Leasing Experience.

[ukdood]

First post so please be gentle…

Just had my first leasing experience and it wasn’t pleasant.

Chased a good deal for a Q3 and told the colour requested had gone however there were a number of alternatives available. We chose an alternative, completed the finance forms on the Friday and then received call Monday to be told that as the broker didn’t have internet at home over the weekend the last few had been taken.
Contacted and alternative broker who was advertising the same car and explained the situation, he checked and promised a number of times he had the car we were after in the right colour, all we had to do was complete the finance documents and it was ours. I completed the documents straight away.
Surprise, surprise, the next morning I received an email stating the Audi system was at fault, there were actually no cars available although they did have a number of Q2’s available.

So, 2 credit checks undertaken which will affect my credit score and no car!

Is this standard practice?

[Funk]

Unfortunately this does seem to be more and more prevalent; the cynic in me thinks it's a classic 'bait-and-switch' to upsell you to a dearer car.

I'd just mentally blacklist any companies that mucked me about and find another - there are plenty out there to deal with!

[ilikejam]

Try to avoid brokers as far as possible. They're sourcing the deals from somewhere, so if you can find the supplying dealer you'll cut out the middle man and save yourself the fee.

The most regular good deals on Audis I see are from Stoke, Crewe and Huddersfield. Check out What Car leasing and see if any delaers are offering similar deals or give the cheapest ones a call.

[roadsmash]

ilikejam said:

Try to avoid brokers as far as possible. They're sourcing the deals from somewhere, so if you can find the supplying dealer you'll cut out the middle man and save yourself the fee.

Ignore this rubbish. The brokers get incredible deals which are unlikely to be as good, or even available, for Joe Public when they go directly to the lease company.

Audi Financial Services (part of VWFS) have always been a bit weak with the information they provide to the brokers and as such the information often becomes outdated quite quickly.

So yes, relatively normal practice albeit very frustrating.

[anonymous-user]

Funk said:

Unfortunately this does seem to be more and more prevalent; the cynic in me thinks it's a classic 'bait-and-switch' to upsell you to a dearer car.

I'd just mentally blacklist any companies that mucked me about and find another - there are plenty out there to deal with!

Yup, you might as well ignore any quotes you see on Leasing.com as they will undoubtedly be 'bait and switch'. If you are trying to order any kind of VAG product expect to be waiting 6 months plus with no updates from the dealer as to what is happening.

When the real cheap deals appear (such as the pink leasing A180d £199 a month deal a few months ago) the cars will have all been nabbed within a day.

Then there are the "only £149 a month" type deals with £2500 deposit and a 5k mileage allowance.

I gave up, too much hassle and the deals when you actually work it out are not that amazing.

[ukdood]

Thanks all for the responses.

Once bitten etc.

Appreciated.

[ilikejam]

roadsmash said:

ilikejam said:

Try to avoid brokers as far as possible. They're sourcing the deals from somewhere, so if you can find the supplying dealer you'll cut out the middle man and save yourself the fee.

Ignore this rubbish. The brokers get incredible deals which are unlikely to be as good, or even available, for Joe Public when they go directly to the lease company.

Audi Financial Services (part of VWFS) have always been a bit weak with the information they provide to the brokers and as such the information often becomes outdated quite quickly.

So yes, relatively normal practice albeit very frustrating.

What exactly about what I posted is rubbish?

If you can find a dealer doing the same deal as a broker, avoid the broker and go direct. You'll save money. This is an indisputable fact. I've saved money on 3 leases after getting good offers via email from brokers then doing a bit of digging, finding the dealer, going direct and saving the fee.

Also in my experience (2 leases via brokers, 3 via dealers), going direct is much less hassle as there's no middle man to go through and the inevitable delays in communication that occur.

Avoid brokers as far as possible.

If a broker has the best deal, use the broker.