Dealer now charging for delivery to my house

pully2183

Back in January I used the website "drive the deal" when looking for a new car. I decided on a Skoda Karoq and the price seemed to be right. The drive the deal website says that the price shown included delivery to your house which was good as the dealership was five hours drive away. I signed all the documentation, paid the deposit and the care was ordered. Unfortunately during that time covid19 hit and every dealer closed it doors for a while. 
Eventually the dealer got in contact with me mid July to say that the car was with them but I needed to speak to them about completing the sale. When I rang them yesterday I was told there were two pieces of bad news:
1) Cars registered from april 2020 are subject to increased VED rates and as such there is an extra £360 to pay -  Ive had a look into this and I cant really see a way round it. I can probably chalk this one down to bad luck on my part  
2) The dealer is no longer delivering cars due to covid19 and as such they gave me the option of collecting it from them ( a 10 hour train ride and the a 5 hour drive back) or they will arrange a third party transporter at a cost of £330 to me. Needless to say I am not happy with either option. I have explained that when I was transferred to them via drive the deal I was told that delivery to my door would be included. I have had a look at my contract with the dealership and there is no mention of delivery to me specifically mentioned in it but I was mentioned verbally a number of times. I've had a phone calls and a few emails with my contact at the dealership but they don't seem willing to budge on this at all.  Do anyone have any ideas about how I should approach this? 

As as addendum I mentioned that the extra £700 was too much and I might need to cancel. They said that in that case the dealership has been keeping peoples deposits. 

Scrapit

330 quid is a good price for a 10 hour round trip for the delivery guy. See if you can get it down a bit if possible but it shouldn't be a deal breaker.

AdrianC

pully2183 said:

1) Cars registered from april 2020 are subject to increased VED rates and as such there is an extra £360 to pay -  Ive had a look into this and I cant really see a way round it. I can probably chalk this one down to bad luck on my part

The contract will almost certainly have included VED as a line item at the prevailing rate, subject to change.

What changed in the budget was not so much the price of the VED itself - that was purely an inflationary increase - but the way in which the banding applicable was calculated. Your car has gone up a band as a result.

2) The dealer is no longer delivering cars due to covid19 and as such they gave me the option of collecting it from them ( a 10 hour train ride and the a 5 hour drive back) or they will arrange a third party transporter at a cost of £330 to me. Needless to say I am not happy with either option. I have explained that when I was transferred to them via drive the deal I was told that delivery to my door would be included. I have had a look at my contract with the dealership and there is no mention of delivery to me specifically mentioned in it

There y'go, then...

but I was mentioned verbally a number of times. I've had a phone calls and a few emails with my contact at the dealership but they don't seem willing to budge on this at all.  Do anyone have any ideas about how I should approach this?

To be honest, I don't think it unreasonable for them to take the view that the situation has changed drastically.

The most likely cause for the change is that the car was going to be driven to you by somebody, who would then have probably hitched or got a train back. That somebody is no longer doing it, to limit their exposure - AND yours. Instead, it's going to be delivered by truck.

It was your choice to purchase from a supplier five hours away.

As as addendum I mentioned that the extra £700 was too much and I might need to cancel. They said that in that case the dealership has been keeping peoples deposits.

Should you change your mind because of situations outside the supplier's control, then I don't think it unfair of them to retain the deposit.

Let's put the increase into perspective. You don't say what spec of Karoq you were looking at, but list prices start at about £22k up to £35k before options. You're now looking to cancel that purchase because of an increase of around 2-3% due to factors outside the supplier's control. They are already supplying at bare-minimum price... because that's how they won your business in the first place.

DoaM

If you can't verify the delivery term in writing in any way (no emails or similar via Drive The Deal?) then all you have is hearsay ... if you can verify the term then the seller is in breach of contract by trying to unilaterally change the terms of the contract. In such a case you should be able to cancel without penalty.

One other observation though ... if everything was done at a distance then you may still have cancellation rights anyway under the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013.

daveyjp

Its a few years since we bought through DTD, but the situation was you either picked the car up from the supplying dealer, or it was driven to you.

Ours was driven and the driver walked to the railway station to get his train home.

As always it comes down to what you want out of this. If you want that car you need to accept the world has changed and everyone is having to make changes to what was normal and then either enjoy a train trip and a night away to pick it up, pay for delivery or reject the car, have a fight over your deposit and then go through buying another car which may cost more.

Takmon

pully2183 said:

2) The dealer is no longer delivering cars due to covid19 and as such they gave me the option of collecting it from them ( a 10 hour train ride and the a 5 hour drive back) or they will arrange a third party transporter at a cost of £330 to me. Needless to say I am not happy with either option.

Well for less than £330 you could go with a partner and make a weekend of it and stay one or two nights in a hotel with food aswell. 

DUTR

pully2183 said:

Back in January I used the website "drive the deal" when looking for a new car. I decided on a Skoda Karoq and the price seemed to be right. The drive the deal website says that the price shown included delivery to your house which was good as the dealership was five hours drive away. I signed all the documentation, paid the deposit and the care was ordered. Unfortunately during that time covid19 hit and every dealer closed it doors for a while. 
Eventually the dealer got in contact with me mid July to say that the car was with them but I needed to speak to them about completing the sale. When I rang them yesterday I was told there were two pieces of bad news:
1) Cars registered from april 2020 are subject to increased VED rates and as such there is an extra £360 to pay -  Ive had a look into this and I cant really see a way round it. I can probably chalk this one down to bad luck on my part  
2) The dealer is no longer delivering cars due to covid19 and as such they gave me the option of collecting it from them ( a 10 hour train ride and the a 5 hour drive back) or they will arrange a third party transporter at a cost of £330 to me. Needless to say I am not happy with either option. I have explained that when I was transferred to them via drive the deal I was told that delivery to my door would be included. I have had a look at my contract with the dealership and there is no mention of delivery to me specifically mentioned in it but I was mentioned verbally a number of times. I've had a phone calls and a few emails with my contact at the dealership but they don't seem willing to budge on this at all.  Do anyone have any ideas about how I should approach this? 

As as addendum I mentioned that the extra £700 was too much and I might need to cancel. They said that in that case the dealership has been keeping peoples deposits. 

I'm quite confident it didn't state that, I'm sure it said delivery (which all new cars have a delivery charge from the factory), personally even after paying £330 you still are in a massive saving, myself I'd make a trip of it and have the added adventure of the trip to the dealership and the drive home.

pully2183

DUTR said:

I'm quite confident it didn't state that, I'm sure it said delivery (which all new cars have a delivery charge from the factory), personally even after paying £330 you still are in a massive saving, myself I'd make a trip of it and have the added adventure of the trip to the dealership and the drive home.

Actually the drive the deal website says "Your new car will be delivered to your door, it will include road tax, and full manufacturer's warranty" on their front page. That is why I am miffed that that dealer isn't keeping up their end. I recognise things have changed due to covid19 but its still a big expense to be hit with. 

A trip to the dealer with my wife was probably never going to win me over but I've got a new baby at home so its even less of an option now. 

Thanks for your advice guys. I will have a chat to the dealer and perhaps see if they can meet me halfway with the delivery costs. If not I will probably just have to bite the bullet and pay it. 

Herzlos

Covid changes all sorts of things, if you went to them via DtD they are probably making almost nothing on it so can't absorb much.

Your options are pretty clear here: collect the car yourself, pay the delivery charge, or cancel it and lose your deposit.

Personally, I'd rather collect the car and I'd just be either hiring a car from local to you to local to them, then drive it home, or see if I've got a bored friend/relative willing to drive me down there.

How much did you save via DtD?

Stratus

I would be taking this up with Drive the Deal. Their offer to include delivery when sourcing a vehicle through them is clear. I would expect quoting dealers to take your location into account. Drive the Deal will certainly have more leverage against the dealer than you. What do they say?

AdrianC

Just looking at the front page of DtD...

"Delivery of your new car to any address in England is free of charge. Car deliveries to Wales or Scotland may cost extra, please contact us for details."

And looks like I was correct with my surmise about it being driven to you, but now being brought on a truck.

https://www.drivethedeal.com/Terms.aspx

VI.        Delivery

1. - Deliveries are restricted to mainland Britain.

2. - All delivery arrangements must be agreed between you and the dealer and www.drivethedeal.com accepts no responsibility for any vehicle not delivered in accordance with such arrangements.

3. - Deliveries to Scotland and Wales may cost extra. We will quote you a price on a case by case basis.

4. - If you accept the free delivery service, your car will be road driven from the dealer to you. If you wish to pay for a transporter to bring your car to you then you should request a quote from the dealer.