"Flash sale event - buy a new Seat at cost price" - worth a look or waste of time?

[Mayberley]

I've currently got the 1.5 etsi First Edition but it's a 20 plate and my 4 year PCP is coming to an end in March. I'm happy with it and will probably end up refinancing the balloon payment. At the moment I've got about £4k positive equity in the car though so I'm weighing up whether to trade in or not.

Got an email from the local dealer earlier, stating the following:

"We are pleased to present you with an exceptional opportunity. For a limited time, from 7 to 10 November, we are offering a select number of our brand-new SEAT models at cost price – the very same price that we pay.

This exclusive, one-time offer has been made possible due to an unexpected increase in new car stock made available to us by SEAT UK, and we are passing on these exceptional savings to our most valued customers. Please note this offer is not being advertised to the public and only one purchase per household is permitted due to the nature of this promotion and anticipated high demand."

Just wondering if anyone here has been able to take advantage of one of these "events" - I'm aware that usually these sales promos are a complete waste of time. This one is from Marshall Seat who I have been less than delighted with in the past anyway.

Any viewpoints would be appreciated!

 

[H Rafiq]

I doubt it to be honest. Can’t beat used prices at the moment, especially at auction. Cars are going dirt cheap at auctions at the moment.

 

[BoomerBoom]

Almost guarantee it's just a tactic to get you there, likely with them getting a kickback later if they do let you have it at 'cost'.

The main profit for dealers on new sales are the manufacturer bonuses and your trade in, now they've closed the finance interest rip off scheme. That trade-in is almost pure profit for them so, if you have the car they want, they will keep sending you these offers and hope you are gullible.

 

[SRGTD]

Almost guarantee it's just a tactic to get you there, likely with them getting a kickback later if they do let you have it at 'cost'.

The main profit for dealers on new sales are the manufacturer bonuses and your trade in, now they've closed the finance interest rip off scheme. That trade-in is almost pure profit for them so, if you have the car they want, they will keep sending you these offers and hope you are gullible.

Agree. At the end of the day, the dealer’s a business and they need to generate sales, cash flow and profit. With these types of one-time sales gimmicks offers, any communications from the dealer will always make it sound like they’re doing the customer a massive favour, and that the dealer’s loosing out - they won’t be loosing out; as you’ve said, their profit will come from the part ex trade in and a manufacturer kickback from Seat.

When I had my VW, I used to regularly get ‘VIP; not to be repeated’ - offers from the dealership. I only ever followed up on one of them, and that was at a time when I was genuinely considering changing my then current car. On that occasion, the dealer did match the best broker price, and I also got an extremely good trade-in value for my existing car - better than I was able to get elsewhere.

@Mayberley; in your position, if I was genuinely considering changing my car, I would probably consider the offer. I’d still do my homework in advance of contacting the dealer to make sure I knew what the current value of my existing car was. That way, I‘d know if the dealer was trying to rip me off on trade-in value if they made me a derisory lowball offer for it. I’d also see what some of the car buying services such as Motorway and Carwow would offer for it, as their offers are often better than a dealer’s part exchange offers.

 

[leonlad]

seriously considering changing my mk3 leon for a mk4, i know of one for sale for 45% off list price only 4 months old. however the bugs do put me off a bit did they fix them by year 2024 ? the tyre date implies this car was built week 50 2023.