Not sure if this is a specific query really or not but if it's in the wrong place please do move it mods.

My wife is about to press the button on a 500 Twinair Lounge with a few extras that make it a factory build rather than a depot selected car (parking sensors, fog lights dark windows, 16" 5 O-spokes etc etc)

We have approached our local dealer, test drives and talked money and it is at this point that it all appears to get a bit grey and wooly when you start to talk finance. We will not be part Exchanging as we want to keep her TTR for a while yet as it's too good a car to give to a new owner, but I expect it will have to go at some point over the i-deal finance period and it will at least give security when it comes to pay the final lump sum anyway.

Now, the dealer salesman takes all the details and then runs off to the office to talk money... why this can't be done easily face to face with us I don't know, it just adds to the 'wheeler dealer' shady feeling that I really don't like one bit. Ok, so he comes back a while later and presents the bit of paper...

OTR price £14753 (incl 'optional Supaguard and Gap protection that I def don't want thank you, a customer contribution of £1200, 48 months at £239.70 APR of 3.9% and final payment of £3620 worked out with an expected mileage of 13,000 miles. So that's a fair difference from the i-deal example quoted in the literature online! Where's the £250 Fiat contribution for a start.

Also, my wife is an NHS employee so should get £1200 (ish I think) Fiat contribution until the end of the year?

I put this all down in writing and email it to the dealer for there comment and I am told that as the car spec requires a factory order it will not be delivered before the end of the year so you would not qualify... unless you chose from one of these lovely depot cars which aren't quite what you want. But here is a revised offer amending the mileage and term to 36 months: Customer contribution £1750, Fiat contribution £250, 6000 miles, 35 monthly payments of £223.65 @ 3.1% APR. I haven't actually worked out the difference in overall finance cost yet but I will later. It just amazes me how the goal posts can just be, well anywhere it appears. You would think that the £1200 Fiat contribution would be an incentive to purchase, but not if the actual offer is so ridiculous that the offer can't be completed. I guess it is just to clear stock of common spec cars not actually to get you the car you want?

Sorry that has turned into a bit of a rant, but it has put us off ordering in case another better offer comes through after Christmas that may help.

All thoughts and possible ways forward would be appreciated, I'm bored of talking to the dealer now, it's us that is paying their commission for goodness sake, but I don't feel like a valued customer that's for sure.

Sounds like a mess! I'm not sure what the answer is but one thing you could try is to call other dealers within a reasonable distance - I did that and it helped get the monthly down.

It does seem there is flexibility in the rates so shop around and then see if your preferred dealer will match the "bottom line".

Oh, and I would have thought that the deal you are entitled to is the deal you strike when you place the order, regardless of when it arrives. That was certainly the case for me.

Thanks for your reply. I have now had a telephone conversation with a very nice chap at Fiat UK who was far more open and helpful. However, he does confirm that the £1200 Fiat contribution is for purchases that are completed within the offer period (ends end of December) He implied that similar offers will be in pace in the new year but could not confirm. The current offer was October to December so I guess if you got in relatively quick it could work for you... looks like we might just hang on until into January, we will see.

I will talk to other dealers first though for sure thanks.

Hi V8burble,

Welcome to the forum.

I think it is definitely worth your while having a shop around and seeing what other dealers have to offer. Even if you have to travel say 50 miles, it's only 10-15 quid in petrol there and back; if the dealer is much better then it is well worth the money.

In terms of what Fiat UK say, the reality is there will probably be something in the pipeline in the new year, so I think that sounds about right. There are always headline i-Deal offers available but obviously they want to try and encourage you to buy now.

The way I understood it (I ordered my car as a new build right at the end of June) as long as you have your order on their system and they accept you for finance before the end of the quarter you should get the deal for that quarter. But I'm only going by my experience, things might have changed.

I concur with the comments above - ring around to some other dealers that aren't too far away. I made a list of all the dealers and started ringing, I ended up buying my car from a dealer 60 miles away(dealt with it all over the phone/email) rather than the dealer franchise in town 4 miles away! Just spell out exactly what you want and that you are ready to put a deposit down with them today, you might find somewhere who'll give you the i-deal contribution (the NHS contribution sounds like a seperate offer and may indeed be time limited) or at least a bit of a discount if you're lucky too The obvious thing to say here is that do get them to confirm their offer / quote to you in an email before you go ahead ordering.