Bidding war when buying a Golf GTE?

David73

Hi all,

I was at a major VW dealership looking at a 2016 Golf GTE Hybrid for 19k. These cars are quite rare in Ireland and even the U.K.

Anyway last Thursday I test drove it and was on the brink of purchase just wanted the night to sleep on it. Then yesterday I was confident it was for me and intended to put a deposit on it after a bit of haggling. Yesterday evening, when I met the salesman to discuss price and put deposit in place, he then turned around after looking at his computer and said "Oh, we've just had an offer over the guide price of 19k to 20,300 euro." "Can you beat that?"

I was like, it isn't a house I'm buying and wanted to confirm that the car was advertised at 19k. He said it was and that in demand scarce models and often bought over the odds. He said that orders for the Gold GTE and no longer being accepted by VW and therefore that id affecting used prices.

I was totally perplexed by this and had in mind paying max of 18,700 and not to enter a bidding war.
Has anyone else experienced this in Ireland?

NIMAN

Never heard of it to be honest.

I'd be walking away, forgot about it.

I'd wonder if there is another offer at all. Why would someone put €1300 extra on a car?

David73

NIMAN wrote: »

Never heard of it to be honest.

I'd be walking away, forgot about it.

I'd wonder if there is another offer at all. Why would someone put €1300 extra on a car?

I did, as a matter of principle.

The problem is though 19k euro was a good price for a 2016 GTE, even comparing to the UK. This was an ex-UK car.

biko

I'd speak to the manager and say "this idiot won't let me buy the car at the advertised price. Is he trying to get extra money for his own pocket? That is the way I see it!"

Just implying the salesman is trying to cheat the company is going to get manager up in arms.

mickdw

Sounds like he wants to be an estate agent. Never heard such nonsense.
So when the other buyer came in and offered them more than asking, they didn't snap their hand off, they said, we will wait and see if we can sell it to you for that price.

drunkmonkey

You got lucky, have you driven one of these and the GTI

David73

mickdw wrote: »

Sounds like he wants to be an estate agent. Never heard such nonsense.
So when the other buyer came in and offered them more than asking, they didn't snap their hand off, they said, we will wait and see if we can sell it to you for that price.

That's a good point actually, why did they not sell it to them!



The dealer is open to 4pm today, might pop down and speak to the manager. Or should I have the wife go in first and enquire about the price of the GTE and see what they'll say to her?

David73

drunkmonkey wrote: »

You got lucky, have you driven one of these and the GTI

The GTE suits me Monday to Friday as my commute is 30km return meaning no petrol Monday to Friday.

scamalert

mickdw wrote: »

Sounds like he wants to be an estate agent. Never heard such nonsense.
So when the other buyer came in and offered them more than asking, they didn't snap their hand off, they said, we will wait and see if we can sell it to you for that price.

Def sounds made up, i doubt that in less then day after OP drove it someone just blidnly put in higher price, if its rare and in good condition they would of priced it accordingly, this here seems maybe it got more interest and someone decided to exploit that.

Brian Scan

scamalert wrote: »

Def sounds made up, i doubt that in less then day after OP drove it someone just blidnly put in higher price, if its rare and in good condition they would of priced it accordingly, this here seems maybe it got more interest and someone decided to exploit that.

Perfectly legal.

Fisher v Bell 1 QB 394 is an English contract law case concerning the requirements of offer and acceptance in the formation of a contract. The case established that, where goods are displayed in a shop together with a price label, such display is treated as an invitation to treat by the seller, and not an offer. The offer is instead made when the customer presents the item to the cashier together with payment. Acceptance occurs at the point the cashier takes payment.

GustavoFring

Sounds like it was incorrectly priced.

David73

Brian Scan wrote: »

Perfectly legal.

Fisher v Bell 1 QB 394 is an English contract law case concerning the requirements of offer and acceptance in the formation of a contract. The case established that, where goods are displayed in a shop together with a price label, such display is treated as an invitation to treat by the seller, and not an offer. The offer is instead made when the customer presents the item to the cashier together with payment. Acceptance occurs at the point the cashier takes payment.

If that's the case then, why not put 5k on the GOLF GTE as an invitation to treat and to lure people in

Brian Scan

David73 wrote: »

If that's the case then, why not put 5k on the GOLF GTE as an invitation to treat and to lure people in

I wasn't advocating the practice, just saying that nothing illegal was done.
I would see it as counter-productive.

bazz26

Sounds to me like someone undervalued it's worth and possible interest, they are now chancing their arm at seeing if you really want it and are will to pay more for it. Unfortunately when we go through these boom periods this kind of sharp practice goes on, same with estate agents. I'd tell them to keep it.

Del2005

David73 wrote: »

If that's the case then, why not put 5k on the GOLF GTE as an invitation to treat and to lure people in

That would be false advertising. The car is cheap but not too cheap so maybe the other person was told that the OP was interested and offered more than was wanted to secure the car.

The price of any item is what someone is willing to pay, not what someone asks.

Mike9832

David73 wrote: »

The GTE suits me Monday to Friday as my commute is 30km return meaning no petrol Monday to Friday.

That will be tight in winter

Looked at them before, class car

Most are getting 20km winter - 30km summer with no heating on

Look at the 330e too, similar electric range, much more powerful and a bit cheaper in the UK vs GTE

Mercedes c350e is similar price to Golf GTE too

Plenty of choice of pluggin EVs from all manufacturers

Wouldn't be overpaying

drunkmonkey

David73 wrote: »

The GTE suits me Monday to Friday as my commute is 30km return meaning no petrol Monday to Friday.

It's also 4hrs charging every day and no fun to get the 30km. Kind of misses the point of a GTI.
Looked at the 3 of them, GTD, GTE and GTi went for the petrol in the end. The commute part of your journey will cost about €65pm in petrol with all the power on tap all of the time. You'll spend maybe €25 charging.
I'm not really convinced it's worth the effort in time and financially when you take everything into account like installing a charging point, depreciation, battery depletion etc.
It's 3yrs old so the battery isn't going to give you the full new range. It's probably only about 25km without heating etc turned on.

JoeA3

There isn’t a hope in hell that someone “outbid” you on this car. It’s not some rare exotica ffs. That just doesn’t happen here.

Most likely is, the dealer realised it was priced incorrectly in the first place or didn’t fancy your deal / your trade in or some other customer has come along and seems “easier” than you. It happens.

David73

JoeA3 wrote: »

There isn’t a hope in hell that someone “outbid” you on this car. It’s not some rare exotica ffs. That just doesn’t happen here.

Most likely is, the dealer realised it was priced incorrectly in the first place or didn’t fancy your deal / your trade in or some other customer has come along and seems “easier” than you. It happens.

I have a 2013 Golf 1.6tdi low miles, a very saleable car, which I considered selling private if trade in was poor and then do cash deal.

Mike9832

drunkmonkey wrote: »

It's also 4hrs charging every day and no fun to get the 30km. Kind of misses the point of a GTI.
Looked at the 3 of them, GTD, GTE and GTi went for the petrol in the end. The commute part of your journey will cost about €65pm in petrol with all the power on tap all of the time. You'll spend maybe €25 charging.
I'm not really convinced it's worth the effort in time and financially when you take everything into account like installing a charging point, depreciation, battery depletion etc.
It's 3yrs old so the battery isn't going to give you the full new range. It's probably only about 25km without heating etc turned on.

Agree

Getting that 30km will be no fun, no acceleration, little heating

Its not gonna get 30km in winter not matter how you drive

GTE is complicated too, wouldnt like one outside warranty, alot to go wrong, I would want a long term warranty

mickdw

JoeA3 wrote: »

There isn’t a hope in hell that someone “outbid” you on this car. It’s not some rare exotica ffs. That just doesn’t happen here.

Most likely is, the dealer realised it was priced incorrectly in the first place or didn’t fancy your deal / your trade in or some other customer has come along and seems “easier” than you. It happens.

Something up but as you say, it certainly isn't that another buyer offered way over asking.
The neck of those fellas.

feckthisgenie

David73 wrote: »

Hi all,

I was at a major VW dealership looking at a 2016 Golf GTE Hybrid for 19k. These cars are quite rare in Ireland and even the U.K.

Anyway last Thursday I test drove it and was on the brink of purchase just wanted the night to sleep on it. Then yesterday I was confident it was for me and intended to put a deposit on it after a bit of haggling. Yesterday evening, when I met the salesman to discuss price and put deposit in place, he then turned around after looking at his computer and said "Oh, we've just had an offer over the guide price of 19k to 20,300 euro." "Can you beat that?"

I was like, it isn't a house I'm buying and wanted to confirm that the car was advertised at 19k. He said it was and that in demand scarce models and often bought over the odds. He said that orders for the Gold GTE and no longer being accepted by VW and therefore that id affecting used prices.

I was totally perplexed by this and had in mind paying max of 18,700 and not to enter a bidding war.
Has anyone else experienced this in Ireland?

Delighted for ya. If I seen you coming I would double the price or wouldnt let you within a mile of the place. Hope the deal fell through

Odelay

feckthisgenie wrote: »

Delighted for ya. If I seen you coming I would double the price or wouldnt let you within a mile of the place. Hope the deal fell through

Why???

David73

Odelay wrote: »

Why???

I think feckthisgenie is begrudging me a new car, bless!