Scrappage - Anyone else having to pay extra for this?

tobit

In mid-November I agreed to buy a small new car under the government scrappage scheme. I was a bit taken aback when the dealer charged me an extra £95 for this privilege. :mad: Is this common? Has anyone else had this experience? I'm wondering now whether they're pulling a fast one because, now that my new car is about to arrive, they're also telling me that they're going to charge me an extra 2% to use my credit card. Seems to me that they're using the scrappage scheme to earn themselves a few extra bucks.

Lorian

The credit card fee is "normal" and nothing to do with scrappage. Use a debit card?

what was the £95 for?

jaydeeuk1

Says thats fine, but you want £95 knocked off price and some optional extras thrown in.

Inactive

What is the £95 listed as on the invoice?

It is quite normal for a car dealer to charge 2% for the use of credit cards, that only covers their costs, you are not forced to use a credit card.

tobit

The salesman simply said that they made a charge of £95 for administering (I think he said) the scrappage scheme. At the time I thought OK I'll just agree - but now I'm wondering - since at the time there was no mention of an extra 2% if I paid with a credit card. I can't remember being asked to pay an extra 2% for buying goods with a credit card before.

tobit

What is the £95 listed as on the invoice?

It's listed as an 'option'. Except that I had no option at the time!

Inactive

I would challenge the £95 charge as it would appear to breach the terms of the scrappage scheme.

The Credit Card charge is not negotiable however, you can pay by other methods if you prefer.

tobit

The credit card fee is "normal" and nothing to do with scrappage. Use a debit card?

Hi Lorian. It's the first time I've bought a new car, so how was I to know that car dealers charge extra for using a credit card? Shops don't. If they had told me two months ago I would have had time to borrow the extra cash I need elsewhere. :j

tobit

I would challenge the £95 charge as it would appear to breach the terms of the scrappage scheme.

Hi Inactive. Thanks for that - I will. I was just wondering whether anyone else had been charged for using the scrappage scheme.

Lorian

tobit wrote: »

Hi Lorian. It's the first time I've bought a new car, so how was I to know that car dealers charge extra for using a credit card? Shops don't. If they had told me two months ago I would have had time to borrow the extra cash I need elsewhere.

You weren't to know. The dealer should have really told you. I bet they have it listed in their T&C's in the smallprint to cover themselves though (worth a check).

It's a common practive with Holiday bookings too.

What rate of VAT are they charging you?

mark5

It doesnt matter if the car is new, the dealer would still have charged you for buying a 2nd hand car on a c/c.
Holiday firms normally charge a fee for using c/c's aswell, with Thompson I think it is £20.
Most garages dont charge you if you put less than £1000 on a c/c when buying a car.

I would challenge the £95 fee aswell or is the scrappage scheme only worth £1905 ?

Lorian beat me to it!