Hi everyone,
I've finally got to the point of being able to afford a new Beach and have been going around all the dealers within 1 to 1 1/2 hour drive of me.
Each time I've discussed the Drive the Deal quote (8.6% discount) with them to see if they'd match it. The closest I've been given is a 3.4% discount from one dealership, no others have offered any form of discount.
Each time I've mentioned Drive the Deal I get the same response that I'd be lucky to get a delivery from Drive the Deal within the next 2-3 years and that no dealership will match that level of discount as it wipes out all of their profit. They're all also quick to start saying about the current production delays and that VW have been cancelling production slot orders through Drive the Deal or not allocating them delivery slots at all.
So my question is - has anyone had recent experience of Drive the Deal and whether I'd still get the same production timescales as if I went direct with a dealership?
I'm skeptical of what dealerships are going to be telling me because 1. they're going to want me buying from them directly and 2. they're not going to want to match the discount and will use any argument they can to not do so!
Thanks!
I was in the exact same position in 2018, I don’t envy your situation.
my experience was:
Dealers not returning sales enquiry calls, me chasing dealers for follow ups to my enquiries, dealers in general showing absolutely no interest in matching discount offered by AutoEBid (8% at the time).
I would hate to think how complacent dealers are now in The current climate Particularly as demand for camper vans has gone through the roof in recent years.
my experience with Autoebid was very good, however in the end I found a dealer with several in stock vehicles, ready to go.
I ended up buying a stock vehicle with a very very high spec, agreed a discount at about 6% (from the then list price) and bagged a van that had additional extras, that the dealer had not listed and had not reflectEd in the sales asking price (which I knew about after viewing the van) so in effect got an in stock vehicle at very close to Autoebid price Despite the dealer refusing out of hand to match the discount autoebid were offering (in writing)
the process of ordering / configurator etc is exactly the same as if going via a main dealer, because in the end you are going to a main dealer via an introduction process by a third party!
despite not proceeding, Autoebid did not chase me or hound me at all and they were very very professional throughout (unlike many of the dealers I approached) despite me not pressing the button with them.
if I were doing it again I would cut the Extreme layers of BS the dealers put in place generally which serves only to frustrate the buyer & I would go with Autoebid etc. = No dealer BS (let’s face it in General, the sales guys and Gals have not got a clue about the product they sell, just ask a specific tech question And watch the blank look appear on their faces before the BS rolls off the tongue, correct or not, or watch them disappear into an office to ask for advice! )
I believe there are exceptions to the rule, regarding my dealer comments above, but they are few and far between.
regarding allocations: VW factory allocates units to the dealers, larger dealers will get a larger allocation, you have no way of knowing whether that dealer has used up their allocation vs another dealers whom may not have used all their allocation to date.
Example: currently, Dealers will tell you that they cannot get stock orders for vehicles to be in the show room, this is not always the case,
over the last year I have seen three different stock vehicles for sales in one dealer shown room. 1x CaliO, 1 x CaliC 1x CaliB,
However in one instance when I asked what the “price is” I was told that the vehicle was a Demonstrator and not for sales Yet!!! (Contrary to what the dealers tell you there are vehicles being delivered to stock, albeit very very limited numbers)
on another occasion I was told they could not tell me the asking price , they would have to input the “Build spec“ into the Factory Configurator to be able to give me a price, they would email it to me ! ( I.e. They didn’t have a clue what price they were asking for it ), guess what ?
they didn’t follow up with an email !
It was clear, in all three instances the sales guy simply did not know the product at all, despite telling me thing that simply were not true or accurate (about the vehicles).
Despite this they subsequently sold all the vehicle(s) within weeks !
so a degree of pure luck and a dollop of desperation by the customer whom is willing to pay the Factory list price for an in stock vehicle may be involved.
the dealer mentioned above is in the same county as you (CityGate Wooburn Green)
I don’t envy your predicament, however my advice:
if you want a Cali, DYOR fully to understand the product, nail your ideal spec first time, get it ordered at the lowest overall cost to yourselves using the least hassle route & try, to the best of your ability, to block out the extended lead time currently being experienced.
NB: make sure you buy the extended factory warranty as part of any deal.
Using an amount of finance may assist in securing the best deal with a dealer, typically paying off the finance element in full within the first month will cost you next to nothing, but it may allow the sales guys some additional leeway in pricing although in the current climate that may not hold true due to the extended lead time / deposit only scenario
good luck, keep us informed of progress.
