My JXS had only had only three forward gears…
My Bedford CA had only three forward gears … 
My first push bike didn’t have any gears. :shock:
My first push bike didn’t have any wheels … :shock:
VW have been on a penny pinching exercise lately and some of the models changed spec last autumn. A lot of the dealers were not fully on board with this. My advice to you is make sure you know exactly what you are getting with your new car.
I bought a new Passat and collected it in March before the lockdown. The rrp for this car was over £30000 with the factory fitted options. I didn’t pay near that amount but for that you don’t get either electric folding mirrors or DAB radio or cd player. So, if these are important to you then just be careful.
VW have admitted their brochure is confusing and, as DAB cannot now be fitted, have agreed to give me my first service free.
It does come with Medium Wave radio! How stupid is that?
I’ve not had the courage to try that yet!
I agree. It is very important to check exactly what you’re getting.
I downloaded a brochure for the Golf 8 a few weeks ago and already, when we went into the showroom a couple of days ago, some things have changed.
I have made a list of everything we want and noted which are included in the RRP and which are optional extras.
In January (probably), if we decide to go ahead with a Golf, I shall go through the details with a fine-toothed comb!
Incidentally, looking through online motoring reviews, opinions of the new Golf are generally very good.
The one drawback that comes up with them all is that they don’t like the lack of knobs and buttons and, worse, some of the ‘touch’ controls are difficult to use accurately.
That is something we’re going to have to look at more closely nearer the time.
Your new car will likely come with Discover Navigation. Just two buttons on this so everything else will be touch screen or hand gestures. The screen is a fingerprint magnet.
Have a look at the Carwow site. It will give you a good idea of the discounts you can expect on your chosen model. It’s all anonymous too so no pesky sales reps annoying you. November and December are favourable times to buy a new car as most people are spending their money on Christmas. January because everyone is skint! Probably get the best discounts around these times.
Yes. I’ve looked at Carwow. There are some very competitive quotes.
I find that you can also trade in your old car as well, but I’m not sure how easy it is to do this.
When the time comes, obviously I’ll get quotes from them as well as my local outlet and if they undercut the local place, I’ll ask the local one if they can do as well or better.
One question, though. If I buy the car from Carwow, and we usually pay for a couple of years’ service up front, can the servicing be done locally or do I have to go to the Carwow seller which may be some way off?
If it’s a new car then you can go to any vw dealership for servicing
Yes, it would be new.
I sort of imagined a “You can sod off. You didn’t buy it from us” comment!
The only problem I could see is if you needed to reject the car or had any issues that could only be resolved by the supplying dealer, then you would need to go back to where you got it from, but that would be unlikely, I bought a new car through orangewheels a few years ago, had it serviced and any warranty work carried out by my local dealers, I bought it from a ford dealership in Guildford. No problems whatsoever
Yes, any VW dealer will sort out any problems the car has. The trade in seems to be quite simple. They will offer a price, unseen obviously, and I think this offer is valid for three months. Your car will then be collected from your house on an agreed date. I would have traded in my car with them but a family member bought it instead.
I have bought two new VW’s using Carwow and found it a very easy no- nonsense experience. On both occasions I went and picked up the car - the furthest of the two dealers I bought from was only 50 miles away but most dealers will deliver the car to you free of charge.
Thank you both.
What I think I’ll do is get a quote from Carwow and then see if my local outlet can beat it (or at least match it).
If not, I’ll go with Carwow - if the offer is from someone reasonably close.
Just one question regarding the unseen offer for our old car in part-exchange. I can inform them of the details of the car, including age and mileage, but won’t they want to look at the condition of the bodywork, etc., before making an offer of the payment they will make? There are a couple of marks, including a scratch on one side made by an unknown yob several weeks ago.
How old is the car you will be part-exchanging? I ask because a certain amount of wear and tear will be expected/allowed for. For example; if the car is 5 years old you wouldn’t reasonably expect it to be in showroom condition. On the other hand, if it’s a two year old with high mileage and a few dents and scratches I would imagine you will be knocked down on the price.
Last year I had a 2015 Beetle in showroom condition with about 7500 miles on the clock. VW offered me such an insulting trade in price I told them to get stuffed. They explained they marked it down because one of the annual services wasn’t done at a VW dealership. Carwow offered a lot more but in the end I sold it to family for next to nothing. That way I was helping a family member and preventing VW from mugging me. Win. Win.
Bought new in March 2018. We have done less than 10,000 miles each year. No dents, but a couple of scrapes. Otherwise, the bodywork is in good condition.
It has been serviced by the VW showroom we bought it from on a pre-paid service deal.
I recently did an insurance comparison and one of the companies quoted its current value as £14,500.
Of course, I have no idea how this would relate to a trade in value.
The other thing when discussing a trade-in deal, of course, is what ‘optional extras’ they might offer for nowt!
Best thing to do is look on autotrader for comparable cars private sales if possible as dealer prices will include their mark up, you could check on honest John or Parker’s for valuations, I doubt the dealer will throw anything in for free but there’s no harm in asking, just don’t buy paint protection or gap insurance, indeed anything that a dealer offers in aftermarket items you can get cheaper elsewhere, they make huge profits from those things as well as selling finance, that’s why they don’t like accepting cash anymore…
100% agree. Just do some research in advance and you should get a good idea of what your car is worth. Also, have a look at VW’s used car site to get an idea of what VW are selling similar models to your own for. The more prepared you are the better deal you will get. Carwow will give you quotes for both cash and finance. There’s a lot of psychology in buying cars and doing the deal.
Lots of good advice here. Thank you both.
We don’t want finance, although when we visited the other day, the woman said we could have interest-free finance if we ordered there and then.
We didn’t, of course. We don’t want to buy until early next year. For one thing, the auto-folding wing mirrors are not available now, and who knows what other changes will have been added by then? If they can still offer interest-free finance then we’ll compare that with their cash price.
You could always take the finance and then pay off the outstanding balance, although this might be better if the finance was higher as you might get a better deal