Argh one week to go

[joele]

So frustrating waiting to pick up my new car...

Been a real drama:
- first they said they it would be Jan
- then they found 2 one with front sensors and one with MDI so I have to choose and pay for the accessory, I went with MDI as it would be useful and didn't cost much.
- then the mdi one arrived and turned out to be a premium so I could change colour or pay $2,000 for the premium upgrade (apparently stock control at Skoda made the mistake)... Actually a premium upgrade for 2k appealed to me..
- then I find out the dealership won't accept bank cheques on the day and I have to transfer the money 3 days before picking up the car or drop a cheque off 3 days early. This was passed off as a Skoda thing but I think it is that dealer (vw and skoda).. Very weird as my last 2 cars I have paid bank cheque (Hyundai and Renault) and have never heard of dealers not accepting them on the day of pickup.

Anyway so finally on the 11th (next saturday) I will pick it up, 2012 Anthracite Grey Premium 103TDI DSG Scout...

[zei20t]

weird, I paid bank cheque when I collected the car. no problems. bank cheques don't need to clear as the money is paid when the cheque is drawn.

sounds like some dealers are really not competent at all!

[Tigger]

Wierd indeed...
And you should not have had to pay for a 'premium' model if they made the mistake with stock control.

I did not want front sensors or MDI, but because the only car in Aust available had those features, I got them at no charge (or very minimal at least...)

[joele]

Wierd indeed...
And you should not have had to pay for a 'premium' model if they made the mistake with stock control.

Well they said $2,000 for premium or I could take a different colour, but they couldn't supply the colour I wanted in standard spec.. Problem is at that point I either took a different colour, took the discounted Premium or just walked away (with my deposit back of course) and started all over again with another dealer..

I did not want front sensors or MDI, but because the only car in Aust available had those features, I got them at no charge (or very minimal at least...)

Yeah I paid I think $160 for the MDI..


In the end it was almost exactly $48k on road for a brand new 2012 Premium DSG 103TDI Scout, I don't think I overpaid? (extras - Metalic paint, MDI, front windows tinted, roof rack, boot mat).. I checked around carsales etc and couldn't find a new 2012 for that price or less (though there was a new 2011 in qld)..


The bank cheque really annoyed me but they have a VW dealership in Melbourne too and they have the exact same policy (I talked to them about it too), never heard of a dealer doing that before..

[Mysticality]

We paid via bank cheque for a Hyundai and a Kia in 2006, a Kia in 2010 and a Kia from a Toyota dealership in 2009. No problems. Weird.

The driveaway price for a Scout Premium DSG in my postcode (2576) on the Skoda website is $51.3k... So $48k isn't bad at all.

[joele]

The driveaway price for a Scout Premium DSG in my postcode (2576) on the Skoda website is $51.3k... So $48k isn't bad at all.

That is why I accepted the extra payment for the premium, I think it still worked out better than if I had originally walked in and tried to negotiate a premium price with the extras on day one..

Now I just want to pick it up, it's going to be a long week.... LOL

[donweather]

The not being able to pay with a bank cheque is a load of bull**** IMO. I've never heard of it and I wouldn't pay any other way. A Bank Cheque is the same as cash. There is NO risk whatsoever to the dealer at all. Sounds as though their sales are underperforming and they what/need your cash sooner!!!!

You should definitely not have to pay for something 3 days before receiving the goods. COD!!!!

[pologti18t]

weird, I paid bank cheque when I collected the car. no problems. bank cheques don't need to clear as the money is paid when the cheque is drawn.

Bank cheques do need to clear. When drawn, the money is debitted from your account immediately... it is not transferred to the the recipients account until it is processed by the recipient's bank (which could take days). Your bank has no idea of the recipient's bsb/account when drawing up the cheque.

You are far better off doing a direct funds transfer to the dealers account. Bank Cheques are rather out of date as a means of funds transfer.

Personally, I wouldn't hand over a 40K car immediatelty for a bank cheque. It's not hard cash.

[BlackSuperb]

Argh one week to go

Bank Cheques can bounce or be cancelled. I know, it's happened to me.

[joele]

Personally, I wouldn't hand over a 40K car immediatelty for a bank cheque. It's not hard cash.

The flip side is that you pay 3 days before hand over of the vehicle, so you don't know the state of it for that day..

e.g. I had a new Civic that they passed off on me with bubbling paint all over the roof.. Though that day they got away with it as it was raining and they parked it in the rain so when I picked it up I couldn't see the fault, so my last few cars I check them over before handing the bank cheque to them, no such luck this time..

I wonder what they would say if I went to the bank and took it all out in $50 notes and handed that over for an almost $50k car... lol

[zei20t]

Bank cheques do need to clear. When drawn, the money is debitted from your account immediately... it is not transferred to the the recipients account until it is processed by the recipient's bank (which could take days). Your bank has no idea of the recipient's bsb/account when drawing up the cheque.

You are far better off doing a direct funds transfer to the dealers account. Bank Cheques are rather out of date as a means of funds transfer.

Personally, I wouldn't hand over a 40K car immediatelty for a bank cheque. It's not hard cash.

sorry, bad choice of words on my part

yes they need to clear. but a bank cheque is essentially purchased to the value of the cheque, which is why they can be trusted. obviously this doesn't deter forgeries, but they are unlike a personal cheque.

a bank cheque that bounces? is that not impossible, unless the bank itself has no money

[Damo105]

I might not accept a bank cheque from the Bank of Greece, but a bank cheque from any of the large Aussie banks is as good as cash, unless the drawer for some reason cancels the cheque. And most Aussie banks have a limit on the amount you can direct debit into another account, so for most people a bank cheque is the only practical means of paying for a big ticket item, unless you want to be walking around with $40k in cash in your pocket.

[joele]

most Aussie banks have a limit on the amount you can direct debit into another account, so for most people a bank cheque is the only practical means of paying for a big ticket item

Yeah I forgot to mention I had to call the bank and organise with them to be able to transfer so much money in one hit, real PITA as the online banking wouldn't allow it or even allow me to set such a high limit (for good reason I think)..

If I buy another Skoda (or vw) in the future I will consider a different dealer just to avoid what I felt was an completely unnecessary inconvenience, when any other dealer I (or anyone I know, including plenty of VW buyers) have ever dealt with will accept Australian Bank Cheques without issue on collection day..

BTW they did say they would accept the bank cheque just that you need to give it to them 3-4 days before you pick the car up..

[Mysticality]

I wonder what they would say if I went to the bank and took it all out in $50 notes and handed that over for an almost $50k car... lol

Samsung Pays $1B to Apple with 30 Truck Loads of 5 Cent Coins? - International Business Times
Unfortunately, its a hoax.

[BottomScratcher]

Bank cheques do need to clear. When drawn, the money is debitted from your account immediately... it is not transferred to the the recipients account until it is processed by the recipient's bank (which could take days). Your bank has no idea of the recipient's bsb/account when drawing up the cheque.

You are far better off doing a direct funds transfer to the dealers account. Bank Cheques are rather out of date as a means of funds transfer.

Personally, I wouldn't hand over a 40K car immediatelty for a bank cheque. It's not hard cash.

Technically that's right. A bank cheque isn't hard cash, but they have been accepted as such since Adam was a boy.

If a dealer doesn't accept a non-negotiable cheque which is made out to them with "or bearer" struck out that has been issued by a bank,i.e. it is not a personal cheque, and the funds are guaranteed by a bank, then I agree with donweather's summation earlier.

Bank Cheques can bounce or be cancelled. I know, it's happened to me.

The buyer has to pay for a bank cheque up front. Unless paid for with a personal cheque that has bounced, once issued a bank cheque is guaranteed by the bank. That's why, while they are not, they are often considered to be the same as cash.

If a buyer pays with any sort of cheque, accepts goods and services for it, and then cancels the cheque, then that's a criminal act of intending to defraud. I've never heard of a car thief offering their own genuine personal information, their exisiting car as a trade-in, and then fraudulently stopping payment on a bank cheque in order to steal a car.

A car deal is supposed to leave both parties feeling as though they are satisfied with it. It's give and take. Unless one is prepared to wait several months for an order I know how hard it can be to get your hands on a Skoda that has the spec you want from floor stock. A dealership that has registered the car, and knows where I live, but doesn't trust me with a bank cheque for 3 days while my credit cards have 55 day terms of payment can forget about me ever taking the car back to them for service. It's just a chiseled in granite policy by the dealership bean counter demonstrating that they have no trust in customers whatsoever, and that would leave a sour taste in my mouth when all I should be feeling is happy about getting a new car. I'll bet their webpages say that they treat customers like royalty.