[imp!]

Dear Members,

In December, we made a decision to buy a Laura 1.8TSI. We contacted both Vinayak and Tafe access in Bangalore and decided to go with Vinayak Cars Pvt. Ltd. Whilst negotiations were going on, we asked the Assistant Sales Manager from Vinayak all questions we felt pertinent to the cost of the car.

Q1) Dealers are offering upto Rs 95,000 cash back in Bombay. Why are dealers offering only free Insurance in Bangalore?
A1) Sir, the Bombay markets are much larger than the Bangalore ones, they easily sell twice as many cars as we do over here, we just can't offer that kind of incentive.

Q2) What happens to the car cost in January?
A2) Sir Skoda have given us an indication that the free Insurance offer will be withdrawn and in addition the prices on all Laura variants will go up.

Considering the newspaper advertisements ran by Skoda in December, indicating a price hike in the month of January, we decided that it was very likely that we would save, at the very least, the cost of insurance for the first year. After extensive research on the quality issues of the car and some negotiation, we signed the papers for the car. Our entire deal, after some accessories and putting fair market market values on the insurance worked out to be a savings of about Rs 52,000. After some scheduling conflicts, we took delivery of the car on December 31st 2009.

My car has not even been registered yet, it is on temporary registration and has gone for permanent registration today. I was dismayed to learn that Skoda has slashed prices on the 1.8TSI by Rs 1,00,000

While Skoda have marginally increased the price by Rs 3,500 on the 1.8TSI, at the same time,in January, they have increased the offer to a cash discount of Rs 1,00,000. Effectively making the car cheaper by Rs 50,000 in a matter of few days. This amounts to nothing short of enticing customers to buy and then cheating them. Such expensive cars are bought on trust and the trust has clearly been betrayed. This maneuvering has left a very foul taste in my mouth, and I am sure none of the other buyers are happy about this situation.

Wanting to get some clarification, we contacted Skoda after sales support in Aurangabad, they claimed not to have any executives available, but asserted that we could leave a message if we wished to be called back. We did this, but failed to receive any response.

We also called their corporate headquarters in Guragaon, requesting to speak to the General Manager of Sales, but were unable to get him online.

Before the car has even been registered, Skoda has lost our trust. We wonder if this is such a smart strategy on part of Skoda, we hope that somebody at Skoda reads this message and has the courtesy to respond to our queries, because a response is definitely warranted in this situation.

Warm Regards
imp!

[n.devdath]

Very bad. But I would blame the dealer equally. I m looking forward to the response from Skoda Auto as well. Its really sad to face such things, but I guess there is no legally binding angle to it.
The issue could probably be sorted out/mellowed through communication to Skoda Auto.
Fingers crossed.

[NevGin]

I can understand your feeling of being shortchanged. It really leaves one with a heavy heart. Having said that, I have always wondered whether the dealerships are privy to information on costs being increased or dropped. Maybe someone on the forum who is in this business can comment on that point.

I have had an i10 for close to 7 months now. I was looking for an i20 A/T at the time and I was told that there would be none on offer. A week after I take delivery of my car they launch the i20 1.4 AT.

All said, I am very happy with my car. Am sure you will be too when you drive it more. It’s a lovely car to drive and I have had some great drives in the Laura.

[samsan02]

I know it must be feeling very bad that you bought a car in December 2009 as an year old model and now in 2010 its available even cheaper. But all manufacturers try to entice buyers in December with some strategy or the other. But the day of invoicing of the car will only count when calculating actual price, irrespective of discounts later or before.

Well ! it could have been otherwise also, had Skoda increased the prices by a lakh in January then would you feel the same way as you are feeling now, rather you would be thrilled feeling that you got a good price for the car. Now lets say they didn't give that cash discount in Jan and rather would give that 1L off in February so what can we do, Just feel bad about it and can do nothing ofcourse, only the prices applicable on the date of invoicing will matter.

They probably didn't get the kind of response in December as they were expecting and have still some inventory left over from previous year so want to get rid of it by offering further discounts.

[imp!]

@samsan,

In Bombay, there was a dealer incentive in addition to a Skoda incentive amounting to a total discount of Rs 95,000. If there was an incentive for dealers from Skoda, then it appears that the Bangalore dealers chose not to pass it on.

In either case, Skoda indicated a price hike, and so enticed us. They then proceeded to hike up the cost by Rs 3,500 but increasing the offer so that in essence the cost of the car fell by a further Rs 50,000 from December.
Who ever is responsible for this, Skoda, or the dealers, this is not ethical on their part.

@NevGin

It is very sad that something like that happened, but I am glad that you are enjoying your car.

[shramik]

In the car trade, whether new or second hand, the principle the world over has been "caveat emptor" !!
I do not entirely blame the dealer, it is quite possible they had no inkling of Skoda about to slash prices !
But my sympathies are with you !!!!

[jigbarai]

First of all, the title is misleading and needs to be updated.
Skoda did not have to do anything over here. Car companies dont always control all offers / discounts going on in the market.

It is just a case of constantly changing 'dealer offers' which happens all the time, with all brands. Case in example - constant Fiesta 'limited editions'.

You can never be sure of how much discount you are going to get in the future or which 'offer' is coming down the pike unless you have some right sources. It is a dealer initiated offer and all depends on how the dealer's business is going. It is bound to change within cities, even within dealers in a given city.

You had a choice of a given offer, in December, for a car, with a dealer, and you took that decision.

If you are happy with the car, enjoy it (instead of looking back and repenting).

Like samsan mentioned, if the offer they had in Dec would have been taken off in the new year, you would've been jumping with joy, right ?
Then, you wouldnt be putting up this post about changing offers and crying foul, would you?

[sumeethaldankar]

When we bought our m800 in july 97 , we had heard that a new model was to be launched but didn't know when.We asked the sales guys whom we were dealing with about this,he mentioned that if a new model is to be launched they are intimated about 6 months in advance and so far he had heard nothing.

We took delivery on the Maruti and by sept 97 the new model was launched.That's the way these dealers work.They are asked to clear exsiting stock inventory and such discounts etc if in plan for the future will not be disclosed to current customers.

[beejay]

Most or all dealers are very selective of the information they share. They might tell you that there will be a price increase, however never in your wildest dreams will they mention anything about price dips. As someone rightly mentioned there is no legal binding in such situations.

This is across all manufacturers. Don't let this bother you. Enjoy your new ride.

[benbsb29]

Imp, i dont think you can cry foul over this case. Had it been the other way round, you would surely have sang praises about your intuition about buying the car at the period you bought it. Now that its actually cheaper, you are piffed.

This happens with everything and there is no legal binding angle to it. When i bought my Ikon, the offer that i received was bettered by a free insurance offer later on. However, i chose to ignore what could have been, and instead decided to enjoy the car.

I suggest you also do the same, since this is a car which you bought after you really liked it, and dont let such thoughts foul the feelings of happiness a new car in the family brings.

[imp!]

Hi Jigbarai, Benbsb29

With all due respect, the point is being missed. The offer was accepted based on the information provided by the dealer and the Skoda advertisements.
The way in which the cost of the car has been manipulated by Skoda is unethical. It is more breach of trust than money.

Originally Posted by jigbarai

First of all, the title is misleading and needs to be updated.
Skoda did not have to do anything over here. Car companies dont always control all offers / discounts going on in the market.

It is just a case of constantly changing 'dealer offers' which happens all the time, with all brands. Case in example - constant Fiesta 'limited editions'.

You can never be sure of how much discount you are going to get in the future or which 'offer' is coming down the pike unless you have some right sources. It is a dealer initiated offer and all depends on how the dealer's business is going. It is bound to change within cities, even within dealers in a given city.

You had a choice of a given offer, in December, for a car, with a dealer, and you took that decision.

If you are happy with the car, enjoy it (instead of looking back and repenting).

Like samsan mentioned, if the offer they had in Dec would have been taken off in the new year, you would've been jumping with joy, right ?
Then, you wouldnt be putting up this post about changing offers and crying foul, would you?

[ashthedivx]

Originally Posted by imp!

Hi Jigbarai, Benbsb29

With all due respect, the point is being missed. The offer was accepted based on the information provided by the dealer and the Skoda advertisements.
The way in which the cost of the car has been manipulated by Skoda is unethical. It is more breach of trust than money.

Dear imp!,

With all due respects, One should not believe in salesmen talks and better be informed by personal & reliable sources. I don't think Skoda might help you out. I think you should scrotch Dealership head rather then skoda's.

[condor]

@imp!, with car purchases - as long as the dealer has given you all that he had agreed to, he has completed his part of the sale. Once you have taken delivery, there is no point in looking back and thinking about what could have been. Sit back, and enjoy your car.

Most times the booking / sale documents will say 'prices at the time of delivery will be applicable'. In your case, the price changed after you took delivery. Many of us have been in your shoes, me included. There is not much we can do in this case.


Can you share the ad's with us ? Also, did Skoda place the ad's , or the dealers ?

[Nikhilb2008]

I agree with imp!. See, it's a clear case of screwing your customers. If Skoda had just kept quiet and not released all those ads, then we could have said that it's just bad luck.

But here, Skoda went public and carried out an extensive marketing campaign saying that the prices would go up. But instead, it went DOWN! I think imp! has every reason to feel 'shafted'.

[xPK]

Originally Posted by imp!

Hi Jigbarai, Benbsb29

With all due respect, the point is being missed. The offer was accepted based on the information provided by the dealer and the Skoda advertisements.
The way in which the cost of the car has been manipulated by Skoda is unethical. It is more breach of trust than money.

All sympathy is with you "imp!".
But I have to go with Jigbarai and Benbsb29 here.

I see this as typical marketing gimmick. And just by Skoda, I'm talking about any dealers of any company. No dealer would ever tell you that "Sir, don't buy this car now, the prices of the car will be dropped sooner". They always want to sell there cars especially when prices are going to drop, they have to act fast to clear the stock.

So I don't see any foul play at all. It's just like, you take on a bet and don't come out as a winner.

Tell me, if the prices would have been hiked by 1L after you bought your car and if dealer comes to you asking for some more money, would you entertain him?

EDIT:

Originally Posted by Nikhilb2008

But here, Skoda went public and carried out an extensive marketing campaign saying that the prices would go up. But instead, it went DOWN! I think imp! has every reason to feel 'shafted'.

These might be the cars who couldn't get any buyers in 2009. We may never know. (unless somebody avails this offer)


Everybody here is aware of Skoda and their problems, but I don't think it's fair to put on boxing gloves whenever we here Skoda.
And this case can be with any company.