Oops, I may have under estimated my mileage

[Heaton]

Sorry to ask but is that pre VAT numbers you mentioned?

Incl VAT mate. I know its really low. I went into the local dealership to try and go with them as I would rather have done it face to face rather than online but the best the could offer was £237pm on a eHDI 90 DSport. No comparison but the manager of the dealership was going to a citroen meeting in the future and wanted to ask the question on how it was possible for someone to get it so low as they had offered every discount they could to get it a low as possible. I'm guessing they could have gone lower if there was a part ex but I was selling my car private to settle the finance on it and give me a better deposit.

[Bigfeet]

I did wonder, sounds like to me that there has been a bending of the national fleet rules that Citroen puts in place. The company you mentioned has been investigated by Citroen before, what they do is buy and registered the cars themselves and then lease it to you as part of their fleet, that way they control the residual value in order to lower the payments. It's a practise that's normally frowned upon by the manufactures but there is no law to say that it can't be done.

[Heaton]

I think that is what they have done then. I asked when I would get the registration doc's sent to me but they keep them and will notify me of any fines, send me the tax disc etc. I thought it sounded a bit dodgy myself which was why I went to the dealership but decided to go for it anyway.

The dealer I went to said they call these online companies The PortaCabin Crew lol. They also said customers of these companies get annoyed when they bring their car in for warranty work or servicing and don't get a courtesy car if they have to keep it. I didn't question this but I think this was bull if I'm honest. If my citroen is faulty and under warranty repair I should get a courtesy surely? If I did buy from a dealer in Kirkcaldy then moved to London, I would still expect a courtesy as you may not always be able to return to the place you bought the car.

Servicing then fair enough but the car should come back the same day so wouldn't be an issue. If the dealer wanted to offer real customer service, they would collect it which has happened to my old car and the mrs celica as well.

[Bigfeet]

I know what you mean about courtesy cars, it's an old chestsnut that still makes problems. I guess you need to see it from the dealers point of view, courtesy cars are not a requirement and are offered as part of a dealers service. Most dealers only have a small fleet so they do tend to try and prioritise them towards their own customer base (rewarding customers that bought through the garage). What you mean to remember is that no one has the right for a courtesy car it's just something that people assume happens. Granted majority of dealers don't bother so much as it workshop business but a local dealer will wonder why the car was bought elsewhere, especially if they never got the chance to quote (extra sore spot!). One dealer I spoke with once ONLY gave courtesy cars to his own customers saying that it's like buying chips out of one shop and going to eat them in another.

Our dealer makes no truck about courtesy cars as the workshop is a separate thing to sales so it's their cars and they can do what they like with them!

The big problem with the motor trade is that customers make far too many assumptions and the majority of them turn out to incorrect. That's why I'm happy to share knowledge of the trade to you guys in the hope that if you have a better understanding of the industry that you will better dealings in the future.

[Arlow]

I think that is what they have done then. I asked when I would get the registration doc's sent to me but they keep them and will notify me of any fines, send me the tax disc etc. I thought it sounded a bit dodgy myself which was why I went to the dealership but decided to go for it anyway.

Another downside to not having the registration documents is when you take the car abroad, this is from the AA website:

"Borrowed, hired or leased
If you are taking a vehicle abroad that is company owned, hired or borrowed you will need a letter of authorisation from the registered keeper.

In addition you will need to take either the original vehicle registration document (V5c) or a Vehicle on Hire certificate (VE103b).

The VE103b is the only legal alternative to the vehicle registration document and can be obtained from BVRLA/All fleet services on 01452 881037."