New Car Order Question

[Ozsko]

Further to my question re the extended warranty I have decided to order a new car (Superb wagon) and get what I actually want. Knowing the long lead times involved at what stage does the trade in get valued? If it were valued now and it took six months (wishful thinking?) for the car to arrive surely the dealer would have to allow for depreciation? It is a Superb Ambition sedan optioned up fairly well as it came off the Skoda drive fleet. Anyone interested and want to hold their hand up for it? I can't get rid of it until the new one arrives as it is a tow car and I need to keep it for that. Perfect condition with an at present 13K on it, front parking sensors, leather, MDS, TDI, DSG, boot liner, accessory floor mats to replace the Skoda rubbish, multi function wheel (standard??), tow bar, tint, silver with black interior and in as new condition. God knows what it is worth but I am going to get a trade in figure this week and will be very interested in what a car is worth that I only bought back in November. I have only seen one offered on the used market and that was in QLD.

[theduckster]

With my trade in I was given an approximate figure based upon a August trade in. That way the finance can be approved and the car ordered. I was told that the value should hold as long as the average km's are the same in August as they are now and the vehicle isn't in an accident in the meantime. They are more than happy to look at again in August and see if they can do better but most likely will stick to the figure they have already given me. I would assume most Skoda dealers would take into account depreciation of a trade in over the time its takes for delivery to take place. If in doubt just ask what they basing the value on when they give you the figure. Then take it from there. You always have the option of selling the car privately in the mean time.

Good luck with the order for the wagon. I would dare say that we both could be looking at August delivery times. I was told the next batch of Superb sedans for Australia go into build in April. Not sure whether its a similar time line for the wagon. Even though the waiting time sucks, the trade off is that you get the car you really want! :banana:

[Ozsko]

Thanks TD, I wondered how they did it. Judging by the order times occurring in GB it will be a long wait as TDI's seem to be a real problem.

[K1W1]

I did a guaranteed price for my trade in. It was valued in August and thet got it Christmas eve.

[Ozsko]

I did a guaranteed price for my trade in. It was valued in August and thet got it Christmas eve.

What assurances did you have to give for this to happen.

[K1W1]

We agreed that I'd cover a similar mileage to what I normally travelled on average and that the vehicle would be in the same condition when traded as it was when valued.
Guaranteed trade ins can work against you because the dealer will obviously err on the low side if they can't lay off the trade to somebody else but in my case the vehicle was a company owned vehicle and it didn't owe use anything on the books so I wasn't worried.

[Ozsko]

I started getting quotes today and even had a look at a Passat. The only reason I looked at the Passat was the active cruise control as I spend a lot of time on country roads. The trouble with them is the stuff you just can't get in a wagon like memory on the seats and Zenons cost 2K extra, typical German car company marketing. The trouble with the Skoda is that it will have a lower re-sale but I accept that as I have already bought one. The dealer said he would love to have my car as he can sell it straight away so we will see what price he comes back with.

[Jake02]

The trouble with the Skoda is that it will have a lower re-sale but I accept that as I have already bought one.

I'd like to question that as the Superb saloon won Wheels Gold Star Large because its resale was like 7% higher than the equivalent Passat saloon (placed 2nd). Also, a friend is looking at a Superb V6 wagon and to equip a Passat V6 wagon to the same spec, he was looking at $80k on-road (which is $15k more) so you certainly pay less in the first place.

[Ozsko]

The perception of lower re-sale is fairly general but the lack of cars both new and used could alleviate this. My view is as there has only been one Superb advertised as used recently all no one really knows. The trade off between lower price/lower re-sale and an initial higher price/higher re-sale is an interesting one. if you were to stay in the Skoda line of cars then it has no impact or very little.

One of the reasons I am selling it is the load capacity for long boxes but I did something interesting today that may interest others. The problem with the sedan is that the back seats won't fold flat and when you get over that the load length is exactly the same. I pulled the back seat squab out, a one minute no tools job, and the rear seat back rests lay perfectly flat and is possible longer than the wagon as the seat squab is not folded against the back of the front seats (is that how the wagon works?). You could even lengthen the wires for the seat heaters and lay the squab against the back of the front seats thus keeping it in the car and when unloaded put it back in place.

[woofy]

Um unless I'm reading this wrong, the squabs in both the wagon and the sedan fold the same, ie the squabs fold up against the front seats and he back rest down. I'm pretty sure the seats in a sedan I folded were the same.

[Ozsko]

No, the squabs are not hinged to fold in the sedan. They are a conventional push in squab as per a normal sedan, I pulled it out today. I suspected the wagon's squab was hinged as it is the logical way to do it and I am surprised the sedan is not the same.

[theduckster]

I started getting quotes today and even had a look at a Passat. The only reason I looked at the Passat was the active cruise control as I spend a lot of time on country roads. The trouble with them is the stuff you just can't get in a wagon like memory on the seats and Zenons cost 2K extra, typical German car company marketing. The trouble with the Skoda is that it will have a lower re-sale but I accept that as I have already bought one. The dealer said he would love to have my car as he can sell it straight away so we will see what price he comes back with.

Since seeing a Passat wagon on the road last week I have to admit after seeing a few more pictures I'm starting to like it more and more. I will still admit that I think that the Superb for me was the better one to have of the two. The price difference between the two puts the Superb in front for me. For what look likes an extra $15,000 outlay for the Passat, I can't say that the Passat is anything like 20-25% percent better than a Superb that would warrant me outlaying the extra money.

Hopefully over the next few years the lower re-sale perception will be resolved as more and more cars hit the road and more Australians become aware of the quality and class of the Skoda's. For me I can't even find a car that comes close that could be compared to any of the Skoda's that are on offer out here. Even if I do take a hit on the resale end, I'm sure I won't mind too much as I have the use of one fine vehicle during that time.

[brad]

If you want active cruise & a bigger load area, have a look at the Mondeo Titanium wagon....... Well, look at the brochure, because the chances of seeing one at a dealership is pretty low as the supply situation is worse than Skoda.

I think they are about $51k RRP inc ORC but I'm pretty sure that her company paid <$40k with their fleet discount ($38k+ORC rings a bell).

[theduckster]

If you want active cruise & a bigger load area, have a look at the Mondeo Titanium wagon....... Well, look at the brochure, because the chances of seeing one at a dealership is pretty low as the supply situation is worse than Skoda.

I think they are about $51k RRP inc ORC but I'm pretty sure that her company paid <$40k with their fleet discount ($38k+ORC rings a bell).

I have friend who works at a Ford dealership who told me that they sold their allocation before the vehicles were put on the ship. So there must be something good about them. He also told me that that he hoped they weren't like the batch of Mondeo's as three of the last batch stop dead after doing 10,000kms and had their engines replaced. I wished Ford hadn't stopped making the Telstar TX5's lol.

[brad]

I don't think AUS is receiving many. Ours was ordered in July 2010 (IIRC, might have been June) and surprise, surprise was delivered to my wife at lunch time today. She sounded quite excited when she rang to tell me. With a bit of luck I'll still be awake to see it when she gets home around midnight (lazy government worker does 10.00am to 11.00pm every Tuesday - bloody meetings FFS.)

[woofy]

I wouldn't think the mondeo would have more room than a superb boot.

My octy is only marginally smaller than our 6 and in depth vertically and front to back is greater. The 6 is just a bit wider, and mondeos are pretty much the same.

I swear the superb sedans just flipped forward I don't remember them detaching at all.

I don't think there is a low resale, I've seen no evidence of it except journalists mentioning it based on zero evidence. I know carsales really don't know how to price them in redbook and are pretty much guessing.

[Ozsko]

It is funny how memory tricks us sometimes. Been there, still doing that, losing my memory that is.

[theduckster]

According too http://www.bearstreet.co.uk/mondeo.htm.

The Mondeo Titanium Wagon has 540 litres of storage space with the seats up and 1700 litres of storage with the seats down.

As opposed to the Superb Wagon which has 633 litres of storage with the seats up and 1865 litres of storage with the seats down (figures from the brochure).

The Superb is 3-3.5 cm longer. To be honest I didn't remember the Mondeo being that large from the few that I have seen.

[Ozsko]

I would not be surprised to find that the Mondeo is wider than the Superb internally. That is one of the shortcomings of the Skoda, possibly the only one.

[brad]

I have no doubt the Superb is bigger than the Mondeo. Sat in the Mondeo & took it for a squirt & it's just as narrow as a Skoda.

Very nice to drive, lots of yet to be discovered knick-knacks. At this point, I hate the useless information display screen that pushes the speedo/tacho out to the sides (and all the warning lights are still in the tacho/speedo dials). Maybe it just needs setting up but last night it just showed the shape of a car with headlight beams out the front (wife drove home with just the LEDS on FFS!) and the menu options.

My summary when I gave back the fob: "Very nice but I'd rather drive my Octy"

[woofy]

I would not be surprised to find that the Mondeo is wider than the Superb internally. That is one of the shortcomings of the Skoda, possibly the only one.

I think it will be the other way around, the 6 and the Mondeo are pretty much the same in the boot, our 6 is only marginally (10-15cm?) wider than our Octavia, the Superb is definitely wider than the Octy so I would expect it to be the same as the 6 or maybe a bit wider. The illusion is that in the Skodas there are compartments to make it a rectangular area and it looks narrower, the 6 and Mondeo have compartments on the sides as well, but they are shallower. I never use them in the 6 (well one has the jack in it).

[Ozsko]

I was not referring to the boot space width but across the rear seats. This is constantly mentioned when compared to the Australian cars even the Camry. A mate of mine who owns a hire car company was seriously interested in using a Superb until he realised this.

[theduckster]

I would have to admit that the Superb is more suited to seating 2 adults in the back rather than 3 adults. You could get a third adult in there but it wouldn't want to be a long trip especially if it was me in the middle lol. I can remember sitting the back in my parents Falcon's over the years and being the one stuck in the middle and not enjoying the cramped conditions at all. For me the narrowness of the Superb appeals to me in that it isn't a large wide car and only looking to seat four adults at most, but I can understand the disappointment that people would have hoping that the Superb could be the large wide car that they were looking for.

If width wasn't a concern then you would have to seriously consider getting a Superb.

[spellbound]

I would have to admit that the Superb is more suited to seating 2 adults in the back rather than 3 adults. You could get a third adult in there but it wouldn't want to be a long trip especially if it was me in the middle lol. I can remember sitting the back in my parents Falcon's over the years and being the one stuck in the middle and not enjoying the cramped conditions at all. For me the narrowness of the Superb appeals to me in that it isn't a large wide car and only looking to seat four adults at most, but I can understand the disappointment that people would have hoping that the Superb could be the large wide car that they were looking for.

If width wasn't a concern then you would have to seriously consider getting a Superb.

This whole width business is rubbish , how often do you see 3 adults in the back of any car , 3 kids maybe .

In europe last july i was in and out of a lot of cabs , most impressive was the superb , and its the leg space in the rear that blows you away , fantastic ride , even in paris on cobblestone roads .

This car is way more comfortable than any falcon or commodore in the rear , its right up with the caprice for leg room .

Then again if its 3 fat ozzies even the commodore would struggle .

[K1W1]

This whole width business is rubbish , how often do you see 3 adults in the back of any car

Taxis particularly groups of business people travelling to and from airports. That is the reason why the Taxi industry has been slow to adopt them, they tick every single box in terms of price, comfort, economy, reliability and especially luggage space except they can only comfortably fit 3 adult passengers and that can mean missing lucrative fares for drivers.
Same thing applies to the hire car industry (VHA cars in Vic).

[SKODA vRS147]

Taxis particularly groups of business people travelling to and from airports. That is the reason why the Taxi industry has been slow to adopt them, they tick every single box in terms of price, comfort, economy, reliability and especially luggage space except they can only comfortably fit 3 adult passengers and that can mean missing lucrative fares for drivers.
Same thing applies to the hire car industry (VHA cars in Vic).

Sorry but i dont agree that it is lucrative for them.
The number of passengers is not dependant on the fare. Most taxis have various charge bands and this is more focussed around the time of day/night, not how many is in the car.

[spellbound]

Taxis particularly groups of business people travelling to and from airports. That is the reason why the Taxi industry has been slow to adopt them, they tick every single box in terms of price, comfort, economy, reliability and especially luggage space except they can only comfortably fit 3 adult passengers and that can mean missing lucrative fares for drivers.
Same thing applies to the hire car industry (VHA cars in Vic).

Three fat aussies will not fit in a commodore , excuse for not using an import thats all , funny in adelaide there are droves of mitsubishi 380 taxis , not much bum or leg room in one of those , no its the buy OZ excuse .

[spaz74]

Three fat aussies will not fit in a commodore , excuse for not using an import thats all , funny in adelaide there are droves of mitsubishi 380 taxis , not much bum or leg room in one of those , no its the buy OZ excuse .

I have to agree the industry is impossible to break into. Skoda have been trying for 2 years to enter the taxi market and all the time the goal posts keep getting moved!!

[K1W1]

Sorry but i dont agree that it is lucrative for them.


So you have 4 businessmen in a group wanting to go to the airport for $70 + baggage charges and you can't fit them and the next person in the queue is a little old lady who wants to go three blocks for $10? That sounds like lucrative to me.
I'm only repeating the Taxi industries arguments. I'm not involved in any way other than as a customer and I don't necessarily agree. However I have spent way to much time in Taxis with three other guys. As has been pointed out there are actually plenty of smaller Taxis than Falcons (There are very few Commodore Taxis in Melbourne), in Hobart or the Gold Coast for example there are heaps of Prius Taxis but they only travel reasonably short distances for most fares.

[SKODA vRS147]

Sorry K1W1 maybe i didnt make it clear enough, as it looks like you missed my point - the number of passengers is irrelavant.
Round here and in Sydney the fare is driven from the time it takes or distance travelled and the time of day or night.

[K1W1]

Without getting too off topic I'm fully aware how the taxi industry fare structure works. I have probably spend $5k in cab fares in Australia in the last ten years. The point I'm making is that the industry believes rightly or wrongly that they will miss out on lucrative fares by having vehicles that are not reasonably comfortable for 4 adults. Groups of adults are often travelling longer distances like to and from airports and the like and the owners and drivers are scared that they will be consigned to running little old ladies short distances rather than groups longer distances which net them a far better return. It's $120 from my place to Melbourne airport and I reasonably regularly do that trip with three other adults. When I book the cab I specify that there will be four adult passengers. If the driver feels he can't accommodate four passengers he won't take the booking and will resent the driver who does and complain to the car owner that he is missing out on income.
The perception amongst the Taxi industry is that the Superb is not wide enough in the rear seating.

[spellbound]

No current sedan will take 4 adults and LUGGAGE comfortably , a mpv maybe .

A falcon is not comfortable with 3 men in the back unless they are very slim and fit , the average male is overweight , we do it coming home from a night out and its ugly .

The whole issue is that the taxi industry is locked into aussie built cabs , the skoda is out because its imported , nothing to do with a perception its not wide enough .

Maybe in europe they love them because they can take 3 people as we did ,in comfort , but were not fat .

All superb taxis are diesel and manual for maximum economy , no taxi drivers could cope with that in oz

[Ozsko]

To take this a bit further off topic what advantage has there been for the taxi industry to change? I can certainly see none but the prospect of dearer LPG due to the introduction of higher taxes etc which are now being implemented will certainly make them wake up. The new taxes may be a trigger to change to a different (diesel?) fuel but it may also introduce electric powered cars into the fleet. I can see no advantage to using an imported car and if I was an owner the car would be Australian, to own anything else would not make good business sense and to own a European taxi would be totally dopey. It would be about the same as running a Falcon taxi in Berlin, now that would make sense wouldn't it.

[Brycem]

except that German cars are sold here and Falcons aren't sold in Berlin and in 10 years will be obsolete even in Australia. In terstingly BMWs depreciate much less than Falcadores and require to be serviced much less frequently and are infinitely better made. I suspect over 300000kms the BMW would have had a lot less spent on it. Ford parts are cheap but that is just as well as you will need to buy plenty of them!


I regularly see two VW Passat Wagons being used as taxis in Brisbane. Now wouldn't it be a pleasure for the driver to spend his days in one of those as opposed to something with plastics of the same quality as the toys found in happy meals?

[brad]

back in the early '80s, one of my alignment clients ran a baby Mercedes diesel taxi. Strange man - he was 65, retired from business & did it because he like talking to people. Said that he had the Merc because he was the only driver & liked being comfortable. He reckons most of his passengers got a kick out of being in a Mercedes & were willing to excuse being a bit cramped.

The cabbies outside of Sydney seem a bit more open to change. Cairns had a lot of Camry & (brain fart - the bigger camry that we bought all the tooling from the USA....)

I don't think depreciation is an issue - once the car has done the usual 300,00-600,000 taxi kilometres it's worth nothing no matter what brand it is.

Of note: A german taxi spec Bimmer/Merc/whatever is a very different beast to what is sold here.

Personally, I quite liked all the Toyota Corona diesel taxis in Singapore

[Ozsko]

Mercedes diesel taxis were not uncommon back in the 1960's or thereabouts.

[brad]

Mercedes diesel taxis were not uncommon back in the 1960's or thereabouts.
What? In Sydney? Pull the other one.

[Ozsko]

What? In Sydney? Pull the other one.

And you are how old?

[brad]

And you are how old?

49.

Can't remember any Merc taxis, only Holdens, Fords, Chryslers and some of the more mundane Pommie stuff. Mercedes has a 12-24 month wait list & the import duty was sky-high. I can't see how the could have competed against the more mainstream product.

Fair enough I was <10 so maybe my recollections are more the late 60s/early 70s

[Ozsko]

I am 63 so go back a bit further than most here. There was not a lot of Mercs but they were certainly around but why the owners even thought to use them I wouldn't know as Holdens gave pretty good service for the dollar...... btw this was pre-Falcon. I don't even know why it sticks in my mind but memory is a funny animal at times.

[Sarge]

I would try and get the trade in value in writting next time I order a new car. When I ordered my RS we agreed on the trade price for my Honda.However when delivery day came the salesman denied ever agreeing to anything or even looking at it (even though we took it in twice for them to evaluate it). You can imagine my joy at being told it would be $4000 less than I was expecting.After much arguing and threatening to cancel the new vehicle I had no choice but to agree to split the difference.This put a very big dampner on a much anticipated arrival of the RS. Next time I will go to Melbourne to order.I will not deal with the local dealer again.On a more possitive note the car is fantastic.best I've ever own.

[K1W1]

You can imagine my joy at being told it would be $4000 less than I was expecting.

Unfortunately if it's not in writing it's not part of the deal. That can work both ways as well but it's a hard lesson to learn some times.

[theduckster]

I'm glad that I got my trade-in value in writing back in February. At least I know what the value will in July/August and there won't be any nasty surprises. I also have the option of selling the car if I believe if I can do better. At the moment I have settled with the trade in value and will probably most likely stick with it. But I made sure that I got it in writing and made quite clear that on the deal that the trade in was the value that was going to be the value that I would get at the time of pick up of the Superb. The salesman made the point to me that my trade in would be worth more if they could take it off my hands now, but going without a car for up to six months didn't work for me lol.

[BlackSuperb]

.....However when delivery day came the salesman denied ever agreeing to anything or even looking at it (even though we took it in twice for them to evaluate it)......

Name and shame.

[whitelion]

Name and shame.
Not that many Skoda dealers in Geelong ;-/

[tron]

Sorry to go back and off topic but.....


No taxi operator is going to go to a vehicle with the servicing costs of the europeans, not to mention the skills/knowledge required to do so, then add in cost and availability of parts.......
A falcon is boring, simple, brutal, and cheap (possibly like their owners?!) for everything from tyre sizes to brakes, transmissions, even filters.
Just the fact that any monkey can change a falcon transmission in a couple of hours, or that Repco/Bursons etc have most parts you need on the shelf and CHEAP!!
No one will ever seriously get into the taxi market while these capable dinosaurs still roam the roads........


BTW, if i could downsize from my Tranny, the Skoda looks GREAT!!!

[RSOK]

With Skoda it's not so much about the looks as the way they go! Best ride/handling balance in the VW group if you ask me, and I tested Passat wagon, Golf & Golf wagon before stumping for an Octy RS.

I'm sure Lola will keep on keeping on for a while yet...