Trying my luck for a healthy Scirocco discount this Sunday....

[maisbitt]

Went to my local VW dealer in Newcastle (Benfield) last night, enquiring about the Scirocco GT 140TDI (I think 170 is overpriced, and not worth £950 more for what is essentially a remap).

Having a test drive in one on Sunday (would like to see how much smoother the CR unit feels than my 170TDI PD Golf, and also how much slower it feels).

Got the usual blurb about them only having 28 allocated this year (was that a pre-emptive "no way i'll give you a discount on the Scirocco"?).

Have armed myself with the brokers prices for the Scirocco, and also the true value of my 57 reg 3 door Golf GT Sport 170TDI (valued at 11 grand P/X for Sept by another branch of the same dealer).

If I can't get £1600-£1700 off the new list and the full P/X price for the Golf then i'll call their bluff and wait.

Anyone had any recent experiences with negotiating a Scirocco discount or reluctance of the dealership to do so?

When I was enquiring a few months ago, I was given the impression that they could discount one they'd grabbed off the computer system that was either a "floater" or one that another dealership had been allocated but didn't want, but no discount on their own allocated stock.

They had a 160 1.4TSI in there. That looked good, why won't they do that in a GT trim? Could be tempted by that with the GT wheels if the TDI feels a little weak.

[maisbitt]

Result, in a roundabout way!

Was expecting £10750 - £11000 for my GT Sport 170TDI 3dr Golf in Sept, went to the dealers with my Autobytel price to get them to match the cost to change.

Was hoping for a Candy White GT TDI(140) at around £1700 off list for September delivery.

Saw one of my old uni course colleagues in the sales dept a while back (car salesman/sales manager from a Chemical Engineering course?), and he said he could get me a better than average deal.

My uni pal wasn't in on Sunday, but he'd seen me the other day when I booked the test drive and left word with the Sunday staff to do me a deal (they were aware that I knew him).

Had my test drive in a normal spec Black Scirocco TDI. The common rail is a lot smoother than the PD, but has noticably less punch than my 170 Golf in the higher gears. It accelerated well from standstill up a very steep (25% gradient in places) and winding 3/4 mile sliproad onto the A1. I'll probably have to change down to 4th if I want to accelerate well from 60-80mph, whereas the 170 has the pull in 6th to not change down.

Price crunch - Lots of umming and ahhing, and the sales manager said that he couldn't do me an allocated car for more than £500 discount. He told me that they'd only been allocated 28 Sciroccos at that branch for the year (same number I was told the other day by a different person, so seems right) and they'd already sold 21 of those 28, all at full price.

He tried to persuade me to go for a Pewter Grey metallic GT TDI (140) with parking sensors that was arriving in a few weeks. It wasn't an allocated car, it had been aquired from another dealers allocation.

He offered £12000 for my 170 Golf as part ex! The used car market is supposed to be mad at the moment (prices rising), and I could see that they had a very low stock of used cars (about 1/3 of their usual amount). The 170 as a used car is supposedly in high demand - he said he'd get £14000 for that instantly.

I wasn't looking to change until Sept, but liked the colour (hadn't initially wanted to pay for metallic paint), so played it cool and went away.

Did some sums at home and rang back an hour later - I haggled £900 off list for the one coming in 2 weeks and £12000 part ex (an extra grand more for the Golf than the Parkers guide says it's currently worth).

So in a roundabout way I got £1900 off a new GT Scirocco with metallic paint and parkiing sensor (essential as the missus will be taking up lessons again soon, and the rear window is like a letterbox).

So in a few weeks time i'll be in the Scirocco drivers club (Scirocco still a rare sight in Newcastle).

[insanojackson]

i got around 1700 off my scirocco 1.4tsi with leather,metallic paint and nav. It was a stock car though not a factory order.

[maisbitt]

£1700 is quite a good discount, but then again, leather is a pricey add-on, not many people buy it on a whim - you either want it or you don't

I personally couldn't justify the cost of leather seats unless I was doing a hell of a lot of miles (do around 10000 miles a year)- but they do smell nice!

People used to buy leather because it wore better than fabric, but these days fabric is pretty resilient of you look after it, and fabric wear is usually not an issue until the car is over 5 years old.

I'd have it for £500 but not for £1600ish (list).

Couldn't see mudflaps as an option for the Scirocco - is it an option?

I have had them on my last 2 Golfs, but fit them myself as the dealers generally want £70 labour to fit a £60 part (can be done DIY in just over an hour, without taking the wheels off, if you have the right tools)!

[insanojackson]

i wanted the leather anyway, to me it is over priced but i think it makes the car feel more special

[maisbitt]

Leather is good, free leather is better. They started to give free leather on the Golf GT sport just 2 months after I bought mine - I was gutted.

[pumazooma]

Couldn't see mudflaps as an option for the Scirocco - is it an option?

They're classed as an accessory item.
They're on page 9 of the pricelist in the protection section.
£53 a pair.

[maisbitt]

£53 a pair? Jeez - it was £60 for a full set of 4 on the MK5 Golf!

Anyone know the difference (if any) on a factory full set of mats at £70 vs the dealer supplied "luxury" mats at £48 a pair?

Might give the mudflaps a miss - not sure if the Scirocco would suit them anyway.

I bet they're £30 a pair in Germany (the main VW group dealership in Berlin had all accessories at much less than our prices)

[pumazooma]

I think the premium mats have 'scirocco' written on them. The cheaper ones don't.

I was going to get to the logo'd ones but decided on the plains. I've had logo'd ones before and they just end up looking a bit grey and dirty where the logo is after a short while.

[maisbitt]

Any idea as to the fit of the mats? Is the floor plan so different between the Scirocco and the Golf? 99% of the time I don't have rear passengers - my rear mats in the Golf are immaculate - might get away with the rears transferred over, and just buy the front.

Do the mudflaps make much of a difference to how soon the car gets dirty? Do they provide much (if any) stonechip protection up the sides of the car?