Tips for negotiating price/extras with vw dealer

[cleve]

We've finally decided to part with our Caravelle and get a beach!

Went into my local vw branch today to try and find out more info on some ex demos I'd seen online at other branches and he thought he could get me a better deal by finding out what else is around as close to our wish list as possible.

He mentioned vans in Port. Can anyone shed any light on this? I think he meant new vans waiting to be shipped as we were planning on buying ex demo but he said the new beaches come with ehu, climatronic & a few extras as standard which might help tempt us towards the extra cost.

Any advice on getting the best deal if they source a van I'm keen on? I'm wondering whether to pay the asking price if we can negotiate extras we need like bike rack or to try and get the cheapest price and buy the extras with what's left over?

 

[bournemouthbeach]

Welcome...

When you get one you will love it...

My advice would be decide what you WANT then ring around all the Califorina dealers to see what they have...

Things you can't change or add as options, Colour,3zone climate, multi function steering wheel. Some things you will just want others you many think you can manage without.

We got a good deal because we found a beach we would have been happy buying so had something to bargain with when doing a deal for a new one...

And spend time looking on here and doing your research...

Cheers

Shaun

 

[James]

We've finally decided to part with our Caravelle and get a beach!

Went into my local vw branch today to try and find out more info on some ex demos I'd seen online at other branches and he thought he could get me a better deal by finding out what else is around as close to our wish list as possible.

He mentioned vans in Port. Can anyone shed any light on this? I think he meant new vans waiting to be shipped as we were planning on buying ex demo but he said the new beaches come with ehu, climatronic & a few extras as standard which might help tempt us towards the extra cost.

Any advice on getting the best deal if they source a van I'm keen on? I'm wondering whether to pay the asking price if we can negotiate extras we need like bike rack or to try and get the cheapest price and buy the extras with what's left over?

The Climtronic thing is interesting.

Dealer Demos don't give you the bargain that some dealers may like you believe.

Nothing on a dealer demo is free, as you are probably aware and in fact, you will be expected to pay a certain sum for certain options, if you want a Parking Heater for example then compared to a similarly specced Beach without a Parking Heater, you'll be asked to pay much more than if you were ordering from factory and ticking the box.

I've bought a dealer demo and they are not bad, but see them as a kind of smoke and mirrors trick. What they give one hand, they take with another.

Options are always personal but I think there is a rule of thumb to follow.

Spec stuff that will benefit you and benefit you at resale and go for stuff that can't be retrofitted. All those camping bits are lovely, but you can even fit an awning later on.

If you are going for demos - hunt down those with CLimtronic - Parking Heater - Even Sat Nav.

Dealer groups often like to fit certain things, so learn this, SMG for example always have their Demo Beaches with a Parking Heater - so there is a handy benchmark.

A dealer demo is a compromise - unless you are very lucky or you really don't care about spec.

James

 

[choplee]

And privacy glass ;-)

 

[cleve]

Thanks everyone. So do you think I should negotiate in extras rather than getting the price down?

I'll see what vans are available. I'm happy to compromise on most things except colour & Climatronic. I love our olympian blue caravelle so hoping to find something in my top 3 choices of colour as the dealer said even heated seats and parking heater can be retro fitted but the colour I'll be stuck with!

Only popped into the dealer yesterday but already impatient waiting to hear more info on what's available!

It seems the longer we take to find something the higher the spec coming with the ex demo beaches. I'm sure we'll be delighted in the end.

 

[teeboy]

Dealer groups often like to fit certain things, so learn this, SMG for example always have their Demo Beaches with a Parking Heater - so there is a handy benchmark.

When I was looking at Ex-Demo SEs the dealer in Edinburgh didn't fit parking sensors on any of his demos, which was a deal breaker for me.

T

 

[reserves]

Go to DriveTheDeal.com pick your options, get the price, find a VW dealer who will beat it.

 

[Bramco]

Hi, this last week I've been talking to a couple of dealers, one in the midlands and one in the SW and got what I thought was a reasonable quote. On checking drivethedeal.com they were only £500 cheaper. So I don't think I'll be able to squeeze any more out.

I'm still playing around with the spec - trying to understand exactly what the various options mean - but will probably stick with the dealer and ask him to give me that extra 1/2 a percent. Free bike rack maybe!?

Simon

 

[Custardtart]

We recently bought a new VW car.

On our first trip to the local dealer the best offer they made was £500 off list price.
We used carwow.com (free, online) and got about half a dozen main dealers offer a much better deal - I can't remember exactly but about £1500 discount.

We went back to the local dealer and gave them another chance which they eventually took - matching the best offer we had.

Then we found that by using VW finance we got another £1000 off even though we cancelled it and paid it off within the first month.

So in the end we got a big discount from list although the we were left with the impression that free metallic paint (£500) was as good as it would get on our first attempt to buy the car!

 

[Gasgas]

Dealers have to run an SE California and a Beach California at all times to comply with VW terms if they want to sell California's ,so if you were to spec your vehicle and let them run it for 3 months you could have the Cali of your choice and no compromise,they would much prefer to know that it was sold when they came to replace it with a new one and not have to stock it ,market it and sell the old one if that makes sense, this way you should be able to negotiate a reasonable discount

 

[cleve]

Thanks everyone, we're getting there. Planning to pay a deposit tomorrow on an ex demo if the final price with all the add ons is right. We would have to compromise on climatronic and retro fit parking heater, heated seats and parking sensors but it is my favourite colour, has satnav and multifunction steering wheel and the dealer has been really helpful and recommended approved fitters so we know any changes won't affect the warranty.

We've ended up making some compromises but only ones that we feel we can happily live with having spent lots of time playing in the beach and test driving it. Just hope we can get it all finalised in time for the easter holidays now!

 

[reserves]

Thanks everyone, we're getting there. Planning to pay a deposit tomorrow on an ex demo if the final price with all the add ons is right. We would have to compromise on climatronic and retro fit parking heater, heated seats and parking sensors but it is my favourite colour, has satnav and multifunction steering wheel and the dealer has been really helpful and recommended approved fitters so we know any changes won't affect the warranty.

We've ended up making some compromises but only ones that we feel we can happily live with having spent lots of time playing in the beach and test driving it. Just hope we can get it all finalised in time for the easter holidays now!

Not to put you off, but just so you're sure.

It's important to consider which options can be retro-fitted and which cannot (or are not cost effective).

The options you mention are missing (Parking Heater, Climatronic) cannot be retro-fitted without major hassle, and I expect you could never retro fit Climatronic. Parking Sensors can be with a lot of hassle but they won't be 'factory', heated seats I'm not sure.

However Sat Nav and Multi function steering wheel can be retrofitted in an afternoon to exactly the same (if not better) standard as factory, usually for same price or certainly less in terms of Sat Nav.

 

[cleve]

Thanks everyone, we're getting there. Planning to pay a deposit tomorrow on an ex demo if the final price with all the add ons is right. We would have to compromise on climatronic and retro fit parking heater, heated seats and parking sensors but it is my favourite colour, has satnav and multifunction steering wheel and the dealer has been really helpful and recommended approved fitters so we know any changes won't affect the warranty.

We've ended up making some compromises but only ones that we feel we can happily live with having spent lots of time playing in the beach and test driving it. Just hope we can get it all finalised in time for the easter holidays now!

Not to put you off, but just so you're sure.

It's important to consider which options can be retro-fitted and which cannot (or are not cost effective).

The options you mention are missing (Parking Heater, Climatronic) cannot be retro-fitted without major hassle, and I expect you could never retro fit Climatronic. Parking Sensors can be with a lot of hassle but they won't be 'factory', heated seats I'm not sure.

However Sat Nav and Multi function steering wheel can be retrofitted in an afternoon to exactly the same (if not better) standard as factory, usually for same price or certainly less in terms of Sat Nav.

We've gone from t4 with no a/c, caravelle with basic a/c and just feel lucky to be in a position to now buy a beach. Any money we save by making compromises can go towards any retro fits we want and more fun family times away! No point busting the budget to get everything we want and then be too skint to actually get away in it!

The dealer thinks they know a company who will retro fit parking Heater so should hear more today.

 

[reserves]

That's a great attitude to have, I'm sure you will really get the most out of your Beach!!

 

[Ma77sc]

There's a detailed Beach + retrofit parking heater thread on here and an increasing number of people who've had it done essentially using the same parts as VW and in the case of APS in Manchester (and maybe others) a company that does a lot of work for the VW dealers. Whilst it does involve some trim cutting for the hot air pipe and control I believe it is a one day job and doesn't appear to be disruptive. Also you'll be benefiting from prior knowledge about the best place to put the controls and hot air pipe so I wouldn't have parking heater retrofit as a biggie other than it costs a shade over a grand which ISTR is cheaper than the factory price.

 

[cleve]

Thanks everyone, spoke too soon! The dealer emailed me this evening to say that the price quoted is actually £2k more than they told us on Saturday, aaarrrgghhh!

No explanation to justify the extra amount!

 

[Gasgas]

Did you put down your deposit and sign the order,did the Dealer also sign off the deal because if that all took place then you have entered into a legally binding agreement with them and they cannot renage on the deal,to just email you rather than telephone and speak direct is also poor and smacks of another salesman selling it for more money

 

[James]

There's a detailed Beach + retrofit parking heater thread on here and an increasing number of people who've had it done essentially using the same parts as VW and in the case of APS in Manchester (and maybe others) a company that does a lot of work for the VW dealers. Whilst it does involve some trim cutting for the hot air pipe and control I believe it is a one day job and doesn't appear to be disruptive. Also you'll be benefiting from prior knowledge about the best place to put the controls and hot air pipe so I wouldn't have parking heater retrofit as a biggie other than it costs a shade over a grand which ISTR is cheaper than the factory price.

My experience tells me that if you want a demo with a parking heater, you'll be looking at around 3k for the privilege - bit of a generalisation but it is around that price. (Some might say it is worth it)

Retro fitting the parking heater is therefore very tempting, in essence it's a job a lot of camper conversion companies do anyway, so it is hardly alien.

Options are always personal, when I bought my Beach, unless you ordered from factory we had quite basic specs on the demos. There are times when I think, I wish I had bought now but as someone said, I am extremely lucky to own the Beach and I shouldn't forget that.

I'd probably retrofit the MFSW or not bother, being a van, the stereo is high up and not much further away than the buttons on the wheel Or I'd fit a flat bottomed VW wheel just for a bit of vanity.

James

 

[Cuba]

Nothing worse than a dealer shifting the goal posts on you at the last minute.

If you're after a well specced Beach, mine is for sale on the Forum page. It has a parking heater and many other options for my own preference and for re-sale....particularly the Thunder alloys. The standard wheels were round but the Thunders that bit rounder.

Unfortunately it's not available until mid May but the price will be be coming down to £35995 after Easter if that helps?

Cuba

 

[Ma77sc]

James you might be confusing the issue for potential buyers. Demo Beaches with parking heaters appear to be rarer than hens teeth so whilst they may be available, there's too few to accurately describe the premium and we all know the variance of demo prices across particular dealers and regions. The heater is on a lot of peoples wish lists so for those that can or want to order from the factory they should but for those who can't resist the bargain or immediacy of a demo then they can add a heater for just over a grand at a later stage. The concept of a three grand premium could be a little misleading.

Commiserations to the OP for getting shafted - hope you get sorted.

 

[James]

James you might be confusing the issue for potential buyers. Demo Beaches with parking heaters appear to be rarer than hens teeth so whilst they may be available, there's too few to accurately describe the premium and we all know the variance of demo prices across particular dealers and regions. The heater is on a lot of peoples wish lists so for those that can or want to order from the factory they should but for those who can't resist the bargain or immediacy of a demo then they can add a heater for just over a grand at a later stage. The concept of a three grand premium could be a little misleading.

Commiserations to the OP for getting shafted - hope you get sorted.

It's why I put generalisation - because there is always going to be other bits thrown in. But in general 3k or not - it is a desirable option, and you will pay a premium - perhaps I should say you'll be expected to pay more than the cost of the factory option and more than retro fitting one.

I bought a demo - I couldn't wait and I did all this I looked at one demo with a heater and a few without. I've also kept track since, and yes, they are rare. A similar story applies to DSG. There is a DSG or was for sale, but again, you pay for it.

I guess the point I'm making is, the lure of a parking heater is tempting, but if it excludes other things and for similar money you could get a Beach with more bits, then, as your post said, retrofit the parking heater, as nice as the VW install is.

James