dealer yesterday. Forget dropping the price, they did not even offer me the 1000 discount that is being mentioned on other threads on this site. :angry.

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[Shane Bennett]

Having spoken to a few dealers last week, only two would move on the price. Being a cash buyer means they don't get the kick back from the financing company.

I thought there was something going on with that. We first started to go in as a cash buyer but it did not seem to matter one bit. We did the PCP in the end simply because the money is probably better invested elsewhere.

 

[Borris]

Spoke to a dealer yesterday. Forget dropping the price, they did not even offer me the 1000 discount that is being mentioned on other threads on this site. :angry.

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Then go elsewhere!

 

[frenchie]

Diesel sales in the uk have dropped by 27percent this year. How much of car sales over £40000 dropped due to added road tax I don't know, but it must be having some effect. If people started to walk away from know deal sellers, prices must drop. Vw have played a very good game of keeping prices high by restricting numbers of units into the uk. Its not in their interest to drop prices, they will just make less rhd units. Dealers with stock however will need to off load it sooner then later, so prices will start to drop on their stock.keep walking until it does.

 

[kurienp]

Then go elsewhere!

Absolutely. I cannot trust the dealer now.

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[Ocean Spirit]

If people stopped taking out the mad pcp plans prices would stop going up and deals would be more available.

I'm not sure about that.
PCP gives many people access to new vehicles so sales are up as a result.
Take away those customers and all the overheads still have to be met with less income to VW so I don't understand how the prices would be forced down.
You wont see anyone turning round and saying "OK fair cop, perhaps we were too greedy with our margins". Instead, I'd expect yet more of a premium on the price because there are less customers to pay for the build etc.
It's a flooded market or a giant leap forward in manufacturing technology that would bring prices down.

However, I wish you were right but 'IF' people started to walk away from the dealers is an 'IF' that in current times will never turn into 'did' walk away anyhow.
Slightly different way to look at how individual choices are but I have worked for some very large firms who put the squeeze on wages during annual talks and everybody said the same thing about how they would not stand for it. But when push comes to shove and actions are required instead of words there is no solidarity.

 

[Digger]

I don't know which dealers are seemingly useless but from my own experience (Liverpool) we were offered the discount without asking - and were a cash buyer for all our vehicles. I do know that Mercedes frowns on discounts and the level of discount applied to the Marco Polo is short term. As for VW, we benefit by low depreciation so you cannot have it all ways. As regards sales being down in respect of diesels - this is for the lower end cars and not vans and especially not campervans or motorhomes.
Don't let one dealer ruin your search as the pleasure a California brings is worth the effort.

 

[frenchie]

I don't think that its the same thing. I too have worked in large industry and still do, and have been a witness to mob rule and nothing changed at the end of it. But here we are talking about a van. which know matter how you look at it goes down in value with time used or not. dealers cant afford to have dead stock on the forecourt, it costs money. VWUK will not move, they don't need to. if California sales drop, it will be picked up by van sales to converters or the car side and if RHD unit sales fall, so what they make less of that unit and more of another better selling unit. its the dealerships who will need to move on price on their used stock. Yes they are use to people just coming in and buying sticker price, I know I have seen it first hand. but again I point out falling sales in the motor trade, higher rates of tax and as pointed out a shape rise in used vans on the market must point to better deals. I don't think that I have seen a time of so much uncertainty about buying a car, van etc due to the anti diesel, anti petrol and just anti feelings seen today, and this is going to reflect on prices and sales and maybe you do need to walk away a few times, but its a van, there are lots of them. F

 

[Digger]

It makes me both laugh and wonder why so many on here decry the California as just a van. My Ocean is built to the same high standard and finish as any car and the components are even better in most cases. As for cost is a Bentley worth 150K or a Jag 60K? As for discounts you either negotiate or walk away. Dealers have sales targets and will find another buyer and that is reality.

 

[larrylamb]

No chance of new prices falling, Cali sales have gone through the roof the past few years, a lot of EC countries are paying more than us for their Cali's.
I have been shocked by new car prices generally recently (Nissan Micra N-Connecta from £17.5K ) so the Cali doesn't seem ridiculous to me especially with the superb residuals.
As for discounts I can recommend Guy Vincent at VW Van centre, Preston.

 

[GrannyJen]

A Cali is not a van.

It is a Camper, factory built based on a £35k + van built to the highest spec.

The production of that camper is in limited numbers, the factory responsible running to capacity.

Discounts are available from dealers, I do not understand the continued assertion that they are not when we have had a long thread on here of "my discount is bigger than yours".

If I decide to do a deal currently on the table, early in the new year, I will have a new camper in March to which a discount has been applied and will exchange my existing camper and walk away with the very nice feeling that it has cost me less than £4,000 per year to own.

Just what is the problem here?

 

[Ocean Spirit]

A Cali is not a van.

It is a Camper, factory built based on a £35k + van built to the highest spec.

The production of that camper is in limited numbers, the factory responsible running to capacity.

Discounts are available from dealers, I do not understand the continued assertion that they are not when we have had a long thread on here of "my discount is bigger than yours".

If I decide to do a deal currently on the table, early in the new year, I will have a new camper in March to which a discount has been applied and will exchange my existing camper and walk away with the very nice feeling that it has cost me less than £4,000 per year to own.

Just what is the problem here?

Whats stopping you GJ?
Just the hope of an even better deal I hope

 

[GrannyJen]

Whats stopping you GJ?
Just the hope of an even better deal I hope

One thing stopping me is that the vehicle that I have now is performing superbly, apart from a creaky seat.

Another is a constantly evolving lifestyle. I share a lot of my life with one of my Sisters. we share home, dogs and a lot of holidays together. We have just bought a caravan to tow behind the camper so we can both camp together and that could well change how the camper gets used.

The big reason though is nothing, I will go ahead, just that I have so much going on in my life at present the timeframes are not fixed.

 

[Pete Wilkins]

Having spoken to a few dealers last week, only two would move on the price. Being a cash buyer means they don't get the kick back from the financing company. If people stopped taking out the mad pcp plans prices would stop going up and deals would be more available. Interestingly mercedes have changed from know deal to ringing me up with better offers on their ex demo vans, the best of which was 5000 pounds bring the van in at under 47,000 pounds. But I am not a great mercedes fan.
I think that if interest rates rise,the prices will start to drop, so I am just hanging around waiting. F

We were cash buyers too, it is worth shopping around as sometimes a dealership needs to sell a couple more unit's to qualify for the bonus that might give them the extra couple of hundred pounds bonus for every unit they sell and gave already sold. Another trick is to tell them you are just looking but you are about to buy somewhere else and you have a price they will not be able to beat. Then show very little interest and eventually tell them the price you want with the spec you want give them your card with telephone number and tell them to ring you if they can better it and walk out. Do not tell them who the deal my have been with. You may be surprised, who comes back and what deals you get no one likes to be told they can't compete with others in the trade.

 

[pjm-84]

Got fed up with this PCP so took out Mini finance on a nearly new JCW Mini for the £500 finance contribution.

Paid it off on the Monday over the telephone ( within the 14 day period). No questions. Had to pay £8.75 in interest (5days) as the loan was executed 3 days before the agreed vehicle collection / hand over.

Didn't bother when we bought the Cali but will be doing it in the future.

 

[Carolinegallen]

No chance of new prices falling, Cali sales have gone through the roof the past few years, a lot of EC countries are paying more than us for their Cali's.
I have been shocked by new car prices generally recently (Nissan Micra N-Connecta from £17.5K ) so the Cali doesn't seem ridiculous to me especially with the superb residuals.
As for discounts I can recommend Guy Vincent at VW Van centre, Preston.

 

[Carolinegallen]

Just picked up my van yesterday, from Guy at Preston. He was brilliant and gave us a great discount.

 

[Ocean Spirit]

Just picked up my van yesterday, from Guy at Preston. He was brilliant and gave us a great discount.

Congratulations

 

[frenchie]

Well, I am still looking, not many 204 spec,s around. I looked at one at a main dealers, ex demo which looked like a football team had used it for transport at one point. and the sales man would not drop pound, that was even after he informed me it had already been up for sale at three centres. This PCP thing is killing any good deals for sure. My partner is not to sure about the lack of toilet( age thing) and I hate the colour grey so not a good start. Must say that so far the experience as been underwhelming. I did notice that of late the VAT is being included in their ads and not an add on as before. This old dog of mine is going to cost me and the company a lot of money, if it goes to VW I am not to sure. F