Skoda VAT free Deal

scotydog775

Hi there

im looking for someone a little more clued up on this to give me some advice

I have just ordered a new car this week. its a skoda ovtavia and i have gone through drivethedeal.com to get the best deal.

firstly i want to know if the car is ordered now and not delivered until march and is being paid for on PCP is it liable for the increase in VAT as of jan?

seccondly
skoda are currently offering a "its like not paying the VAT" deal at the moment, this is valid on orders until jan 31st, and i was wondering if they were going to increase the saving to cover the VAT increase and if so would this be passed onto me if my order was subject to the increase.

the rep from drive the deal told me i would be liable for the increase and it would be payable by me. i told him i had been told by other dealers that the order wouldnt be affected by the increase. however he said that as the price was being discounted in addition to the VAT off deal then the dealer would not be willing to honour the price after jan and the VAT increase and i would have to pay the increase.

basically i wanted to know what my right were here and if there was a way i could go about it to not have to pay the extra cash?

any help is good help! looking forward to your responses

ahillsy

Hi,

I did a lot of research into it before ordering mine last month. I bought mine from my local dealer though, using DriveTheDeal quote as a haggling tool (not on PCP, I took up a very low rate HP deal). As through DTD you just get put in touch with the dealer to deal with anyway, I'd imagine you *should* be in the same boat.

I asked my dealer about the VAT increase, as I'm getting min in March for the new number plate. The price is protected from any rise in VAT. Skoda cover the difference.

Kind of also answers your second question - if you ordered in Jan when VAT will be 17.5%, you would get the increased VAT amount off the price.

I would still ask the question of your dealer just to put you in the position that you've had their word on it. It should be the same response as what I've said, but the wording on the DTD site when I looked wasn't clear cut about it.

There's a lot of confusion about this (lot of discussion on Briskoda forums), as some dealerships didn't seem to be fully sure themselves a while back, waiting for clarification from Skoda

Hope this helps.

ukjoel

Its generally protected (against both price and tax rises) providing that its ordered and has been customer tagged with your name.

The issue that you may be experiencing (hence the confusion) is that a dealer cant tag it until the car is detailed in the system to be built.

This is why they need approval from Milton Keynes to ensure they wont be out of pocket by selling you a car.

The response from Milton Keynes will probably be OK mainly as firstly they want to sell cars and secondly its an Octavia. Skoda have had a field day with scrappage but mainly on Fabia so stock in a little thin on the ground.
Octavia is available in greater quantity so even though yours sounds like a factory order its a better mix for them.


My honest advice would be phone 5 dealers and talk to them direct. If they can get close to the drive the deal price go with them. Skoda have no affinity to drive the deal and if Milton Keynes hear its from a broker they answer will more likely be a NO. If its a genuine retail customer its more likely to be a YES.

May sound like no difference as both ways you will get the car but from the manufacturers perspective brokers are the scum of the earth and wouldnt exist if dealers did their job properly.

Remember Skoda dealers will deliver so worth phoning about a bit.
Also if the cars not local to them they may do it at cost to hit volume as they would never do a deal with you otherwise.

scotydog775

i have already ordered the car, and im told by marlborough skoda (london, isleworth) that its completly ordered and on the skoda build system with projected build week somewhere in jan.

i guess my first port of call would be to speak to the dealers its ordered with and see what they say.
im sure that at least the £1000 deposit i have paid would not have the vat increase. failing that ill contact skoda uk. if i do get in contact with skoda uk i will certainly not mention drive the deal!

i did try a several skoda dealerships but none of them could get within 2k of what drive the deal could. im not going to sit in the dealership haggling with them i told them the drive the deal wuote showed them it on paper and they wouldnt come anywhere near. so i walked, its their loss at the end of the day, i was going to buy a skoda if they wanted to sell they could have matched the price. i would have preferred to deal with my local dealership but not at that cost.

any more info anyone could give would be helpful.

is there a legal standpoint on this. if the sale is made and a deposit agreed and finiance organised can they then increase the price at a new vat rate for when its delivered?

Premier_2

scotyd!!!75 wrote: »

...

is there a legal standpoint on this. if the sale is made and a deposit agreed and finiance organised can they then increase the price at a new vat rate for when its delivered?

From a legal standpoint, they must charge you VAT at the applicable rate

ahillsy

scotyd!!!75 wrote: »

i did try a several skoda dealerships but none of them could get within 2k of what drive the deal could. im not going to sit in the dealership haggling with them i told them the drive the deal wuote showed them it on paper and they wouldnt come anywhere near. so i walked, its their loss at the end of the day, i was going to buy a skoda if they wanted to sell they could have matched the price. i would have preferred to deal with my local dealership but not at that cost.

Most dealers don't have as much flexibility to play around with on the price. From what I could find, there were 2/3 dealerships across the country that could do it at the DtD price. On top of the VAT deal, DtD worked out about a further 6.5% off the price...I managed to haggle my local dealer to within a few hundred pounds (4%) which included a good trade in value for my car a month early with a loan car to cover the final month's wait.

The invoice I got from my dealership shows the 15% rate and I double + triple checked with them that the price there is the amount I will pay, regardless of what happens with VAT. In theory, no matter what dealership you order through, the increase in VAT should be covered by Skoda themselves I think, not the dealership - so I don't think it costs the dealership themselves to cover the difference in VAT. From a legal point of view, I don't know I'm afraid. Perhaps if they are going to charge at the 17.5% rate, it's their way of recouping some of the savings of their DtD price. You just need to ask the question of them.

Edit:
Just to clarify, you *are* actually charged at the applicable VAT rate. It's not a "No VAT" deal - you do still pay the VAT, it's just that they give you a discount equal to the amount of VAT.

scotydog775

thanks for all your help

i have signed an invoice now with the original price on it (i.e. with VAT at 15%)
but im trying to get confirmation that this wont suddenly change!!

will try and let you know the outcome!

AdrianHi

Legally 17.5% VAT applies to the transaction you have just signed since it is after 1st Jan 2010.
It's up to the dealer to pay the right VAT bill though, so if you have signed a deal at a particular price they will now have to cover that extra 2.5% unless they have some special dispensation from HMRC.