When is a new car not a new car?
My last car, an 06 Passat, had seven miles on the clock when I took delivery.
The dealer supplying my next one, a Fiat, is 270 miles away and proposes driving it to me.
I don't feel a car with 270+ miles registered is a "new" car.
Am I being unreasonable?
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I guess that's the downside of buying from a broker, rather than your local dealer. How much has buying from the other end of the country saved you?
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The dealer supplying my next one a Fiat is 270 miles away and proposes driving it to me.
I'm baffled as to why you are buying from a dealer that is 270 miles away.
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As Oldnotbold has twigged, the reason for buying from the particular dealer is the price.
But putting that aside, it's a legitimate question. At what point would anyone reasonably assert that a "new" car isn't new?
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Normally you'd have to go to the dealer to pick it up.
Either way the car will have to have 270 miles put on it before it gets to your home, so choice is either you drive it or someone else does.
Edited by Saltrampen on 23/06/2008 at 10:57
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It rather depends on the deal you strike with the selling dealer. My guess is that there are at least two prices: 1) collected from him and 2) delivered to you. The second price will vary according to the distance and the level of service. Driving it will be always be cheaper than putting it on a trailer/light truck.
Personally I'd collect it. Gives me a chance to check it over properly before signing. It'll be harder to get fast rectification when the driver is on your doorstep trying to get home, and you've discovered it's missing the ...... you spec'd.
Edited by oldnotbold on 23/06/2008 at 11:26
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As above, plus the fact that if you collect it, there'll be a fair change it won't be thrashed to within an inch of its life on the way home. But even so, 270 miles on the clock is still a new car. Can't see why you would argue given that you presumably knew that they were 270 miles away when you bought it?
Edited by Orson {P} on 23/06/2008 at 11:48
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You can account for the 270 miles.
What are you going to do if the odometer shows 320 miles when delivered to your front door ?
My MGF had 55 miles on it when I picked it up at the dealer's showroom
And a broken gearbox. No-one at MG seemed to think those two facts might be related - how on earth could they do 55 miles and not find that 5th gear didn't work ?
I really do regret not rejecting that car.
I would be concerned at anything more than about 10 miles that can not be accounted for.
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Yes, you are being unreasonable. The dealer could no doubt find somebody who would deliver it by trailer but these are usually consolidated methods so expect to have to wait a about a week for it to show up.
If you want it brand new out of the showroom then go to the showroom and get it. It's probably costing the dealer a fair bit to deliver it (in fuel alone) so ask for a bit off and say you'll collect it.
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At what point would anyone reasonably assert that a "new" car isn't new? >>
You're the first registered keeper. The only mileage will be delivery to you, ie delivery mileage. You'll then take possession. It's a new car.
All due respect etc, but you should have considered this when you were doing the deal.
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>I don't feel a car with 270+ miles registered is a "new" car.
>Am I being unreasonable?
Yes you are. If you are not happy with that, take a train and taxi to the dealership where your car currently is and drive it home yourself.
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Take the long and enjoyable route home in your new car, and take in some of the country that you haven't visited before. Turn it into an adventure, rather than a chore, and you'll have fun.
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Our brand new Aygo was driven to us from 200 miles away, that was the disadvantage of using a broker, the advantage was the saving.
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sorry but this thread is a bit on the silly side basically are you the first registered owner......yes therefore its a new car.....were you planning on never using it so that it stayed new *rolls eyes and shakes head in dismay*
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My Dad bought his Audi A4 through a broker and the car came from a dealership in Preston. It was delivered to our office in Chesterfield in a curtain-side lorry, so it arrived sparkling clean and with minimal mileage on it.
But I assume there will have been a (probably not inconsiderable) cost incurred for this.
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Part of the PDI of a VW is to reset the mileage to 10Km, and can only be done if it has done less than 1000Km IIRC (there is a limit anyway)
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Could you put it on ebay, still in its original unopened wrappers? Yes, then it's new.
Has it been unwrapped and handled? Yes, then it's secondhand.
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I know that the purchase of a new car is not just a business transaction. It is also full of emotions such as pride, anticipation and so on. However, if you stand back from all that, why exactly does this bother you? If the deal was right and you are getting the car you want, what difference does a couple of hundred miles or so make ? This is no more than a normal day's running for many cars and will disappear into insignificance in no time at all. Anyway, you could argue that if it does have any early teething problems that they are more likely to show up while the dealer still has it. If it really worries you why not go and fetch it ? Might be a fun day out.
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All due respect etc but you should have considered this when you were doing the deal.
Thanks for all of this - I'm enjoying the discussion.
Well, as it's being bought through a broker, I didn't know that, no.
Having paid my deposit to the broker, I was called by the dealer, and learned at that point how far it would be travelling.
Fetching it myself is, in principle, quite an attractive option, but the downside is £100+ in rail fares for myself and my wife.
My concern is that if a driver brings it, and knows he has to get home in the same day, that brand new little 1.2 engine is going to get a fair old flogging on the motorways.
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My concern is that if a driver brings it and knows he has to get home in the same day that brand new little 1.2 engine is going to get a fair old flogging on the motorways.
When we lived near Felixstowe a few years back, I'd regularly see new cars being driven at full throttle up to Ipswich where they were stored before going out to the dealers - lots a very thrashed cars with less than 20 miles on the clock!
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1.>>Fetching it myself is, in principle, quite an attractive option, but the downside is
>>£100+ in rail fares for myself and my wife.
2.>>My concern is that if a driver brings it, and knows he has to get home in the same day
Surely 1 and 2 are symmetrical. The cost of your getting there must be the same as his getting back. Then add his time and surely the supplier will pay you to come to collect it.
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Why not try this approach with the supplier, or at least a full tank of fuel for you to drive it back.
If the thought of it being thrashed is worrying you that much, set off the £100 in rail fares against what you're gaining elsewhere on the deal and your peace of mind.
What a broker promises is delivery from a UK dealer and that's what you're getting, I suppose.
Best of luck!
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If it worries you that much, pay for the vehicle to be transported to your home, problem solved and engine saved
Carse
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A relative of mine bought a new car from a broker. The dealer was about 150 miles away. I volunteered to go and collect it instead of having it driven (and possibly well thrashed). The dealer offered £150 off the price, a full set of OE mats and a full tank of diesel as compensation.
Remember that the dealer has to pay the delivery driver, pay fuel and pay a return train fare, so its probably going to cost at least £200 for a 250 mile delivery. If you book well ahead you can get some fairly cheap one-way rail fares. Cost me about £19 for single ticket for the 150 miles and then about £7 in a taxi.
If its a Fiat its not Chippenham where you're getting it from is it?
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Dealer I purchased from via broker picked me up from the station as well...
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If its a Fiat its not Chippenham where you're getting it from is it?
Yes, I suspect it's the same firm as "fiatsupasaver", who charge £300 for delivery.
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>> >> If its a Fiat its not Chippenham where you're getting it from is it? >> Yes I suspect it's the same firm as "fiatsupasaver" who charge £300 for delivery.
OK, then its Pewsham Garage, a small Fiat and Subaru dealer. Just take the train to Chippenham station and then £7 in a taxi.
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I think the dealer is being fair if he has given you the choice. You've got the option of collecting it with almost no mileage on it if you wish.
If it was me I would collect it myself, but I probably would buy from somewhere that far away either. Maybe you could get some money back if you collect it yourself?
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Here is little fact for you from the trade ......
At least one manufacturer allows it? speedo to reset at 750 miles back to 0.00 and/or 3 times at 250 miles with a 5 minute down load from the computer . As someone who moves a lot of vehicles I have to say the day of the trade plate?r is dying . Due t fuel etc.
However 250 miles is certainly in ?new? territory and completely reasonable.
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A Renault dealer I worked at in the 1980s used to disconnect speedos for trade plate delivery.
Another point, if your new Fiat gets a little more stick than you might give it, it could do it good.
A car run in quickly makes a quick car, we used to say.
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used to disconnect speedos for trade plate delivery.
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They always used to do that.
In the fifties, when cheap cars were still supposed to be run in gently, delivery drivers used to hammer about the country at 70 or 80 mph in new cars with trade plates needing a clean. There was no internet in those days for people to complain on, but they used to write to motoring magazines and newspapers and some of the motoring hacks took it up as a cause - cars that have been hammered while still new by delivery drivers. It would be interesting to know whether those were the rapid refined examples in later life or the troublesome sheds.. .
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In 35 yrs of Co Cars I must have had 20 cars delivered - by trailer, transporter and driven.
Driven cars - 2 x damaged and 1 x engine blew up en route.
Pay the bus/train fare and collect it - let the wife thumb a lift to keep costs down.
Seriously book the ticket in advance - say 3/4 days - travel mid-week and if the journey is from A to B to C to D over 170 mls check the price of a single from a2b, b2c and c2d and add the 3 x single tickets - it often is cheaper than an A2D ticket - it can be half the cost!
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Just to bring this up to date, I don't know how these jokers stay in business.
They sent me a letter, which arrived on Saturday, and they said they also needed an original insurance certificate from me so that they could tax it.
I called my insurance people and arranged for my cover to switch to the Panda from first thing Wednesday morning, then for for temporary cover on my present car at £40 a month.
The garage called me on Tuesday morning and said the car had been taxed. When I expressed astonishment, they said: "Oh well, we sorted it out."
They offered me a tank of petrol and a £30 set of car mats if I chose to save them a 540 mile round trip and myself the concern of a cowboy driver flogging the car up here.
Finally, they're insisting on full payment a day before the car gets here.
"What if it arrives damaged?" I said.
"You'd have to call discuss it with the sales manager," I was told.
deleted? Never again.
{some stuff deleted/amended to satisfy our no name/shame policy}
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 01/07/2008 at 11:29
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