Help With Ordering Through Drive The Deal

[NathJ]

I am looking to renew my Ford Fiesta Titanium and go for a a new fiesta ST3. Having done a lot of research before hand and not rushing into it, I have been getting quotes from brokers such as 'Carwow' and 'Drive the Deal'.

Drive the deal seems to be the least expensive option at £15,887 incl Ford deposit allowance (£925). Having taken this quote to local dealers, they are not able to match it. Some have gotten close but I'm also able to use Ford Privilege, which is why my local dealer beat this figure with the voucher. The Drive the Deal quote however does not include this voucher but also says that none can be used with this quote.

My question is, has anyone been able to apply a privilege voucher and use drive the deal? As what I was thinking of doing is contacting them so that they get me in touch with the dealer directly and then asking them, are there any restrictions of me doing this? As I'm not really interested if they cannot apply the voucher.

Also, has anyone been able to discuss part ex'ing their car in with this directly with the dealer? As I would also like to do that.

Thanks in advance.

[Phil 87]

I would think Ford cover the cost to the dealer when you use your privilege discount don't they? I would assume you only need to bring up the fact that you have privilege after you have agreed on the price, otherwise they can rip you off by saying "well you have privilege so you're already getting a good deal with that".

I don't know exactly how Drive the Deal works, but if it's like Carwow where they put you in touch with the dealer directly, I don't see why you couldn't use your privilege voucher. Either way that's an amazing deal, I paid almost £2k more than that and that was already £2.6k off the retail price lol.

[NathJ]

That's what I thought as well. My local dealer knows that I am a privilege customer so couldn't really pop that card out after getting the best deal ha. But they do seem to try and use the voucher against you if you tell them beforehand, and if you tell them after they act as if they have been stabbed through the heart.

It looks like an amazing deal which is why many local dealers have turned it down or not even contacted me back! Maybe it's too good to be true, but you can't blame a guy for trying.

I think I'm just going to have to go through drive the deal and let them get me in contact with the dealer directly and then ask, can't see any harm in doing this as long as I don't have to pay anything upfront before contacting them. As I will need to part-ex my current car in too.

The next thing is choosing a colour, as with the privilege I can get free metallic! I had a good look around at the ford fair to see if I could decide. The Molten Oranage in the sun looks nice, the spirit blue looks superb and I can see why they are popular. I usually like supporting the underdog! So may go for Panther Black as I think I have ruled out the frozen white.

[Phil 87]

That's what I thought as well. My local dealer knows that I am a privilege customer so couldn't really pop that card out after getting the best deal ha. But they do seem to try and use the voucher against you if you tell them beforehand, and if you tell them after they act as if they have been stabbed through the heart.

It sounds a bit confusing, and I'd probably be getting on the phone to Ford customer services to find out how privilege is supposed to work and how dealers are meant to handle it. If it gives you a certain discount on any Ford car then it's only fair for that discount to be applied after any negotiation is done i.e. just before you make payment.

Edit: or does it only entitle you to a discount when compared to the RRP of the car? If that were true it would be pointless because anyone can haggle to get a better price.

[NathJ]

It sounds a bit confusing, and I'd probably be getting on the phone to Ford customer services to find out how privilege is supposed to work and how dealers are meant to handle it. If it gives you a certain discount on any Ford car then it's only fair for that discount to be applied after any negotiation is done i.e. just before you make payment.

Edit: or does it only entitle you to a discount when compared to the RRP of the car? If that were true it would be pointless because anyone can haggle to get a better price.

The discount can be applied to any offer that is available usually, as I've had it off previous fiestas that were also below the RRP to start with. Just depends on the dealer and how you approach the 'haggling'.

But even the best of dealers will gasp when they see the price on drive the deal and then you pull out the privilege card! Hence why I'm not having much luck at the moment, only if I'm lucky and the dealer needs to shift stock or whatever will I get what the price I want, fingers crossed I can. But seriously thinking of going through drive the deal but not quite sure of their processes and whether they will be able to accept my part-ex & priv voucher.

[Phil 87]

But even the best of dealers will gasp when they see the price on drive the deal and then you pull out the privilege card!

If Ford cover the costs of the privilege deals then the dealers shouldn't care when you pull out the card, even if it's just before you pay for the car. I think that's what you need to find out, whether or not Ford always cover the cost regardless of what kind of deal you would get without privilege.

It's like Tesco saying you can't have your 10% staff discount on your groceries because you found too many 2 for 1 deals lol.

[NathJ]

That's true, they 'shouldn't' care regardless if it is the case which I'm sure it is. As it wouldn't really make sense that they are offering a privilege voucher when you could get a better deal without it.

I will see if I can contact the privilege helpline and see what they say. In any case, I will more than likely order through drive the deal, but don't want to get tied up in a deal without speaking to the actual dealer directly first. I know that some people have managed to apply a privilege voucher onto a drive the deal quote but unsure as to whether they actually ordered through them or got a local dealer to match.

[Phil 87]

I can see why the dealers might kick up a fuss about this even if they shouldn't. If you go to them saying you have privilege then they might think they can take advantage of the deal instead of you. They try and say that you're getting a great deal with privilege so they don't need to knock any money off, so they'll pocket the extra cash and meanwhile they'll sell the same car to other people for the same amount, even without privilege.

[NathJ]

From what I've heard, yes they do try and use it against you in some circumstances. Like I say, it's a bit of the luck of the draw with what the dealer or salesman is like and also what haggling you can do. It shouldn't happen but it does as like you say they will pocket the extra cash.

They say the dealer always wins but you should at least fell like you are getting a good deal. The dealers are just not consistent in most cases. To be fair, my local dealer did put up a good deal before I wacked out the the drive the deal quote. And they did beat it WITH the priv voucher applied, however like we know the drive the deal quote does not include that priv voucher which they couldn't match, and wouldn't budge.

[NathJ]

Can some members with an ST3 post their GMFV/Optional payment, preferably if you are taking the finance over 24 months with 6000 miles.

I'm just getting some figures together to calculate the monthly repayments, as the quotes I've had seem to be sky high.

Would the value of the car (GMFV) at the end of the 24 months really be roughly around 65% of the initial value?

I thought it would have been around 69-70%, well at least my last two fiestas have been around there. As I've worked out that this is what seems to be driving the monthly price up on my quote.

[Phil 87]

I went for a 5 year loan instead to cover the difference in the price I got for my last car and the price I paid for this one, so can't really help you there. I don't think I'll be keeping the car that long though, maybe another year or 2 but there's really nothing else that's a worthwhile replacement in the same price range.

[NathJ]

Thanks for your input Phil. Anyway, I've just had an interesting conversation with John Grose, as I was just browsing around and noticed that they have a live chat which I went to talk to them on. I asked them about the privilege and it does seem that it is Ford that do supply the full discount for privilege and shouldn't affect the dealers pockets, but it's all about their margins. Even so, shouldn't use this against you to provide you with a bum deal.

He gave me some contact details to contact him directly which I did do and provided him with a quote from drive the deal etc, he also didn't seem to gasp at the quote which could be good I suppose! What he did mention however, is that not will all drive the deal quotes you will be able to use the priv voucher. It will simply depend on what dealer they get you in touch with. Due to this, I'm expecting the quote to be just under the drive the deal quote but including the priv voucher.

Updates to come!

[Phil 87]

I suppose all you can do is try to find the best deal with or without the priv discount. In the end you can't force a dealer to give you the best deal and then give you the priv discount, but if it was me I'd probably not mention priv until I have price confirmed in writing or email, then hit them with the priv voucher and say you'll complain to Ford if they don't honour it. The worst that can happen is they kick up a fuss and you end up paying what is already a good deal.

[NathJ]

Visited another local dealer that weren't able to match the drive the deal price, I think that they has however been able to supply the best deal locally at the moment though.

Maybe I am being optimistic, and looking at the figures they gave me the GFV/optional payment was 63% of the retail cash price. Which increases the amount that I would be paying back monthly. On my recent fiestas it has been around 70% or just under.

Anyone renewed their fiesta recently to an ST? If so, by how much did your monthly payment increase by compared to your previous?

[Phil 87]

^ There was a deal advertised on here from Evans Halshaw for a new ST with what looked like low monthly payments. I was tempted when I noticed I could get a new ST3 for around £240 per month which is only slightly more than I'm paying on my loan at the moment, but that's with a £2k deposit which is probably around the equity I have in the car. Would be nice to get a new car that's free of rattles, but I'd probably loose a lot of money. Plus I'm very attached to my ST haha.

[NathJ]

Bingo! It was my local Evans Halshaw that I visited for the latest quote, and also test drove the ST whilst I was there.

I can see the temptation I have to say but if you are happy with what you got at the moment then keep it, as you would lose some money in any case.

With my previous fiesta's I only took out the finance over 24 months thinking that I would simply keep renewing the car every 9 months. As I am wanting an ST, I'm thinking of keeping a bit longer in which case I may be better off taking it over 36 months. As if I'm right in saying that if I want to change the ST after 9 months I would be better of with a 24 month than a 36 month finance.

It helps to bring the monthly cost down for me.

[NathJ]

Update!

Decided to take the plunge but didn't order through DtD in the end as local Evans Helshaw dealer seemed to give me a good deal on an ST3.

I went for an ST3 Panther Black (Supporting the underdog it seems!) with style pack, parking sensors. And only need to wait 2ish weeks to get it as have to wait for 9 months for ford privilege to lapse on current car.

The finance package I went for was over 36 months at £222.80. That's with no cash deposit but includes roughly £370 of equity from current car.

So cash price = £16183.44 (incl priv voucher) take away the equity and Ford deposit allowance = £14878.49. I have this with 6k miles.

Seem like a good deal to you, as I thought it was?

Also one question I do have is that is says total amount payable £17700.90, what is this made up of? As I cannot seem to work this out. It also says charge for credit at £1497.46, so I thought it would be the £14878.49 + charge for credit but doesn't seem to add up.

[Phil 87]

Nice one, I bet you can't wait :). I think black is a good choice because I see blue ones everywhere now lol, but only seen a couple of black ones on the road.

I think the total amount payable includes all the interest and maybe a baloon payment at the end. But that seems like a good deal, that monthly payment is almost exactly what I pay but I got a 5 year personal loan, and I paid about £17,800 for the car last April.

[MarksST]

Update!

Decided to take the plunge but didn't order through DtD in the end as local Evans Helshaw dealer seemed to give me a good deal on an ST3.

I went for an ST3 Panther Black (Supporting the underdog it seems!) with style pack, parking sensors. And only need to wait 2ish weeks to get it as have to wait for 9 months for ford privilege to lapse on current car.

The finance package I went for was over 36 months at £222.80. That's with no cash deposit but includes roughly £370 of equity from current car.

So cash price = £16183.44 (incl priv voucher) take away the equity and Ford deposit allowance = £14878.49. I have this with 6k miles.

Seem like a good deal to you, as I thought it was?

Also one question I do have is that is says total amount payable £17700.90, what is this made up of? As I cannot seem to work this out. It also says charge for credit at £1497.46, so I thought it would be the £14878.49 + charge for credit but doesn't seem to add up.

Are you sure the £16183.44 doesn't already include the deposit allowance and your £370? As the cash price you quoted and the credit charge come to £2 off the total payable

[NathJ]

Are you sure the £16183.44 doesn't already include the deposit allowance and your £370? As the cash price you quoted and the credit charge come to £2 off the total payable

I'm pretty sure that it doesn't include the deposit allowance as It says:

Our price - £16183.44

Deal cost to change - £15803.49 (which is the 'our price' minus the car equity of £370)

Then it has 'Amount of credit' - £14878.49 (which is exactly £925 off the cost to change).

Maybe just a coincidence that it has come to that? ha I'm not too sure!

EDIT: I've scanned the quotes for both the 24/36 month finance options so attached them to here.

I will be going for the 36 month option but just thought I'd show you these to get a better understanding. Not sure even the salesman knows what the figures are for.

[NathJ]

Just had another look over it and Mark, you must be right with that! But don't know why it is out by £2. But I'm sure the £16183.44 doesn't include the £925 deposit allowance. All a bit confusing I have to say!

Anyone a finance guru by any chance and can explain this in plain english? (or welsh!)