Urgent Advice Sought - Paying for my Cali

[DM]

Advice sought from the many of you that have picked up brand new T6s recently.

I am due to collect my T6 on Tuesday. The dealer is saying that I have to sign the finance forms and provide cleared funds in respect of the balance before they will register the vehicle and before I have had the opportunity to inspect it. They want me to fork-out £15K this afternoon.

I have bought new cars in the past (granted not many) and have only parted with the money in exchange for the keys and after I have inspected the vehicle. Am I out of date? Is the norm now to provide cleared funds a few days before pick-up?

My balance is 'only' £15K but if I wasn't taking the finance then the dealer would be looking fro full payment. That seems to leave me at significant risk in the event that either:

i) the dealer goes bust between now and me collecting the keys;

or

ii) I decide to reject the vehicle when I inspect it (either because of defects or if it is not built correctly to my spec.

Have others been asked to part with payment in advance?

Many thanks,
Dave

 

[Martin]

Paid for mine on a debit card on collection, I would not pay a penny up front personally until you have inspected the van.

 

[Meoncoast]

ditto to Martin. Trasfered funds into current account and paid on debit card on the big day. I had spoken to my bank to ensure this was ok at my bank end.

 

[Martin]

ditto to Martin. Trasfered funds into current account and paid on debit card on the big day. I had spoken to my bank to ensure this was ok at my bank end.

As Andy says, call your bank first to warn them otherwise it will possibly be declined.

 

[YoungChevalier]

Debit card on handover. Vehicle first registration will be done online instantly. Good idea to get proof of registration in case you ping ANPR cameras on way home.

 

[Nick S]

Debit card on handover. Vehicle first registration will be done online instantly. Good idea to get proof of registration in case you ping ANPR cameras on way home.

Same for me. All settled on handover day by direct debit. Although I did pop in a few days before to get a few documents signed none of which committed me to anything.

 

[Nick S]

Same for me. All settled on handover day by direct debit. Although I did pop in a few days before to get a few documents signed none of which committed me to anything.

Sorry meant debit card

 

[Bigted]

I paid the by debit card - over 20k so it can be done.

 

[SimonB]

I paid £1000 deposit on the vehicle when we first saw it. Then the balance, by debit card, on the handover day having informed the bank of the planned transaction.

 

[WelshGas]

Paid £52k by Debit Card. Just informed the Bank beforehand.

 

[benArrayx]

I did bank transfer, but only after having inspected the vehicle.

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

 

[pjm-84]

Debit card as those above. Our Cali was registered on the day and only after we were happy with it.

(I did manage to pay the balance for the motorbike (left) on a credit card so picked up £43 worth of JL vouchers)

 

[DM]

Many thanks to you all for such prompt replies. It gave me the confidence to say no way to the dealer which they seem to have accepted. They have a problem in that the registrations and tax have to be done by their head office 50 miles away - but that is their problem not mine. I don't really understand why it even is a problem - particularly since road tax is all on-line now as well.

I now expect to go in on Tuesday, inspect the vehicle, pay the balance by debit card and then drive away in a fully registered and taxed SHINY NEW CALI .

Interestingly though the salesman reckons that I am the first person ever to question their process of taking payment in advance.

 

[Lewis]

Hi DM - i get the impression from your post that you're taking the VW finance option whereas many of the replies so far are people who essentially paid cash (via debit/credit card) for their Cali. I think what they are asking you to do is reasonably standard for someone buying a car on credit.

We bought a Beetle from VW on finance a couple of years ago and had to go in to sign the docs and pay deposit a few days before. This is because the paperwork has to be processed by VW finance who then release the money to VW Commercial Vehicles. My understanding is that they are separate entities and a few days has to pass for the money to transfer between the two.

I'm not saying I agree with the process but it's one that I'm familiar with and is usual AFAIK.

 

[rich-s]

I paid via debit card on the day. It took a while and advance call to the bank was futile. Had to call the bank at the time of transaction. All went through ok ultimately. Dealer had wanted it in advance, but I said I wished to inspect the vehicle first. Mine was an ex VW rental Cali, 6 months old. When I picked it up they had fitted brand new roof bellows. The salesman dropped the comment that they'd replaced the canvas as I'd wanted to inspect before payment.
QED.

 

[DM]

Hi DM - i get the impression from your post that you're taking the VW finance option whereas many of the replies so far are people who essentially paid cash (via debit/credit card) for their Cali. I think what they are asking you to do is reasonably standard for someone buying a car on credit.

We bought a Beetle from VW on finance a couple of years ago and had to go in to sign the docs and pay deposit a few days before. This is because the paperwork has to be processed by VW finance who then release the money to VW Commercial Vehicles. My understanding is that they are separate entities and a few days has to pass for the money to transfer between the two.

I'm not saying I agree with the process but it's one that I'm familiar with and is usual AFAIK.

Yes - taking the VW finance to get the deposit contribution and service pack.

I've happily signed the finance forms and those will be processed by Tuesday. However the reason given for wanting the rest of the payment was because they will need to register the vehicle before I collect it (due to their own group admin policies) and if I then reject it they are left with a pre-registered vehicle with the attendent value implications.

Whilst I get all that it really is their problem and I am not prepared to undermine my own position if I should find anything untoward when I inspect the vehicle.

 

[Maud]

I used finance but paid the balance on the day I collected. I had been to inspect the week before but was not asked to pay anything. She was registered the day before I collected in order to have everything ready as I was collecting on a Saturday morning a few days before Christmas. I would not have paid up before collection.

Maud

 

[benArrayx]

Yes - taking the VW finance to get the deposit contribution and service pack.

I've happily signed the finance forms and those will be processed by Tuesday. However the reason given for wanting the rest of the payment was because they will need to register the vehicle before I collect it (due to their own group admin policies) and if I then reject it they are left with a pre-registered vehicle with the attendent value implications.

Whilst I get all that it really is their problem and I am not prepared to undermine my own position if I should find anything untoward when I inspect the vehicle.

The reasonable thing is not to register it until you've accepted it, which is what the dealer did with me. That made the process a couple of days longer, but that was absolutely fine. I'm surprised they didn't suggest that, but anyway sounds like you've got it all sorted, nice one!! Enjoy the new van

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

 

[Billy]

Going back a few years but ours was registered before we collected it and then paid on our debit card on collection.

I would be very suspicious that they are asking for money up front, maybe your front seats dont swivel and they dont want to be stuck with it

 

[Yorkdubshire]

Yes - taking the VW finance to get the deposit contribution and service pack.

I've happily signed the finance forms and those will be processed by Tuesday. However the reason given for wanting the rest of the payment was because they will need to register the vehicle before I collect it (due to their own group admin policies) and if I then reject it they are left with a pre-registered vehicle with the attendent value implications.

Whilst I get all that it really is their problem and I am not prepared to undermine my own position if I should find anything untoward when I inspect the vehicle.

Good for you in not having that! My other half was told by ford that they had to have the full amount in their account 48hrs before the big day AFTER we had paid the deposit. I got the face on and we ended up with our deposit back and then straight to our local VW garage. After that experience I wouldn't go into the ford garage ever again!

 

[larrylamb]

Old suitcase full of used £20's.

 

[calija]

just picked up my cali ocean used vw finance for deposit contribution and service plan and extd warranty paid balance with debit card on day of pick up

 

[Dean Oldfield]

Just noticed with the finance, that VW add the full interest to the amount borrowed and this is what appears on your credit file. No other loans/mortgages/finance do this so very strange. Seems a bit wrong saying you owe that amount from day 1 even though the months haven't gone by to rack up the interest.

However making overpayments will reduce this by the overpayment amount and interest amount that the overpayment saves.

 

[Lewis]

Just noticed with the finance, that VW add the full interest to the amount borrowed and this is what appears on your credit file. No other loans/mortgages/finance do this so very strange. Seems a bit wrong saying you owe that amount from day 1 even though the months haven't gone by to rack up the interest.

However making overpayments will reduce this by the overpayment amount and interest amount that the overpayment saves.

I do wonder how having such a large car loan on a credit file may affect how potential lenders view me in the future. With interest after deposit this is going to be £45k-sh and I was concerned enough about this to spend 6months micro-managing my credit file in the run-up to placing an order, I even renewed my mortgage and locked for 5yrs so I won't have to apply for a remortgage with such a large loan on my credit file.

With all the new affordability criteria already on mortgages and more to come from an EU directive in April I just felt uneasy about being able to get the best mortgage deals when lenders are looking ever closer at monthly outgoings.

I'm sure people with more financial know-how than me could pick lots of holes in this, not least paying a little extra for a fixed rates when rates are so low but it gave us peace of mind and meant we can definitely have the Cali which we know we can afford without some bank official acting on orders from the EU telling us otherwise...!