[kdwolf]

We’ve finally made a decision and gone for a brand new BYD Dolphin Surf on PCH. TOC of £7,600  over 3 years (10,000 miles p.a.), with 3p per mile over. Thanks to @kezo for the guidance.

During the search, we came across some surprisingly low PCH (not PCP) deals that are significantly cheaper than Motability equivalents:

Citroën e-C3 44kWh Max
Initial: £1,214 | Monthly: £203
TOC over 3 years: £8,319 (excludes insurance & maintenance)

Citroën C3 Aircross EV Max / Vauxhall Frontera EV Ultimate (humongous for our needs)
~£15/month more
TOC over 3 years: £8,859 (excludes insurance & maintenance)

All three of these (Frontera offered even in much lower QS trim) are available on Motability with £0 AP, but the total allowance cost comes to £12,480 over the same period (including insurance & maintenance).

That’s a difference of about £3,600.

Even allowing for:

Insurance (~£300–£400/year depending on driver)
Tyres and basic maintenance
There still to be a gap of £2,000+ over 3 years.

For anyone doing around or under 10,000 miles pa, that’s a substantial difference. If your mileage is lower, the gap could be even wider.

N.B. Out of curiosity I clicked on Jaecoo 7 offers. Adjusting the deposit to MB’s £2,499 for 1.6T Deluxe 5dr 7DCT trim, I have got an offer of £312 pcm for the same 10K miles pa / 3 years. Still cheaper by £1,248 than MB, but here of course insurance may eat into the difference.

So it seems that from July majority of the drivers will be better off outside of MB entirely:

NTS0904 figures for 2024: 71% drive under 9,000 mile pa

NTS0904 figures for 2023: 72% drive under 9,000 mile pa

NTS0904 figures for 2022: 74% drive under 9,000 mile pa

 

Sent from a mobile device.
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)

Topic

[kezo]

@kdwolf

When will said car be delivered?

[Glos Guy]

kdwolf wrote:

Glos Guy wrote:

@kdwolf The car that I am buying I have negotiated a 16% discount, but that’s off the gross price (inc VAT / VED etc) so it’s actually almost 20% off the ex VAT / VED price. My negotiating tactic was very straightforward. I configured the car on drivethedeal.com to see what discount could be achieved.

Ah, yes – I get updates from them. Sadly their main focus is on VW group plus occasionally BMW and Kia, I think

It’s all BMWs (inc EVs), a few VWs and then it’s Audi, Kia, Seat, Cupra, Renault & Skoda.

I’m sure that there are other brokerage sites that you can get online quotes from for other manufacturers that can also be used as bargaining tools. I wouldn’t bother with the likes of What Car and Car Wow as the discounts that they quote are easily beaten.

Even without being armed with such info, I would think that an absolute minimum discount of 10% on an ICE car and 25% on an EV could be achieved by the most timid negotiator.

I was talking to a mate of mine the other day who was the Chief Financial Officer of one of the biggest UK dealership chains, and still a major shareholder, and I told him that my BMW dealership was unsuccessfully trying to tell me that they were making a loss on my order, which I simply did not believe. He tells me that’s quite common, which surprised me. Apparently, they make most of their money by generating volume, which drives the discounts and other incentives that they can obtain from the manufacturers, plus things like servicing, after sales services, trade-ins, finance etc.

Us Brits tend to be quite passive when it comes to haggling, but I take the mercinary view that everyone who pays over the odds leaves more room for me to drive home a bargain 😂

[kdwolf]

kezo wrote:

@kdwolf When will said car be delivered?

On the website it says 31/3/2026. I would be surprised if it will be delivered before 8 April.

Sent from a mobile device.
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)

[Author]

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