MY12 Model changes Golf

[Pepe]

Under the Terms and Conditions on my contract it states If there is a change in the recommended retail price, which the purchaser will be obliged to pay the price increase. This will include any other taxes payable in respect to the purchase price.

Unless there are new government charges (ie tax), you could reasonably argue that this is actually illegal and against the component pricing legislation introduced in the Competition and Consumer Act 2010. Basically, the price they state you pay is the price you pay; no hidden, unquantifiable at the time of purchase, costs. They have to give you the exact price it will cost you. The ACCC would definitely be on your side in that case : Component pricing and motor vehicle advertising

Now if they can increase the price because of movement then Im sure they can drop the price

Only happen if they wanted to as goodwill... remember, it's a business, so snowflakes, hell, etc.

[pologti18t]

Under the Terms and Conditions on my contract it states If there is a change in the recommended retail price, which the purchaser will be obliged to pay the price increase. This will include any other taxes payable in respect to the purchase price.

So, if you order the car and you have to wait 6 months for delivery and the day before you get it the RRP goes up $10000 you be forced to pay the increase? Do you think that is a fair contract?

All the contracts I have looked have said that the dealer can pass on the increase price BUT you are under no obligation to accept them... therefore you can cancel the contract. Otherwise it would be classed an unfair contract.

From the NSW Fair Trading site

Variations and price rises

When a contract is formed to purchase any goods the conditions of the agreement, including the price, are agreed upon. Neither party has the right to vary any of these conditions without the approval of the other party.
Often consumers will contact Fair Trading after having signed for the purchase of a new car only to be told by the dealer that there has been a factory increase in price. The order form that has been signed will generally cover this eventuality. It states if a consumer signs and agrees to pay a certain price they are not required to pay the increase. However, consumers cannot force the dealer to sell the vehicle at the order form price. They have the option to purchase at the new price or cancel the order.

[Fab_R]

Of course they are! If the 14% discount is true, why should they bother selling the car to a pain in the arse quibbling over another $700 (or whatever it is) that is outside the contract already signed when they'll have 3 other people willing to pay more and be less hassle?

If you bought a house and the market went to **** between purchase and settlement, I'm guessing you'd want that difference refunded as well? Or the price of petrol drops tomorrow and you want your 2cpl refund? Gimme a break!

Wel put. At last, someone making complete sense of this... *like*

[Fab_R]

They havn't enabled the reputation function in the Forum software

If they did, Dave would be a gonna... Banned for life

[dave_r]

If they did, Dave would be a gonna... Banned for life

LOL, yeh probably.

Can't all be the APR poster boy haha

[deandj]

Hi All i just got an email back from my dealer confirming that Bluetooth and Mdi are now stad and there for i will not be charged for these extras. They are back of the Connectivity II bit (he showed me a screen shot from VWA system)

And FYI i did have a discount as well using the corporate plus discount level.

Edit - And yes i did order Bluetooth and MDI as an option. My contract was signed for on the 1/04/11

[deandj]

Not to sure about the ACCC rules, but the contract i signed with VWA looks like the last 3 contracts i have from other car companies. So im guessig its a NSW std contract for buying a car.

And i have to say its not uncommon for business to change their pricing after a contract has been signed. Thats why they put terms like this in their contact. Example is in my business we have 3 year contacts with client for IT Hardware, when the dollar drops we have to put prices up.

[SChan]

Hi All i just got an email back from my dealer confirming that Bluetooth and Mdi are now stad and there for i will not be charged for these extras. They are back of the Connectivity II bit (he showed me a screen shot from VWA system)

And FYI i did have a discount as well using the corporate plus discount level.

Edit - And yes i did order Bluetooth and MDI as an option. My contract was signed for on the 1/04/11

That makes sense denji - good for you!

[Pepe]

Not to sure about the ACCC rules, but the contract i signed with VWA looks like the last 3 contracts i have from other car companies. So im guessig its a NSW std contract for buying a car.

And i have to say its not uncommon for business to change their pricing after a contract has been signed. Thats why they put terms like this in their contact. Example is in my business we have 3 year contacts with client for IT Hardware, when the dollar drops we have to put prices up.

Without going too much further off topic, that Act was revised last year, which is probably why your contracts all look the same. Just because it's in a contract, doesn't make it legal. This Act is why all cafes & restaurants are no longer allowed to say "10% surcharge for public holidays and Sundays" etc. And for an IT example, it's most likely a framework type contract, which would be supplemented with smaller purchases within it, ie quotes then POs - that Act would only be relevant if you signed up for the exact $ figure for the entire 3 years, which is highly unlikely.

Glad to hear you got it sorted out with them though.

[Maverick]

Not to sure about the ACCC rules, but the contract i signed with VWA looks like the last 3 contracts i have from other car companies. So im guessig its a NSW std contract for buying a car.

Signed with the dealer you mean, VWA doesn't sell cars direct to the public.

[deandj]

Signed with the dealer you mean, VWA doesn't sell cars direct to the public.

Yes with the dealer

[Transporter]

I will go a bit off topic here; One should never buy a new car spending all his/her money.

You will be more relaxed when you go to pay/take the delivery of your new car.

[chopper]

And you also missed my point with the dealers having to pay the price at the time they placed the order, not the price when the order arrives which can be 6 to 15 months later. This order was placed before the MY12 changes were announced and the dealer would have placed it at their old buy price using the old codes, this includes having to pay for the MDI as this is a separate item at the time of order. Orders placed after the MY12 upgrade were announced and the MDI included would of course be eligible.

Fundamentally... I think we are on the same page about whether it is worth creating waves with the dealer about the pricing, however...

I think your assessment of how cars are ordered and paid for is incorrect, at least as I understand the procedure! I am happy to be proven wrong however and i'll be the first to say so (perhaps some of the VW Dealers who are here on the forum can comment). As I understand it, and as it has been explained to me again today by someone who knows more on this issue than me (I wanted to check what I though was correct!) in this scenario the dealer will not pay for the car as an MY11.5 car (ie. paying for the BT and MDI as per the original order) but paying the new MY12 pricing on the car.

Let me run this past you as a scenario...

Dealers usually order their "dealer floor stock" at least 3-4 months out from delivery. Say these orders go in with the same order group as SChan's car. Say, the dealer orders their Floor Stock with BT and MDI (using the old codes) and the cars are scheduled to be delivered as MY12 cars. All of a sudden, VWA changes the Spec and MY12 has BT and MDI as standard. Now, Dealer "X" has cars ordered WITHOUT BT and MDI... yet their MY12 cars arrive with BT and MDI. By your logic... the dealer that ordered their floor stock with the BT and MDI will have to pay as per the old codes and therefore have a lower margin on their cars when compared to Dealer "X". It's just not going to happen...

I am led to believe that in this instance, the dealer would be paying VWA for SChan's car, as if it was a MY12 car.

Now... you are correct, the dealer cost is well south of the RRP of $770ish on these items when factoring in the dealer margin etc on them, but it does not change the fact that SChan's car will cost the dealer less than when the car was originally priced. What SChan decides to do with that information is up to him (personally, I would just take the hit... I couldn't be bothered waiting anymore), but the correct information needs to be out there to make that decision.

[deandj]

From my understanding MY12 cars have a build week of 22 or later. In my case I think I'm week 26 or something. In this case my car comes standard with MDI and Bluetooth and there for the order no longer has these items as options any more. So the cost is no longer there.

As stated above I'm not being charge for these options and this was confirmed by my dealer.

[Corey_R]

Now... you are correct, the dealer cost is well south of the RRP of $770ish on these items when factoring in the dealer margin etc on them, but it does not change the fact that SChan's car will cost the dealer less than when the car was originally priced. What SChan decides to do with that information is up to him (personally, I would just take the hit... I couldn't be bothered waiting anymore), but the correct information needs to be out there to make that decision.

VGA negotiates a price with either the factory or VW head office in Germany (it's not clear which). But what is known is that they negotiate the best deal they can get for Australia and lock that price in over a contract term. Now whilst BT and MDI is included as part of the standard configuration now, you, nor I, nor anyone else here has any idea of who is absorbing that cost. It doesn't just disappear, someone will be. So I think that saying "it does not change the fact that it will cost the dealer less" is a bit premature, and definitely not "fact" with the information that we've got.


In any case, SChan negotiated a great discount, and that discount remains very good, whether or not the RRP has moved due to these relatively low priced options.

This entire conversation reminds me of some people who get hung up in corporate discounts and free onroads and all that jazz. Seriously, does it matter "where" your discount comes from? Not really. It should just matter that you negotiated on the "drive away price" and you were happy with what you ended up with.

SChan was obviously happy enough to sign the dotted line... now it just sounds like buyers remorse or something.