New Car Order Question

[Ozsko]

Further to my question re the extended warranty I have decided to order a new car (Superb wagon) and get what I actually want. Knowing the long lead times involved at what stage does the trade in get valued? If it were valued now and it took six months (wishful thinking?) for the car to arrive surely the dealer would have to allow for depreciation? It is a Superb Ambition sedan optioned up fairly well as it came off the Skoda drive fleet. Anyone interested and want to hold their hand up for it? I can't get rid of it until the new one arrives as it is a tow car and I need to keep it for that. Perfect condition with an at present 13K on it, front parking sensors, leather, MDS, TDI, DSG, boot liner, accessory floor mats to replace the Skoda rubbish, multi function wheel (standard??), tow bar, tint, silver with black interior and in as new condition. God knows what it is worth but I am going to get a trade in figure this week and will be very interested in what a car is worth that I only bought back in November. I have only seen one offered on the used market and that was in QLD.

[theduckster]

With my trade in I was given an approximate figure based upon a August trade in. That way the finance can be approved and the car ordered. I was told that the value should hold as long as the average km's are the same in August as they are now and the vehicle isn't in an accident in the meantime. They are more than happy to look at again in August and see if they can do better but most likely will stick to the figure they have already given me. I would assume most Skoda dealers would take into account depreciation of a trade in over the time its takes for delivery to take place. If in doubt just ask what they basing the value on when they give you the figure. Then take it from there. You always have the option of selling the car privately in the mean time.

Good luck with the order for the wagon. I would dare say that we both could be looking at August delivery times. I was told the next batch of Superb sedans for Australia go into build in April. Not sure whether its a similar time line for the wagon. Even though the waiting time sucks, the trade off is that you get the car you really want!

[Ozsko]

Thanks TD, I wondered how they did it. Judging by the order times occurring in GB it will be a long wait as TDI's seem to be a real problem.

[K1W1]

I did a guaranteed price for my trade in. It was valued in August and thet got it Christmas eve.

[Ozsko]

I did a guaranteed price for my trade in. It was valued in August and thet got it Christmas eve.

What assurances did you have to give for this to happen.

[K1W1]

We agreed that I'd cover a similar mileage to what I normally travelled on average and that the vehicle would be in the same condition when traded as it was when valued.
Guaranteed trade ins can work against you because the dealer will obviously err on the low side if they can't lay off the trade to somebody else but in my case the vehicle was a company owned vehicle and it didn't owe use anything on the books so I wasn't worried.

[Ozsko]

I started getting quotes today and even had a look at a Passat. The only reason I looked at the Passat was the active cruise control as I spend a lot of time on country roads. The trouble with them is the stuff you just can't get in a wagon like memory on the seats and Zenons cost 2K extra, typical German car company marketing. The trouble with the Skoda is that it will have a lower re-sale but I accept that as I have already bought one. The dealer said he would love to have my car as he can sell it straight away so we will see what price he comes back with.

[Jake02]

The trouble with the Skoda is that it will have a lower re-sale but I accept that as I have already bought one.

I'd like to question that as the Superb saloon won Wheels Gold Star Large because its resale was like 7% higher than the equivalent Passat saloon (placed 2nd). Also, a friend is looking at a Superb V6 wagon and to equip a Passat V6 wagon to the same spec, he was looking at $80k on-road (which is $15k more) so you certainly pay less in the first place.

[Ozsko]

The perception of lower re-sale is fairly general but the lack of cars both new and used could alleviate this. My view is as there has only been one Superb advertised as used recently all no one really knows. The trade off between lower price/lower re-sale and an initial higher price/higher re-sale is an interesting one. if you were to stay in the Skoda line of cars then it has no impact or very little.

One of the reasons I am selling it is the load capacity for long boxes but I did something interesting today that may interest others. The problem with the sedan is that the back seats won't fold flat and when you get over that the load length is exactly the same. I pulled the back seat squab out, a one minute no tools job, and the rear seat back rests lay perfectly flat and is possible longer than the wagon as the seat squab is not folded against the back of the front seats (is that how the wagon works?). You could even lengthen the wires for the seat heaters and lay the squab against the back of the front seats thus keeping it in the car and when unloaded put it back in place.

[woofy]

Um unless I'm reading this wrong, the squabs in both the wagon and the sedan fold the same, ie the squabs fold up against the front seats and he back rest down. I'm pretty sure the seats in a sedan I folded were the same.

[Ozsko]

No, the squabs are not hinged to fold in the sedan. They are a conventional push in squab as per a normal sedan, I pulled it out today. I suspected the wagon's squab was hinged as it is the logical way to do it and I am surprised the sedan is not the same.

[theduckster]

I started getting quotes today and even had a look at a Passat. The only reason I looked at the Passat was the active cruise control as I spend a lot of time on country roads. The trouble with them is the stuff you just can't get in a wagon like memory on the seats and Zenons cost 2K extra, typical German car company marketing. The trouble with the Skoda is that it will have a lower re-sale but I accept that as I have already bought one. The dealer said he would love to have my car as he can sell it straight away so we will see what price he comes back with.

Since seeing a Passat wagon on the road last week I have to admit after seeing a few more pictures I'm starting to like it more and more. I will still admit that I think that the Superb for me was the better one to have of the two. The price difference between the two puts the Superb in front for me. For what look likes an extra $15,000 outlay for the Passat, I can't say that the Passat is anything like 20-25% percent better than a Superb that would warrant me outlaying the extra money.

Hopefully over the next few years the lower re-sale perception will be resolved as more and more cars hit the road and more Australians become aware of the quality and class of the Skoda's. For me I can't even find a car that comes close that could be compared to any of the Skoda's that are on offer out here. Even if I do take a hit on the resale end, I'm sure I won't mind too much as I have the use of one fine vehicle during that time.

[brad]

If you want active cruise & a bigger load area, have a look at the Mondeo Titanium wagon....... Well, look at the brochure, because the chances of seeing one at a dealership is pretty low as the supply situation is worse than Skoda.

I think they are about $51k RRP inc ORC but I'm pretty sure that her company paid <$40k with their fleet discount ($38k+ORC rings a bell).

[theduckster]

If you want active cruise & a bigger load area, have a look at the Mondeo Titanium wagon....... Well, look at the brochure, because the chances of seeing one at a dealership is pretty low as the supply situation is worse than Skoda.

I think they are about $51k RRP inc ORC but I'm pretty sure that her company paid <$40k with their fleet discount ($38k+ORC rings a bell).

I have friend who works at a Ford dealership who told me that they sold their allocation before the vehicles were put on the ship. So there must be something good about them. He also told me that that he hoped they weren't like the batch of Mondeo's as three of the last batch stop dead after doing 10,000kms and had their engines replaced. I wished Ford hadn't stopped making the Telstar TX5's lol.

[brad]

I don't think AUS is receiving many. Ours was ordered in July 2010 (IIRC, might have been June) and surprise, surprise was delivered to my wife at lunch time today. She sounded quite excited when she rang to tell me. With a bit of luck I'll still be awake to see it when she gets home around midnight (lazy government worker does 10.00am to 11.00pm every Tuesday - bloody meetings FFS.)