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I’m still in the hunt for a replacement car, and I’ve been faced by a problem from an increasing number of dealers with optional extras fitted to cars where they’re of no benefit to me.
For example, I’ve been offered a Peugeot 2008 Allure with the optional £400 “Vision and Drive Assist Pack” and the £20 tyre inflator kit that I would have to pay for on top of the £499 AP, purely because I didn’t want a Selenium Grey or Obsession Blue one because they’re all that colour. For the sake of £20 you’d think they’d include what is essentially an emergency single use air pump and a can of foam.There’s been others such as a Hyundai Kona N Line with a black roof, something that looks completely out of place on a car of that class and it would cost me an extra £500 just because it’s one of the only ones available for a short turnaround.
I get that margins are tighter than ever, but surely they’d sell more cars if they weren’t so erroneously equipped and then attempting to pass the extra cost to customers of any type.
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Yup, packs are okay if they have everything you want/need. It is frustrating when you require one thing but it gets bundled up with stuff you don’t.
Skoda Enyaq Race Blue
I would have thought the tyre inflation kit would have come as standard if the car doesn’t have a spare tyre.
If you are looking for a car that is already built, then unfortunately you have to accept that dealers are almost always going to add optional extras to cars that they order speculatively, in order to make them more attractive to private buyers. I always do a factory order, which means that you only pay for the options that you want.
Thats how it is. Its a way of upselling and keeping the margins for dealers I suspect. When we were looking for our Enyaq we would have had an AP boosted by several hundred pounds for a pack which included only one thing we wanted. Couple this with there only being about 30 in the country of various spec you find your choice limited unless you are willing to wait for a factory order of 6 months.
I completely agree the tyre inflator should be included, however am not surprised as when you fly these days you can pay for a flight but have to pay extra for a seat!!!
Happy Christmas everyone.
PeterB
I would have thought the tyre inflation kit would have come as standard if the car doesn’t have a spare tyre.
I am surprised Mobility don’t insist.
Unfortunately I have suffered a brain injury and occasionally I get confused and often say the wrong thing.
I would have thought the tyre inflation kit would have come as standard if the car doesn’t have a spare tyre.
I am surprised Mobility don’t insist.
When our car 4 years back when for its MOT, I’d taken the tyre inflator out to use on my car and forgot to put it back in. Skoda, who did the MOT put a new repair kit in to pass the MOT test.
If you were a retail customer, you could argue that those extra’s are included as part of a quick sale. Unfortunately being a Motability customer, the dealer isn’t at liberty to offer anything as the dealership purchased that car for its showroom out of their own funds.
Never been charged for an inflation kit before. My 2015 Grand Picasso was the first car I had with out a spare wheel, no inflation kit on collection, I went back to the dealer and they gave me one out of a huge box full of them, I guess they just forgot to put one in.
Every other car after that has had one, used them too – and Kwik Fit will give you a free replacement goo canister via Motability – worth remembering as they are a few quid otherwise.
I have my own small portable tyre repair kits, a remnant of my motorcycling days, both screw in plugs and the worm type tyre plug kit – used both over the years during motorcycle trips and they work very well (perhaps not so well on cars without a jack!)
In life, it's not who you know that's important, it's how your wife found out.
Forgot to add…yes, such penny pinching makes me think about what else have they shaved all of the profit off of and how they may deal with warranty work. Not a fan.
In life, it's not who you know that's important, it's how your wife found out.
With add ons and the like, as has been said, if you’re in a hurry, you get what you’re given, if you can wait for a factory build you can get what you want at the price you want.
As for dealerships/manufacturers being known for penny pinching, yes that makes me very nervous. We have a 3 year relationship with that dealership as a minimum once we’ve taken the car. If that dealer has been particular painful in the sales process, I’d be very worried about their servicing. There’s also manufacturers with a reputation for being difficult with warranty repairs, Stellantis being the biggest. I’d be incredibly worried if I had a car with a reputation for a high failure rate in a critical part and the manufacturer also being minded to be awkward about providing repairs.
I'm Autistic, if I say something you find offensive, please let me know, I can guarantee it was unintentional.
I'll try to give my honest opinion but am always open to learning.Mark
When changing my last Kuga it was very difficult to find a stock car that wasn’t ladened with extras. I eventually got a ST Line X PHEV Black Package edition with only the wireless mobile charger as non standard. Still, it cost me £150 for something that is of no use to me as my phone was and still is non compatible. However, mustn’t grumble really as the cost to change has gone from £1850 to an AP of £7245.
Why I am I getting photos of Fiona Bruce in underwear in between these replies ?
More to the point . . . .
Why am I NOT getting them?????? 🙁
Please excuse spelling/typos. Apart from being a clot it turns out I had one on my cerebellum that's now causing various problems!
I left Volvo after decades of only driving them as a family..
My children grew up only transported in Volvos in the family as transport..
After going to reorder another scheme car, I didn’t return..
Untied shoe laces apart from a drugged looking sales person put me off a new Volvo for life, then all the things missing on the new model compared to the aged one (5yr extension) was a real eye opener for me..
I can’t seem to see any Fiona pics, I’ll try google 😆😂
I left Volvo after decades of only driving them as a family.. My children grew up only transported in Volvos in the family as transport.. After going to reorder another scheme car, I didn’t return.. Untied shoe laces apart from a drugged looking sales person put me off a new Volvo for life, then all the things missing on the new model compared to the aged one (5yr extension) was a real eye opener for me.. I can’t seem to see any Fiona pics, I’ll try google
Out of Motability scope we had Saab 9-5 and later Vilvo xc90, both from new.
I will never ever own a Swedish car again. Saab – engine’s head had to be replaced eventually. Volvo – within 3 years was 20 times in a a garage.
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Apologies for briefness and spelling mistakes.Motability Skoda Enyaq SportLine 85x April 2024 (unhappy customer - Ombudsman pending)
Motability Mazda CX-60 PHEV July 2023 (unhappy customer - early termination on mechanical grounds)
Motability VW Touran Family Pack May 2019 (happy customer)Penny pinching?
No. You need to examine what’s going on in tge business.
Many dealerships are now only handover dealers, with the price of the car being controlled by the manufacturer
Secondly,dealerships are surviving on extras and warranty claims. And manufacturers are clamping d8en 9n claims.
They can only sell what the manufacturers allow them to. They have a 90 day turn aroubd if they control 9rice and if you want a car without extras, they have to call a special order to 5ye manufacturer who mow only build to 8rdet
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