Idiot guide to buying a brand new car

[Muzzer]

OK, so the company have finally come up trumps and are shelling out car allowance for some new wheels.

I fancy a Golf GT Sport - TDI 140. (Like in that night driving ad apparently) Went down the dealer on saturday for some preliminary figures. Good finance offer (6.3%) and reasonable spec.

Questions:

As a start, they've offered me about 5% off list. Any cop? I reckon I can squeeze more, which I'll obviously try and do but at which point do people generally concede? I know there's the old adages about making them bleed, etc but I'd be interested to here what people have got off their VWs

They have one in stock (new obviously) that's coming in in about a week. For re-sale purposes, I'd like it in Sept so I get a 57 plate. Will the dealer be more flexible on the deal if I accept an 07 plate? I'm assuming that August is the month they struggle for new registrations therefore they'll want to get as many as poss?

They've offered me a service and maintenance package for £20 a month that covers everything except tyres. Has anyone got this? Is it as good as it looks?

Any help gratefully received

[GolfGT_Girl]

I got the golf 140 see profile, I didn't take up the offer of the serivce as you need the first service in 2 years time.
I got my brand new ordered at end of march when and got it for may for the 07 plate, I got over £1,500 off the new price, plus tax disc and number plates (personal plate and carpets) and a a full tank.Finance was 5 or 6%.
As your from Buckinghamshire, I went to camberley not sure what dealership you have tried. If you need help just email me

Edited by GolfGT_Girl on Monday 6th August 15:55

[Muzzer]

GolfGT_Girl said:

I got the golf 140 see profile, I didn't take up the offer of the serivce as you need the first service in 2 years time.
I got my brand new ordered at end of march when and got it for may for the 07 plate, I got over £1,500 off the new price, plus tax disc and number plates (personal plate and carpets) and a a full tank.Finance was 5 or 6%.
As your from Buckinghamshire, I went to camberley not sure what dealership you have tried. If you need help just email me

Thanks for the reply. When you say that you need the first service in 2 years time I assume you mean within 2 years and not after 2 years?

If it's within 2 years, can I ask why you didn't take it up? You have to get it serviced every year anyway..?

Thanks again

[GolfGT_Girl]

Muzzer said:

GolfGT_Girl said:

I got the golf 140 see profile, I didn't take up the offer of the serivce as you need the first service in 2 years time.
I got my brand new ordered at end of march when and got it for may for the 07 plate, I got over £1,500 off the new price, plus tax disc and number plates (personal plate and carpets) and a a full tank.Finance was 5 or 6%.
As your from Buckinghamshire, I went to camberley not sure what dealership you have tried. If you need help just email me

Thanks for the reply. When you say that you need the first service in 2 years time I assume you mean within 2 years and not after 2 years?

If it's within 2 years, can I ask why you didn't take it up? You have to get it serviced every year anyway..?

Thanks again

Er nope you get which ever comes up first 2 years or 12,000 miles, you will get a light on your dash if anything is wrong first. You get 1 year rac cover (which helped yesterday) flat tire and free of charge also 3 years paint protection/warrenty
hope that helps

[Adam B]

GolfGT_Girl said:

Er nope you get which ever comes up first 2 years or 12,000 miles, you will get a light on your dash if anything is wrong first. You get 1 year rac cover (which helped yesterday) flat tire and free of charge also 3 years paint protection/warrenty
hope that helps

only if you go on AVS, if you do low miles / drive hard or do lots of city miles VAG often recommend sticking to an annual service (well they do for an RS4); frankly I would not feel comfortable only changing oil every two years even if I didn't tick all 3 of those boxes.

I went straight onto the fixed cost mtce programme as it seems to be stupidly good value if you do low miles (I only do 5-6k per annum). My RS4 costs less to maintain then your quote including tyres!

[Muzzer]

Adam B said:

GolfGT_Girl said:

Er nope you get which ever comes up first 2 years or 12,000 miles, you will get a light on your dash if anything is wrong first. You get 1 year rac cover (which helped yesterday) flat tire and free of charge also 3 years paint protection/warrenty
hope that helps

only if you go on AVS, if you do low miles / drive hard or do lots of city miles VAG often recommend sticking to an annual service (well they do for an RS4); frankly I would not feel comfortable only changing oil every two years even if I didn't tick all 3 of those boxes.

I went straight onto the fixed cost mtce programme as it seems to be stupidly good value if you do low miles (I only do 5-6k per annum). My RS4 costs less to maintain then your quote including tyres!

It's a company car, so they've quoted me based on a mileage of 15k a year. If you're only doing 5k a year, it makes sense that yours is less (even if it is an RS4) Still a good deal!

Thanks for the advice.

[J500ANT]

Muzzer said:

They've offered me a service and maintenance package for £20 a month that covers everything except tyres. Has anyone got this? Is it as good as it looks?

Any help gratefully received

Ring them up, ask what the service cost is during the period you expect to keep the car - if its about the same as the "maintenance plan" then dont bother. These things always seem like a con to me, they get your money to earn interest for 12 months and then do a skimped service at the end of it. What if the dealer goes bust? Who are you paying the money to? Can you use a different dealer? What "maintenance" other than servicing is a Golf likely to need?

[Muzzer]

J500ANT said:

Muzzer said:

They've offered me a service and maintenance package for £20 a month that covers everything except tyres. Has anyone got this? Is it as good as it looks?

Any help gratefully received

Ring them up, ask what the service cost is during the period you expect to keep the car - if its about the same as the "maintenance plan" then dont bother. These things always seem like a con to me, they get your money to earn interest for 12 months and then do a skimped service at the end of it. What if the dealer goes bust? Who are you paying the money to? Can you use a different dealer? What "maintenance" other than servicing is a Golf likely to need?

I too was apprehensive. Looking through the booklet, it does seem to cover everything - brakes, fluids, etc. Most of the stuff it covers is under warranty anyway but when you think an annual service is going to be about £250, and you need three of those in 3 years - That's £750 without consumables like brakes...

You pay the money to VW Finance, not the dealer, and you can take it to any VW main dealer to be serviced/repaired. It looks good, but I just wanted to see if anyone else had it and what they thought.

[drybeer]

GolfGT_Girl said:

Er nope you get which ever comes up first 2 years or 12,000 miles, you will get a light on your dash if anything is wrong first. You get 1 year rac cover (which helped yesterday) flat tire and free of charge also 3 years paint protection/warrenty
hope that helps

Hi.

The servicing issue is a little bit different from what you describe - only a little though.

The car is fitted with a computer which can diagnose readings of engine temp, throttle openings, number of gearchanges, and also brake wear.

The longest duration time possilbe between services is as you rightly say 24 months from PDI inspection.

However the mileage POSSIBLE between services could work out to be 20000 or more miles dependant or how you drive. The average driver with the TDi 140 engine is having a service at around 18000 miles. A low mileage driver would be 2 years.

As for the deal, a VW dealer will "talk turkey" with you over the price for an "07" if they (or the salesperson) needs that unit registration for their figures. I would reckon the difference between a "07" and a "57" might be £300 - £400 when you next change. So if you're not bothered about the so called plate prestige then go for it in August.

The dealer should have the ability to knock off around 8% - 10% from the sale price, but only if they want to - they too need to eat! As for the finance try to get around 4% flat rate if you can - APR can lie to you so ask about the flat rate. You shouldn't have to pay more than around 4%.

The servicing deal will be mainly set up to let you have no surprise bills due when your car all of a sudden needs a service at the time when your x-mas shopping bill comes in, for example. Ours includes 10% off all tyres and other wearable items also, so there is still incentive to do it.

£20 a month sounds a lot though - try to get it for £15 per month.

EDITED BY DRYBEER FOR REALLY APPALLING SPELLING ON 12.8.07 - SORRY

Edited by drybeer on Sunday 12th August 21:13

[GolfGT_Girl]

I got a letter through this week explaining it all

[Nobbles]

17016 at drivethedeal.com - no extras, check out the website as they are UK cars from UK dealers. Also once you know what colours how much finance etc email all the dealers that you are willing to travel to. I have always managed to get new cars from my local dealer for more or less the same deal..

Don`t take the service offer, it should only need an oil change in 2 years.

[mk1fan]

Nobbles said:

Don`t take the service offer, it should only need an oil change in 2 years.

Oil, in our fair Isle, should be changed at least once a year for the same reasons that timing belts should be changed every four years regardless of mileage.