Dealer added extras - help!

[Mark V GTD]

Just left a holding deposit on a new car with a main dealer (presume its a cancelled order). I didn't negotiate on the asking price as I know its waste of breath, however I did ask for a couple of finance quotes.

To my surprise, both quotes include around £2k worth of add-ons, my first reaction was to just ignore them and tell the dealer to omit them all but when I look at the figures carefully they actually contribute to the figure that was advertised for the car - they include paint protection, gap insurance, service plan, alloy wheel protection etc.

I absolutely do not want any of these products (apart from GAP which I can purchase for considerably less elsewhere) so can I just decline them and get the car for £2k less than advertised?

Edited by Mark V GTD on Thursday 14th July 13:29

[Mark V GTD]

Thanks for the reply - but report him for what?

[Mark V GTD]

No Mike - its a VW which I want for use until the Defender arrives late this year/January.

You reckon I can just say 'Sorry I do not want all that stuff' and its suddenly £2k less?

[Mark V GTD]

Yes that was my first reaction. But when I added the figures up they are not extras as such because they add up to the cars advertised price. This really has me puzzled and never come across this before. Also this is a brand new car from a main dealer but the car has had a model line up change since the time this car was originally ordered (possibly nine months ago) so its in effect a lesser spec but a lot more money now than it was when available to order 6 to 9 months ago (although still cheaper than the current model). I'm not even sure, as a franchised dealer, that they are allowed to sell new cars at over list price.

Edited by Mark V GTD on Thursday 14th July 13:15

[Mark V GTD]

Mikebentley said:

It would be in my world. None of that stuff has happened yet. They can’t charge you for stuff you don’t want. If it’s a physical car and it’s had the stupid guard or whatever they call it applied you may have to accept that.

Hmm yes, the car has arrived with them (they say) and they are going to claim that they have already applied paint protection I guess, so that accounts for 25% of the add-ons (they will still need to produce certification of course). The other stuff is insurance based/service plan stuff so not physical and presumably declinable.

ChocolateFrog said:

When I bought my car the first dealer was so obstinate about that stuff including how much could I afford per week (despite paying in full up front) that I walked out.

Absolutely - I have purchased numerous new cars and seen this all before. The difference here is that i did not order this car myself and it can no longer be ordered today - the current model now has a higher spec and is more powerful so a lot more money.

Edited by Mark V GTD on Wednesday 13th July 19:35

[Mark V GTD]

Thank you Shabaza. I don't need the finance - I got the quotes as I thought it might be worth taking it out and preserving my cash but its optional. OK I will just say I don't want those items and please remove them from the quote.

Any thoughts on this car being sold (as new) at £33k when it was originally ordered at around £27k list.

By the way I have asked them several times if this car will have me as the first owner (ie; its not pre-registered and they have confirmed it)

[Mark V GTD]

Thanks for that! I like the phrase 'Assumptive selling' - thats a new one!

[Mark V GTD]

charltjr said:

That’s the current market for you. They can sell it for whatever anyone will pay. List price is not in any way binding.

I'm not sure thats correct for a franchised dealer supplied new car, my understanding is that the maximum sale price is list price unless car is used or pre-registered.

[Mark V GTD]

Hi Ste - thats the conclusion I was coming to. I don't want to upset the applecart though and am thinking I will play along and cancel these items after I am committed to the purchase as pretty sure the insurance based ones have a 14 day cooing off period.

Not even sure they can do that without having done a 'Statement of Demands and Needs' for me.

[Mark V GTD]

Thanks Alscar. I don't want to present them with a reason to find that another sales person has 'miraculously' sold the car to another buyer so I will progress the finance application and not mention the add-ons. At some point they will have to present a D & N form to me for this to be in compliance and then I can reject the add-ons with less chance of the above happening as they will have applied for the finance for me already at that point.

[Mark V GTD]

Hugo - yes I am very surprised too! They have finally come back and asked me if I had noticed them and wanted to include these add ons!! I have responded that I don't want to rule them out at this stage (but certainly not agreed to any of them).

They are now going to propose a finance application without them - so we shall see!

alscar said:

Mark , I take your point although given you are already paying some £6k over list price ( apologies if I have misunderstood that aspect ) I think the additional £2k in non requested non actual car add ons ( especially as you are the given to believe first registered owner ) is at best greedy and at worst really poor from the salesperson - I also very much doubt that they have applied any paint protection automatically either.
Obviously depends when the car was cancelled but assuming for a moment it was prior to being delivered to the dealer then as a replacement customer wanting to pay list price I would have thought they would be quite happy enough to take that always assuming its not a rare or limited car etc.
I guess if you really want the car though then I quite understand your reluctance to play harder ball.

Well its a new car and unregistered (EV) so that makes it a 'rare' car in this day and age. Its £6k (or £4k without the add-ons) over list because the model range was altered/simplified so without the add-ons its actually a few grand below the current list price of the current (better equipped and more powerful) model, but a few grand over what it would have been had I ordered it last year. Strange situation!

As an EV its highly desirable so I am hoping I wont lose much money after five or six months of owning it. But thats a risk I have decided to take.

Edited by Mark V GTD on Thursday 14th July 17:29

[Mark V GTD]

Mikebentley said:

EV highly desirable! Yuk………..only joking.

More desirable than £9.00 a gallon, lol!

[Mark V GTD]

Hugo Stiglitz said:

Your paying 6k over the list? They know you won't walk away.

You know it too. Anyone who pays over list has already passed the psychological barrier.

The thing is Hugo (and I do take your point) - the current version of this car that can be ordered today (and arrive in a years time or whatnot), is actually £5k more than I am paying for this one without the add-ons. So its only theoretically 'over list' as its effectively a slightly less powerful and slightly lower specc version of the current one. This is all caused by production delays, rising prices and manufacturers response in reducing availability and streamlining the range.

The strange result of this is the following:

The car I am buying (a brand new, July 22, 22 plate) is the cheapest example of this car on the Autotrader site (there are 125 listed, up to two years old and up to £40k) and is also the only new one! Not really sure why they have openly advertised it as they must have a list of people waiting for one but there it is!

Pica-Pica said:

Surely the dealer should have done a ‘needs and requirements’ type of agreement with all this guff? When I bought my 335d 5.5 years ago, they tried to sell me stuff like that, I said no, and they filled out a statement that I had had it all explained to me and that I had declined.

Thats exactly what they should have done to comply with FCA rules - but have failed to so far.

Edited by Mark V GTD on Thursday 14th July 19:19

[Mark V GTD]

georgeyboy12345 said:

My curiosity has got the better of me... what is it, an ID3?

You guessed it!

Mikebentley said:

Yeah right. You won’t be saying that when you see your electric bill. Petrols like crack….a little but regular consumption so you don’t realise how much your spending.

You don't seem convinced by the EV thing Mike! I'm happy to give it a go - I don't drive every day and getting the odd free charge still seems a possibility but intrigued to see how it pans out. Once the Defender arrives I will no doubt be a regular on the forecourt again :-)

Edited by Mark V GTD on Thursday 14th July 22:42

[Mark V GTD]

Conclusion - picked up the new id3 today - simply declined all the 'extras' and paid the asking price less £2k - result! Thanks again for all the valuable input from PH members :-)

[Mark V GTD]

alscar said:

Glad it all worked out Mark -handover good /pleased with car though ?

Absolutely delighted actually! Never even seen one of these cars before I picked mine up and no previous experience of an EV before - the ride and driving experience is very different from ICE cars!

[Mark V GTD]

Mikebentley said:

Mark where do you live if you’ve never seen an iD3 before you picked yours up? mongolia?

Lol, no, Lincolnshire! Plenty of Land Rover Defenders around here - mainly the 'original' model!

Re the ID.3 - I had of course checked out the Youtube reviews and did a fair amount of research in the 24 hours between paying the deposit and confirming the purchase - didn't go in to it completely blind!

[Mark V GTD]

GAP was paused but is now or soon available again from the specialists as I understand it. As said above all of the other items are either not worth it or can be obtained from other sources considerably cheaper. Years ago I was offered the Autoglym paint protection system on a new VW. Turned out the kits were £9.99 on a well known auction site!

By the way, to update the story on this 'zombie' thread - I kept the id3 for a few months and then got an offer I couldn't refuse from WBAC - then bought a new Audi A5 coupe!

Edited by Mark V GTD on Sunday 30th June 09:03

[Mark V GTD]

Mikebentley said:

Mark I was just reading my earlier comments on this. I did make myself chuckle. I’ve still got my 110 Defender 2 yrs now from new and well the EV thing has also been explored, since June last year 17 k miles in an MG4 Trophy and replaced 3 months ago with a Smart #1 which has now done 6k miles. I absolutely love EV ownership.

Nice to hear some EV positive comments Mike. Driving the id3 was fun but I didn't really like the design of the car externally or internally. Getting an offer for £3k more than I purchased it for two months down the line meant it was an easy decision to give it up. Loved the A5 - that was a super nice car, but after six months that had to go as the Defender 90 arrived. Enjoyed that for five months and then the Tiguan finally arrived (after two years waiting) so made the decision to go with the Tiguan as a longer term prospect. Nine months later I'm still enjoying it!