I have ordered a new Volvo C70 and paid 10% deposit (10 days ago). They cannot give me a delivery time other than "in Q4 2006". My questions are:
- How long should I reasonably have to wait to be given an approximate build or delivery date?
- At what point could I reasonably say "Stuff it, the deal's off"? And if I do so, is there any risk to losing my deposit?
- Could they raise the price of the new car in the months ahead and charge me more £££ come delivery time?
Finally, they won't give me a trade-in value for my S60 because obviously the value will decline in the months ahead. But how long should I wait for a price from them?
Basically I'm worried that I have absolutely no idea how much this car will end up costing me right now!!
Advice welcome. Thanks, Nick.
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You have given them 10% of the value and have no delivery date?
You should have paid any money by credit card - if the Volvo Dealer goes belly up you will be an ordinary creditor - behind the Inland Revenue, VAT, employees, Banks etc
On the contract you should have an "estimated date of delivery" and you should have written "Time is of the Essence" as an additional clause of your own - that way if the car is late - say more than 1 month you can get your money back without any hassle.
As a rule you should never pay more than a "nominal reservation fee" certainly not 10% of £35K and even then pay by credit card (not Debit/Switch/Maestro/Charge Card or whatever name). Credit Card makes the Bank behind the Credit Card jointly liable for the money if the Dealer goes bust in the intervening time.
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10% sounds like a lot. when I bought my last Audi I think it was either £500 or £1000 deposit. I was given an aproximate week for delivery, part ex was agreed at a price that was fixed until my new car arrived. After the order was sent to the factory I was again given a confirmation of what week to expect my car, and thats when it turned up.
As regards the cost - you have a contract (I assume) that states the agreed price, so they cant change that.
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As regards the cost - you have a contract (I assume) that states the agreed price, so they cant change that.
The contracts *always* say they have the right to increase the price if the supplier increases it. Usually you have the option to cancel.
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Well, I've ordered the car directly with Volvo UK, (for export) so hopefully there's minimal risk of them going bust in the months ahead...
They wanted the 10% deposit paid by debit card because of bank charges so they told me. I didn't question this (silly me?).
Anyway, the order form has turned up in the post with the price confirmed, so I guess I can sleep easier knowing that it's in writing.
No idea of delivery date though - they say they're waiting for build slot from the factory. Minimum 6 months though :-(
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GM & Ford ( Volvo parent) are in financial straits - their bonds have been / are reckoned to be of the Junk Variety so there are no guarantees in life that one or both could not go down in the coming months or years.
GM have off-loaded their finance arm to raise cash and Ford are cutting back / clsoing a num,ber of N American factories.
Lots of problems for lots of people if either or both were to founder but only time will tell.
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GM & Ford ( Volvo parent) are in financial straits - their bonds have been / are reckoned to be of the Junk Variety so there are no guarantees in life that one or both could not go down in the coming months or years. GM have off-loaded their finance arm to raise cash and Ford are cutting back / clsoing a num,ber of N American factories. Lots of problems for lots of people if either or both were to founder but only time will tell.
There are 'no guarantees in life' on anything (well apart from the proverbial death and taxes).
It's probably pretty unusual for anyone to buy a car dirct from a manufacturer as the OP did, so normally unlikely that the general public would lose directly from an auto manufacturer going bust. Volvo UK is probably a separate company from Volvo Sweden, but even so it's unthinkable that Ford would allow it to go bust.
If Ford or GM went out of business it would cause such a crisis of confidence in both the auto and the wider economic environment that it's difficult to imagine it would be allowed to happen. The repercussions would be up there with a major bank going bust.
I know it's technically possible, I just think it's so unlikely that it's not worth worrying about.
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BMW took a £500.00 deposit on the 535, I waited and waited, mind you it was worth it. Oh yes.
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Six months?!?
I couldn't wait six minutes if I'd just bought a car!
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Six months?!? I couldn't wait six minutes if I'd just bought a car!
Sacre bleu!
If you order a car which has not already been manufactured, then obviously you have to join the queue and wait. The delivery time for some cars (Morgans, for example) is, I believe, years rather than weeks or months. If you want a car quickly then you have to take what the dealer already has in stock. If you want a car to your exact requirements then you have to be patient.
But I suspect you knew this already, Adamski! ;-)
--
L\'escargot.
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I have ordered a new Volvo C70 and paid 10% deposit (10 days ago). They cannot give me a delivery time other than "in Q4 2006". My questions are: - How long should I reasonably have to wait to be given an approximate build or delivery date?
I'm not at all surprised that a delivery date of Q4 2006 cannot be tied down better at this early stage. In matters such as this you just have to be patient.
--
L\'escargot.
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But why can Volvo not manufacture and deliver a C70 before the winter? They are not exactly flooding the streets with them are they?
Sorry but other than a total prestige car, I would not wait that long for a new car - the competition could bring out something meantime that may turn out to be better.
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Although having checked the website, it is a nice looking car!!
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As a consumer buying mass market goods, I refuse to pay a deposit without an agreed delivery date. Anything over 3 months is imo unacceptably long as all you are doing is giving the vendor an interest free credit.
For a depreciating asset like a car, I would never ever consider it.. NEVER.
But I am scots and was an accountant so perhaps that says it all:-)
madf
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Well, it's a brand new niche model that was launched to all markets around the world simultaneously, so I was expecting a 3-4 month wait. Six months is a bit too long to have to wait, but then again I can get my money's worth out of the 400 quid I've recently spent on my current car (service and 2 front tyres)!
I guess the supplier is in the driving seat, so to speak, with limited supply and a queue of customers. Needless to say I didn't get a discount either..!
Question is - how long should I have to wait before they can at least give me a delivery date?
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