You've mentioned Carwow. How many prices did you end up with off there, any dealer not too far away. Dealer 73 miles away quoted me 27% off a new TA 4x4. Unbelievable. Anyone wanting another PM me and I'll give you details I have.
I ended up with five prices:
RRP listed on Carwow as £10,545
Dealer 1: £7827 (25.8% off) 207 miles away from me.
Dealer 2: £8660 (17.9% off) 30 miles away from me.
Dealer 3: £8660 (17.9% off) 2 miles away from me.
Dealer 4: £9145 (13.3% off) 66 miles away from me.
Dealer 5: £8366 (20.7% off) 86 miles away from me.
Note that in all cases, the discounts include the standard £1400 deposit contribution. Dealer 4 is effectively offering no discount at all. My local dealer offered an extra £485 off through Carwow.
The 'final' quote they emailed me is a bit confusing, but can be broken down thus:
OTR price: £11,155
Deposit (inc deposit contribution £3,691
Amount to finance: £7,463
Interest 6.8% APR
Total amount payable: £8,829
47 payments of £131.56
GFV: £2,646
The 'deposit' actually comprises £400 of my money plus the standard deposit contribution of £1400, leaving a discount of £1,891. However, you will notice that the cash price is given as £11,155. This is a full £610 higher than the OTR price quoted on Fiat's website! So if we assume they have inflated the price to make the discount look better, that leaves a real discount of just £1281. Not bad, but not brilliant either.
Even more interesting is the deal they have advertised on their own website for exactly the same car:
OTR price: £9,810
Deposit: £999
Deposit contribution £1400
Amount to finance: £7,411
Interest 6.8% APR
Total amount payable: £8,410
47 payments of £127.95
GFV: £2,765
£127.95 PM for a Lounge sounds alright to me. I can put in £400 deposit, so all I would need is an extra £600 off and the deal is done. I've emailed them back to ask about this offer, but I bet they'll say it's out of date and shouldn't be on their website... but whose problem is that?
Lol, sounds like a right laugh!
Not really a mega deal in the end eh? What were they thinking?!
It was unbelievable. The guy from FCA Canada was like some kind of actor hired for the day. I had to sit down with him in order to provide some basic information about my current car (which is proceeded to record inaccurately). He then asked my five year old son to pick an envelope from a selection that had been clumsily taped to the bonnet of a 500. With great aplomb, he opened the envelope and announced that I had won £50 off accessories for my 'new' car.
In hindsight, I should have walked out then, but I was so surprised to see someone wearing a black shirt and white tie combo in 2017 that I felt compelled to stay. We spent a good 15 minutes milling around the showroom waiting for the salesman (even though I had an appointment) before being offered a seat at his desk. At this point the salesman committed what I believe to be the cardinal sin of a car dealer. He didn't offer me, my wife or my son a drink. By comparison, I've bought two cars from Skoda in the last couple of years and I always get offered a hot drink moments after walking in to the dealership.
Anyway, we chatted about what Mrs Paul and I wanted and I mentioned that we were interested in trading up to a Lounge. He went over to another dealer and they spent at least 10 minutes on the computer and phone trying to find one from stock. During this time I heard him loudly complain about the small margin they apparently make on the Panda (6% for Pop/Easy/Lounge, if you're interested) and my wife had to leave with my son as although he'd enjoyed the dealership, he was getting jittery (he has autism and did well to cope, as by this point we'd been there for at least 30 minutes). He eventually returned with the first quote and I'm ashamed to say I did laugh at him as it was £175 PM - far higher than the bog standard price on Fiat's website and not far off what I'm paying for the Yeti. A bit more toing and froing took place before I had to leave. The quote above is what was emailed through after I got home.
I must admit I'm all for going down to Skoda and seeing what deals can be struck on a Citigo, but Mrs Paul does prefer the Panda. Why do the dealers have to be such a pain in the backside though?