Drive the Deal / Buying New

[acer]

The savings on "drive the deal" today look great. Has anyone used them lately? I've read posts on here and press articles, but I must admit that it is a bit worrying ordering a £50k purchase like this.

They say, you pay £500 deposit by credit card. You then get a phone call from the lucky dealer that has been selected to sell you the car. It is not clear when you part with your £50k. Is this normally upfront when buying a new car that isn't due to arrive for 13 weeks? Or, will I pay some now and some on collection? What if there is a problem with the van when it is delivered (or when I collect)?

We're nervy newbies. Can anyone put our minds at rest on this?

 

[chrisw]

Recently ordered through DTD. Paid £1000 directly to the allocated dealer at the time of ordering. Have to finance/pay the remaining sum at about delivery time.

 

[larrylamb]

We recently ordered our Cali through our local dealer, I had looked at DTD prices but our dealer matched the price straight away so used them as I will probably service it there as well and it is one less person / company in the chain. £1000 deposit and the balance on collection.

 

[Maud]

Hi, I used Drive The Deal to get a quote for my desired specification then, following advice elsewhere on this forum, I emailed the quote to the dealers within a reasonable radius of me and asked if they could match it. Some couldn't match it, one could and my local dealership got very close so I went with them as I had met the dealer and would also use them for servicing etc. It might be worth you trying this too, as others on here have done the same and managed to match or get very close to the DTD price through a known dealer.

When I placed my order, face-to-face in the showroom, I was asked for a deposit of £500. I won't pay anymore until I collect it and, as it will only be down the road, I will be able to go and inspect it as soon as it arrives with them too.

Now I just have to wait until March

Wishing you the best of luck, whatever you decide.
Maud

 

[acer]

Thanks all. This really seems like the thing to do. Until a few days ago I had never even heard of DTD. How things change! I will let you know how I get on.

 

[acer]

Things are getting serious now - a list!

1. Interested to know what sort of discounts people have had on their purchases lately buying through DTD.

2. I've heard that waiting until towards the end of the month is a better time to cut a deal with franchises because they need to hit targets. I wonder if this applies to using DTD.

3. The packs (tourer, driver etc) have changed on the new VW price list, and I find the glass options confusing, especially when trying to match up the VW list and DTD list. So, when I'm ticking the boxes on DTD I am not altogether clear what I am selecting. Once I've pressed "Go" would I be able to fine-tune this direct with the allocated dealer? Or, do you think that I'll be stuck with whatever I've ticked?

4. I've heard of people waiting a very long time to actually take delivery of their new Cali. Do different franchises have shorter or longer delivery times?

I'd be really very grateful for any help and to hear your views and experiences.

 

[ChocolateEclair]

I have recently bought through DTD - very impressed so far. Everyone professional and did exactly as they promised both before and after paying the £1000 deposit.

Total savings were around 10% off list price. My local dealer could only manage 7% making them over £1500 more expensive - too much of a difference to not take the plunge with DTD.

I've been quoted 16 weeks delivery which was the same as from my local VW van centre and seems the norm around this time of year.

Remember that the DTD prices currently quoted include £750 deposit contribution based on you taking the finance package - if you don't need finance you need to add £750 to the final DTD price to compare with any other dealer quotes.

Don't worry too much about the options on the DTD website as you can always change them when you place the order with the dealer however it does make sense to be certain about what you require first. You can do as many quotes on the DTD site as you like.

 

[philrich99]

Hi, we used DTD late last year because we couldn't get anywhere near the discount they were offering direct from a dealer. The only problem we had was that the details of one of the packs was wrong in the VW brochure, we thought we were getting a reversing camera, but found out when we collected it that we hadn't. The dealer wouldn't discuss it, the brochures they had in the showroom when we collected it still showed the camera as part of the pack, & they just said they would have told us of the error in there if we'd gone in & ordered it direct from them. We did complain to DTD, but by then there wasn't anything to be done so we had one fitted locally. All in all we were happy with DTD & would us them again.

 

[Plinky]

I have just gone to a dealer today and told him I have a DTD quote, and would he be interested in putting in a bid on the same spec. He came back £500 cheaper!

I think it might be a good idea to not actually give the DTD quote to dealers to better, because by nature, they will only try to better it by a small amount.

Keep quiet about the actual DTD figure and things might turn out well....at least it seems so in my case .

 

[acer]

Excellent tips and advice. Thanks guys. I'll try that bid idea.

 

[pjm-84]

Mine didn't! He told me 5% and not a penny more. So I went to another dealer as I wanted the vehicle for March 2015 rather then before the end of the year.

Out of curiosity I have run my specification through the DTD again tonight and the vehicle with the options is coming out at £660 more than I'm currently paying.

 

[acer]

pjm84 Did you order prior to November 1st price increase?

 

[ibis64]

DTD have increased their prices inline with the new VW pricing some of the extras have gone up quite a bit.

 

[pjm-84]

Agreed the deal with the dealer in September. Dealer ordered it in October.

I was going to go down the DTD route but spotted the "have to take delivery before, in our case, 31st December 2014" As such the £300 premium over the DTD price for a March 2015 delivery was worth paying.

The option prices have changed somewhat which has surprised me. The Cascavel wheel option has trebled in cost.

 

[acer]

and we can all guess why they have increased the price...
because they can!

 

[ibis64]

I ordered pre price increase and the dealer has just contacted me to say that I will now get two free services so can't complain with that.

 

[larrylamb]

I have just gone to a dealer today and told him I have a DTD quote, and would he be interested in putting in a bid on the same spec. He came back £500 cheaper!

I think it might be a good idea to not actually give the DTD quote to dealers to better, because by nature, they will only try to better it by a small amount.

Keep quiet about the actual DTD figure and things might turn out well....at least it seems so in my case .

You don't need to give them the DTD price as they can get it easily themselves online in a couple of minutes, i gave my dealer my spec over the phone and asked him for a quote, he could tell i had done my homework and i knew what i wanted. The price he came back with 30mins later was virtually the same as DTD, price agreed, deposit paid, easy peasy no room for spec errors as it was just me and the dealer.

 

[Plinky]

Good point...Its easy to check the prices online for the dealer....Still, I was happy with the price reduction the dealer came up with compared to DTD.

 

[Maud]

Hi Ibis64; did your dealer say that you qualified for the two free services because you ordered within a certain number of days of the change in the deal? I see that you now get the two free services if you order before 31st December using VW finance so I am wondering if I could qualify for this too - I placed my order at the end of September using the finance. I hope I might get it too

Maud

 

[pjm-84]

Okay I may being a bit thick here but I may consider finance (and pay it off) subject to the offer available nearer the time. At the moment I believe the offer is for vehicles purchased before the end of the year. (The quiet period!)

At the moment the "offer" is available on new Amarok, Caddy, Crafter, Transporter, Transporter Shuttle, Caravelle and California vehicles purchased on Volkswagen Commercial Vehicle Finance before 31st of December 2014. Services must be used consecutively prior to vehicle reaching 8 years old. Minimum amount financed £1,500. Terms & Conditions apply. Finance subject to status. Available to 18s and over in the UK only subject to availability from participating Van Centres. This offer may be varied or withdrawn at any time. Volkswagen Commercial Vehicle Finance, Freepost Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles.

 

[acer]

Very interesting,
I hate any sort of loan but it looks like it might be worth buying with £1500 of finance to get 2 free services then! I have to admit that until now I had assumed that it would be serviced for free for the first 3 years (the warranty period).

 

[Plinky]

I just ordered my California and applied for the £1500 minimum finance. Its absolutely as stated on the forum....If ordering before December and you take that minimum finance deal, you do get the first two services free, which gets you two years or so free.

That deal is something not offered by DTD.....
If they did, maybe that could remove the £750 extra 'no finance' fee which
added to my costings, lost them my order....

 

[bournemouthbeach]

Why do VW feel the need to to give two free services when taking out finance??

Why if you buy outright would you not get the deal??

I find this sort of deal annoying as it's pushing you to take out finance and if your lucky enough to have the full amount then your missing out...

Shaun

 

[Plinky]

True, I have the full amount, but its saving me a few hundred in the long run, which goes towards something else....seat covers etc.

 

[reserves]

If you have the full amount, take out the finance, then pay it back a week later.