Something you all should know - Corporate Prices offered by VW Australia

[Shakey]

G'day guys,

I'm new to this forum and this is my first post so take it easy on me. I thought I'd let everyone know about the Corporate Price Plan offered by Volkswagon Australia and it's available on all VW products including SKODA,AUDI SEAT and includes Corporate priced sevicing.

I've just purchased a new Skoda Superb with all the trimmings. I obtained a price from the dealer and then began to wangle a deal with him which included a slight discount. The vehicle I ordered had to be built as there were none in Australia with my Specs or Accessory demands.

A few months pass and I was out with a friend and he asked me what sort of vehicle I'd purchased. We had just driven passed a SKODA dealership in the northern suburbs of Melbourne so I did a U-turn and took him back to show him. This wasn't the dealership that I placed my order at. While I was there the salesman came over thinking we were car hunting. I informed the salesman that I'd already placed an order and was just waiting for the car to be delivered.

One conversation lead to another with the car salesman including my occupation. The salesman said, "Well did you get a corporate price on your new Skoda?" I said, "No...don't know what you're talking about!"

It was then explained to me that VW Australia have an extensive list of companies and businesses on their computer data base. If an employee of that company wishes to purchese a new VW vehicle, they just simply provide a letter from thier employer stating they are employed by company X and that company X is a corporate partner of VW Austalia. I was shown the list and it was very extensive to say the least. The salesman was kind enough to give me a copy of a proforma type letter which VW approve.

So I had my employer complete and sign a letter for me. I brought it back to the dealership that I'd placed my order at and new contracts were drawn up. May I say that there was a significant savings on the original price. Allowed me to purchase a few more goodies. Even the servicing and aftercare is done at Corporate pricing.

So those thinking about purchasing a new car. Find out if your company is on the corporate list. Obtain a letter from your boss and substantial savings can be achived. It might make a differance when ordering accessories done the track.

Worth thinking about!

[BlackSuperb]

Absolutely. :)

[drad81]

I had a 7 grand discount offered to me if my company was part of the Corporate price plan. Unfortunately they're not :(

[Darks RS]

Yep, so true. When I worked for Federal Health i wandered into a local ACT VW dealer and was shown awesome awesome savings on many of the line up... example. V6 TDI toureg from 60ish, Tiguan was about 35k (fully specced TDI)

Alas, i was not wise to the wonderful world of novated leasing, so didn't buy a new one whilst still working for Health... in hindsight, I should have bought a Toureg!

[sstorra]

Keep in mind that in order to qualify for the VW Corporate Price Plan, simply being employed by a company which is a corporate partner of VW Australia is not enough. The key requirement is that you as the employee are eligible for a car allowance as part of your remuneration package - not that you are eligible for salary packing/salary sacrifice - but that you receive a car allowance, use your vehicle for work purposes and the car itself forms part of your salary package.

This requirement is not always enforced by the dealership, though it should be as VW Australia can perform audits to ensure the dealerships are following the rules.

I know this from experience.

When I bought my Mk5 GTI, the dealership only required me to get a letter stating I was a permanent employee of a company on the VW Australia corporate list, which I did and received the discount on the purchase price - though not the full corporate package (reduced service cost, etc).

So then we it came time to order our Superb, the dealer we went to (a dealer in the northern suburbs of Melbourne that no longer exists) confirmed all we needed was a similar letter for corporate pricing - all good so far.

However, while we were waiting for our car to be built, this dealership ceased to exist and our order was passed over to another dealership for delivery. When it came time to provide the letter from my employer to the new dealership, they advised the contents of the letter was not sufficient to qualify - their reply was "The letter has to have a reference to the vehicle forming part of your salary/remuneration package.". Which it wasn't as I was not eligible for a car allowance. I rang VW Australia and had them explain the eligibility requirements in detail.

So, I went back to the dealer and explained the situation, how the previous dealer told us that's all that was required and although it wasn't their fault for following the rules where the original dealer didn't, but where did that leave us as we weren't about to come up with another $7.5K or so to make up the difference.

The new dealer - Essendon Skoda (who were and are great as far as our dealings with them) - went to Skoda Australia and this was their reply : "O.K. I have been in contact with Skoda Aust. as this isn't the only [former dealership] deal like this. The short story is we will now do it as a Retail contract not Corporate. You will not have to supply any supporting documents. Skoda will reimburse us the Corporate claim amount. Pricing all stays the same so everything from your prospective is the same. Your vehicle has arrived at the dealership so we will need to arrange a time to collect."

So in the end it all worked out for us as Skoda Australia stepped up to cover for their dodgy former dealer.

Just wanted to give a heads up...

[wai]

I got a 10% discount on my Caddy Maxi Life, plus a 50% reduction on dealer delivery charges because I am a member of Engineers Australia.

Always check for such discounts as not all dealers will find out if you are entitled to one.

[Shakey]

Keep in mind that in order to qualify for the VW Corporate Price Plan, simply being employed by a company which is a corporate partner of VW Australia is not enough. The key requirement is that you as the employee are eligible for a car allowance as part of your remuneration package - not that you are eligible for salary packing/salary sacrifice - but that you receive a car allowance, use your vehicle for work purposes and the car itself forms part of your salary package.

This requirement is not always enforced by the dealership, though it should be as VW Australia can perform audits to ensure the dealerships are following the rules.

I know this from experience.

When I bought my Mk5 GTI, the dealership only required me to get a letter stating I was a permanent employee of a company on the VW Australia corporate list, which I did and received the discount on the purchase price - though not the full corporate package (reduced service cost, etc).

So then we it came time to order our Superb, the dealer we went to (a dealer in the northern suburbs of Melbourne that no longer exists) confirmed all we needed was a similar letter for corporate pricing - all good so far.

However, while we were waiting for our car to be built, this dealership ceased to exist and our order was passed over to another dealership for delivery. When it came time to provide the letter from my employer to the new dealership, they advised the contents of the letter was not sufficient to qualify - their reply was "The letter has to have a reference to the vehicle forming part of your salary/remuneration package.". Which it wasn't as I was not eligible for a car allowance. I rang VW Australia and had them explain the eligibility requirements in detail.

So, I went back to the dealer and explained the situation, how the previous dealer told us that's all that was required and although it wasn't their fault for following the rules where the original dealer didn't, but where did that leave us as we weren't about to come up with another $7.5K or so to make up the difference.

The new dealer - Essendon Skoda (who were and are great as far as our dealings with them) - went to Skoda Australia and this was their reply : "O.K. I have been in contact with Skoda Aust. as this isn't the only [former dealership] deal like this. The short story is we will now do it as a Retail contract not Corporate. You will not have to supply any supporting documents. Skoda will reimburse us the Corporate claim amount. Pricing all stays the same so everything from your prospective is the same. Your vehicle has arrived at the dealership so we will need to arrange a time to collect."

So in the end it all worked out for us as Skoda Australia stepped up to cover for their dodgy former dealer.

Just wanted to give a heads up...


OK...I'm now laughing especially when you mentioned Essendon Skoda. It was them that informed me about Corporate Pricing. It's still worth thinking about.

[VAG newbie]

Well, in a way if anyone who uses novated lease should be entitled to corporate discount. Because you are getting the employer to pay for your car, this makes it a "motor vehicle" allowance.

Not only VWA has the corporate program. Many car manufacturer has it too. Mercedes gives 3% discount plus a reduced dealer's delivery to $1600, which is about 5% discount overall depending on the model. You also get 3 years free service with free loan car which is another $1500-1800 worth.

Volvo don't get discount, but 5 years free service, so $2500 worth. But you can always grab a bargain when they do the end of year sale, like the recent one where they throw away GPS, Xenon with AFS and electric front seats (the Teknik pack) for free.

Definitely worth asking.

[Shakey]

Well, in a way if anyone who uses novated lease should be entitled to corporate discount. Because you are getting the employer to pay for your car, this makes it a "motor vehicle" allowance.

Not only VWA has the corporate program. Many car manufacturer has it too. Mercedes gives 3% discount plus a reduced dealer's delivery to $1600, which is about 5% discount overall depending on the model. You also get 3 years free service with free loan car which is another $1500-1800 worth.

Volvo don't get discount, but 5 years free service, so $2500 worth. But you can always grab a bargain when they do the end of year sale, like the recent one where they throw away GPS, Xenon with AFS and electric front seats (the Teknik pack) for free.

Definitely worth asking.


I agree. Novated lease companies receive a discount on your behalf so why can't we do that and cut out the middle man!