Skoda VAT Free Deal Query

nikimilligan

Hi everyone
I paid a £750 deposit for a new Skoda Octavia in September. It has still not been delivered, and they have now said that it will be February/March.
The problem is that they want the rest of the money - £14,000 - paid in full NOW, as otherwise the deal is null and void and I will have to pay the additional VAT.
Am I the only one that this seems really dodgy to, or am I being overly cautious in these days of failing companies?
The last thing I want is to be paying off a loan for the next 3 years and no car!
All opinions welcome!

flyingscotno1

I thought Skoda were continuing the VAT free offer further into the new year.

In any case a small credit card payment will give confidence in the going bust stakes.

ahillsy

It does seem odd. I ordered mine mid November, and it's due to be built mid Feb. So a September order really should be in by early Jan really.

I don't see how they can say your order will be null and void if you don't pay in full now. Once you've placed your order and it enters the system, you can't so much as make the smallest of changes to the order so I can't see how they can suddenly cancel it now when you've paid the deposit.

Noone should ever pay it all before they receive the car for a number of reasons:
- what if there's a mistake and the car doesn't come as you wanted it? Has been known for something to be missed if you requested extras.
- what if it turns up and your're not happy, say it's damaged slightly in transit

Them having all the money up front sounds dodgy to me, maybe that dealership is having cashflow problems at the moment.

I'd recommend hoping on over to briskoda.net - dedicated Skoda forum, really helpful people on there. Nip into the Octavia section and sound out if other people have had any similar experiences with this particular dealer.

Edit:
Forgot to say, the VAT deal is extended into the New Year anyway. I'm holding off for a Match delivery and I will not be affected by any changes in VAT - that's protected by Skoda themselves.

nikimilligan

If the VAT free deal is extending anyway, it sounds like someone has been telling me fibs - definitely worried about their cashflow now!
Off to Skoda.net I go
Thanks!

ahillsy

nikimilligan wrote: »

If the VAT free deal is extending anyway, it sounds like someone has been telling me fibs - definitely worried about their cashflow now!
Off to Skoda.net I go
Thanks!

It's still being advertised on the main Skoda website, available until Jan

motorguy

Well its not a 'VAT free' deal per se. Its Skoda giving you an amount of discount equivalent to the amount of VAT you would pay - your final invoice will still show a VAT amount.

It sounds like you've agreed a price in September, but now that the turn of the year (and the VAT increase is due) they are asking you to pay now to avoid having to bill you for the extra 2.5% (or absorb it themselves)

Different manufacturers seem to be handling it in different ways - Volkswagen are paying the extra 2.5% of the VAT on my new Passat, but my wife has a new Scooby on order and she has been asked to pay the balance in advance of 31st Dec otherwise she'd have to pay the difference.

motorguy

nikimilligan wrote: »

as otherwise the deal is null and void and I will have to pay the additional VAT.

The null and void bit is nonsense, other than they are saying they're not obliged to sell the car to you unless you either pay the balance now OR opt to pay the extra 2.5% VAT.

ahillsy

The bottom line is they shouldn't be charging any more than what was quoted in September. The fact that VAT goes up in Jan is irrelevant - as you can still go in to a Skoda dealer in January and buy the same car for the same price with the "VAT-off" deal.

Quote from the main Skoda site:

Until 31st January 2010 we’ve reduced the price on all Octavia models, so it’ll be like not having to pay the VAT

Small print:

Offer not available in conjunction with scrappage offers. Retail sales only. Available for over 18’s for orders taken by 31st March 2010.

Basically if the dealer is saying you need to pay the extra 2.5% (actually less than this if you want to be exact), they are just trying to increase their profit as it's nonsense; as demonstrated by what is published by Skoda on their site.You'd be better off to say "OK, fair enough. Void my order, give me my deposit back and I'll go to another dealer to get the better, correct deal.". All you need to do is order by end of Jan and take delivery of the car by end of March.

Name and shame the dealer I say

motorguy

ahillsy wrote: »

Basically if the dealer is saying you need to pay the extra 2.5% (actually less than this if you want to be exact), they are just trying to increase their profit as it's nonsense; as demonstrated by what is published by Skoda on their site.You'd be better off to say "OK, fair enough. Void my order, give me my deposit back and I'll go to another dealer to get the better, correct deal.". All you need to do is order by end of Jan and take delivery of the car by end of March.

Name and shame the dealer I say

Correct - the O/P has made the deal back in september for a specific price, including VAT, and now the VAT rate is increasing, so the dealer is looking for the difference. That IS the right thing for the dealer to be doing, BUT as a newer better offer is on now equivalent to 17.5% discount rather than 15%) the dealer is going to struggle to make this palatable for the O/P.

Theoretically as you say, the O/P should cancel the order and reorder through another dealer - assuming of course there have been no other list price increases since then and the o/p doesnt mind waiting for the new one to arrive.

Basically the O/P agreed back in september to pay a discounted price for the car. As the VAT rate applicable on that price has changed, the O/P is liable for the difference. The exceptions being (a) the dealer pays the 2.5% extra, (b) the O/P pays for the car in full before the VAT rate goes up or (c) the order is cancelled.

ahillsy

I believe that it's not the dealer who foots the 2.5% extra, but Skoda themselves anyway in which case it's not like the dealer actually foots it themselves.

If they're saying a Feb/March delivery, that to me suggests either they've messed up somewhere along the line, or they're stalling/fishing for extra cashflow.

If it was me, I'd go in there and speak to the dealer principle. Be polite, but strong that you will not be paying the amount in full now and that you don't appreciate their threat to void the order if you don't. There was obviously no mention of this in September, and tbh, a possible 6 month wait for a car is ridiculous. Even if you had a non-standard spec, it shouldn't take that long (as I mentioned briskoda.net has a long thread about delivery times, lots of people giving their experiences - 14/15 weeks is about the top wait).

Skoda did recently introduce a new computer system which did hold things up a bit for some people.

motorguy

ahillsy wrote: »

I believe that it's not the dealer who foots the 2.5% extra, but Skoda themselves anyway in which case it's not like the dealer actually foots it themselves.

It is the dealer who pays the VAT - it'll be their name on the invoice and its physically them who pays the VAT.

ahillsy wrote: »

If they're saying a Feb/March delivery, that to me suggests either they've messed up somewhere along the line, or they're stalling/fishing for extra cashflow.

Some engines in VAG cars are in short supply - particularly the 1.4TSI engine. There is a 6 month lead time as they cant make them quickly enough. Also, if cashflow was the issue, they'd ensure the car was delivered sooner, so that they could get paid for it sooner?

ahillsy wrote: »

If it was me, I'd go in there and speak to the dealer principle. Be polite, but strong that you will not be paying the amount in full now and that you don't appreciate their threat to void the order if you don't. There was obviously no mention of this in September, and tbh, a possible 6 month wait for a car is ridiculous. Even if you had a non-standard spec, it shouldn't take that long (as I mentioned briskoda.net has a long thread about delivery times, lots of people giving their experiences - 14/15 weeks is about the top wait).

Skoda did recently introduce a new computer system which did hold things up a bit for some people.

Agreed. I would definitely try and push the dealer on this.