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Hi,
I would be interested to know if anyone else has came across this problem.
We ordered a Seat Arona in August 2021 and were under the impression it would be the face lifted model we would receive as it was released in April 2021. When we ordered, it was zero Advance Payment. Fast forward to January 2022 and we get a phone call from the Seat dealer, “This is a new model Arona getting delivered to you, we need you to pay the new advance payment of £1400 before we can release the car”.
Now, I understand there is a disclaimer on the Motability website saying if the specification of the car changes, then we could be subject to additional charges, but it is still a 1.0litre FR that we would receive and were under the impression anyway that we ordered the facelift.
Has anything similar happened to anyone else and if so, what was the outcome?
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Sounds like they are trying to pull a fast one. I’d contact motability, tell the dealers you’re not happy, and take it from there.
I’ve never known this. Sounds very much like dealer BS to me. You should be paying the AP at the time that you ordered which, in this case is nil. Definitely call Motability and explain.
I remember back in 2018 due to delays with the new WLTP emissions that people who ordered the Previous Citroën Berlingo They got the new facelift Berlingo and Citroen honoured the Advance Payments of the old model.
Hello @PNI when you placed your order, what did the paper work say? Did it say NIL AP? If so report these sharks to Motability. Please keep us updated thanks.
Joss
Current car BMW X2 2.0i Sport sDrive Auto 2019 with Sport pack
Last car Ford Focus Titanium 1.5 TDCI"Men fight for liberty & win it with hard knocks. Their children brought up easy, let it slip away again, poor fools. And their grandchildren are once more slaves" - D.H. Lawrence
The paper work states Nil advance payment from Motability.
It turns out there is a code that the dealer provides to Motability when the car is nearing completion and when they provide this code to Motability it doesn’t match what Motability have on file as it is the facelift model so it will be a phone call to Motability on Monday.
Just to update everyone we eventually got this sorted! After a week of back and forth, Motability were able to update to the new VTN code for the facelift model and kept the advance payment at Nil. It took as much as Motability putting us on hold while they got the dealer on the other end of the line to sort it all out but after 45 minutes it was all done and we picked the car up on Saturday.
Good result there @PNI well done
Joss
Current car BMW X2 2.0i Sport sDrive Auto 2019 with Sport pack
Last car Ford Focus Titanium 1.5 TDCI"Men fight for liberty & win it with hard knocks. Their children brought up easy, let it slip away again, poor fools. And their grandchildren are once more slaves" - D.H. Lawrence
Just to update everyone we eventually got this sorted! After a week of back and forth, Motability were able to update to the new VTN code for the facelift model and kept the advance payment at Nil. It took as much as Motability putting us on hold while they got the dealer on the other end of the line to sort it all out but after 45 minutes it was all done and we picked the car up on Saturday.
Well done. There should never have been any other outcome, as the AP you pay is always the one that was applicable at the time that you ordered. If a facelift happens between order and delivery then that’s your gain and dealers have no right to attempt to re-negotiate. The Motability small print is more likely to apply if an all new model comes out with different trim levels, specifications and prices, but that wasn’t the case in this instance. I guess this is going to happen a lot with many lead times now extending to a year or more. In this case, however, it was nothing more than a rogue dealer chancing their arm. At least you now have the measure of them.
You say there should never have been any other outcome, but at first Motability were adamant that we would need to either pay up the £1399 or else just cancel the order.
You say there should never have been any other outcome, but at first Motability were adamant that we would need to either pay up the £1399 or else just cancel the order.
If that’s the case then maybe you haven’t been told the whole story? The only scenarios that I can see where this would happen would be where the £1,399 AP for the facelifted model applied at the time that you ordered the old model, or the dealer cancelled your original order as the pre-facelift model was discontinued and the Motability system would only accept an order for the facelifted model at the AP that applied at that specific time?
If what you have experienced was common practice this would be regularly discussed on this forum and, like others, I can’t ever recall anyone mentioning it. Whatever the reasons, none of it was your fault and the correct outcome has been achieved. Well done and enjoy your new car!
there is always the possibility I wasn’t told the whole story, and as you say the we came to the correct outcome. Thank You! First time using this forum and great to have the support of others.
This is interesting, the only line i can find on Motability is “The only case where the price may be altered is if the car description is changed subsequent to the original order. ”
I have a Kodiaq SE on order but as we know it has now been changed to the SE Drive with an increase in spec – but is this a change in “description” and would i be expected to pay an increased AP ? (if it re appears on the scheme with the new spec)
Based on the OP post, i would hope not but i do wonder because of “but at first Motability were adamant that we would need to either pay up the £1399 or else just cancel the order.” and the very vauge description clause!
What do you think ?
