Aygo Second Birthday - 20K Service

[ihpj]

We had the second annual service completed on our Aygo - can't believe its 2 years old with 20K on the clock :)

Loved every minute of it and although we've had a few niggles (leaks, tyre wear, recall etc.) our Aygo has been eminently reliable and the local Toyota Garage have come through when needed. Its been a real fun 2 years - and heres to a few more!

However thats why I'm not writing ;)

What really got me was the price of this second service: £250'odd. I mean WTF? Glad we took out the 5YR Service Plan allowing us to have the car serviced at ANY Toyota Franchise dealership in the UK. I can't believe the rates these Dealerships charge for servicing an Aygo...but not my problem, I have my Service Pack ;)

Anyhoo, what really made me chuckle was that while the car was in for its service, I got the obligatory call from Sales telling me that there is fantastic demand for the Ago and they would like to take my car in P/X against a new one. Feeling like I had some time to kill I decided to indulge the Salesman who came up with the following 'deal':

New Car: Aygo 'GO' 5 door MMT Solid Paint with A/C + Style Pack = £11500

My Car: Aygo 'Blue' 5 door MMT w/Style Pack = £5500 (P/X) + £6000k cash to get into the deal.

Now by my reckoning they gave me a little under 'top book' for mine - which isn't too bad. But to charge near £12K for an Aygo - come on! I know DtD are offering the exact same car for circa £9.8k. I reckon that if I really wanted to get into a 'GO' my cost-to-change would be near to £3k - as opposed to their quoted £5k figure.

Goes to show just how much fat there is in the figures they quote - so if anyone else gets approached, you know how much to drive them down by ;)

The finance figures were even more laughable: £140-odd PCM over 24 months, with balloon of near £4.5k!

If the Dealership had offered a cost-to-change of around the £3k mark, then I think I would started to get tempted...but hey-ho looks like I will have to wait for the SatNav retrofit kit to become available in the meantime - happy and safe driving to everyone :)

[daveyjp]

Interesting figure from DTD - it shows Toyota appear to have raised the margins on the Aygo. Our DTD price was £400 less than the dealer best price, but our car was only £7,700, so not much to give away.

Sales staff will always chance their arm as there are still people out there who hate buying cars and accept the first price offered - so the first offer is always insulting just in case you are someone who always say 'Yes'.

I recently swapped my car and the first cost to change figure was 3 times what we eventually agreed. Do your homework, play the game and be prepared to walk. Our threat to walk out of the showroom resulted in another £300 off the cost to change figure.

[Parts-King]

So you want top book for your old car and £3000 off the list price too?

you may find it hard to believe but there is just about enough profit in an Aygo to buy a balloon and a sticker

Kingo

[MartyB]

Rubbish, I was getting quotes of around 10,8K for an Aygo Black Air Con before I got them down to 9.4K interest free credit deal. Took me six months of haggling. Cars are not selling so its a buyers market out there.

[ihpj]

So you want top book for your old car and £3000 off the list price too?

Kingo

I know what you are saying Kingo, I don't expect the Dealer to get close to that cost-to-change. I was merely illustrating how one could save themselves serious money by selling privately and buying at the DtD price. If DtD can sell cars at those prices and still make a profit, then it shows how much margin Dealers do have - despite their protestations to the contrary.

[Parts-King]

So you want top book for your old car and £3000 off the list price too?

Kingo

I know what you are saying Kingo, I don't expect the Dealer to get close to that cost-to-change. I was merely illustrating how one could save themselves serious money by selling privately and buying at the DtD price. If DtD can sell cars at those prices and still make a profit, then it shows how much margin Dealers do have - despite their protestations to the contrary.

Sorry but you are wrong. DTD are a fleet partner, they get preferential fleet rates that the dealer cannot get, unless they are selling to a fleet. When a dealer sells to a fleet, all he gets is 1) A registration and 2) A fleet handling fee typically about £150. There is no more margin in it, fact

The profit margin on an Aygo is minimal, particularly a base model, there would be a bit more in the model you were looking at, only because it is more expensive and the dealer margin is expressed as a percentage. Long gone are the days of 30-40% margin, manufacturers have reduced margins on all cars and particularly on base models typically to 7.5 to 10% on the BASE PRICE not on the road price

Where dealers DO make money is on hitting targets set by the manufacturer, so if he is targeted to sell say 50 Aygo, and he hits that target, then he will get a bonus based on a £ per unit, if he fails to hit target, he will get 100% of nothing! if dealers didnt get these bonuses, they would have to close their doors, there is insufficient margin in the car itself

So mixing up DTD and retail sales is a completely different ball game, and margins are not in the same class. When people DO get a lump knocked off the price, then the dealer is on or over target and is using some of his bonus money to either get him to target, or to a higher level of target,

Kingo

[AygoYugo]

I've said it before and I'll say it again . . . .

New Aygo's are overpriced for what they are.

.

.

.

[Parts-King]

I've said it before and I'll say it again . . . .

New Aygo's are overpriced for what they are.

.

.

.

So are the pies and sausage rolls I buy from the farm shop but we are where we are with prices eh?

Kingo

[AygoYugo]

So are the pies and sausage rolls I buy from the farm shop but we are where we are with prices eh?

Kingo

Your comments are always biased...

...I know that you have shares in that farm shop.

.

.

.

[ihpj]

Sorry but you are wrong. DTD are a fleet partner, they get preferential fleet rates that the dealer cannot get, unless they are selling to a fleet. When a dealer sells to a fleet, all he gets is 1) A registration and 2) A fleet handling fee typically about £150. There is no more margin in it, fact...

Thing is Kingo, the DtD price is readily achievable. How they come to it is not my concern because as a consumer one of my key influences in where to buy from is price. I wont pay more for an item/product based on non-tangibles like 'service'. OK a Dealer would struggle to come down to DtD prices, that I accept. But in the market place if a product is available at a lower price, then I will opt for that. Thats how I shop for white/large goods: I will got to a store to 'test it' and offer them the opportunity to have my business at the lower price. if they wont, I will buy off the Internet direct.

The act that DtD can offer £X price - shows it is possible for the Dealer to get to and margins are there as, through swings and roundabouts, the costs even out. Because if the DtD price was not achievable, then no dealer would be selling them at that price.

No way I am paying £5k for a car when I can have it for £2k less elsewhere.

[AygoYugo]

Aygo Blue seems to have been removed from Toyota's range.

Weird - it was a popular model although the bump strip that runs along the

centre of the doors has been removed on recent Blues and it doesn't look

as good as 2009 models.

They've become too expensive anyway....

[mbellinger]

Please ignore what Kingo says above.

ANY dealer can sell at the DtD or indeed ANY other internet price - IF THEY WANT TO.

It is the last part of that sentence that is critical. Car dealers nowadays benefit from a hugely complex range of bonuses, as well as their vehicle margin. There are monthly bonuses, quarterly bonuses, and even specific bonuses based on certain models. The price depends on how much of these bonuses the dealer decides to give away. This can depend on a number of factors. If a dealer needs a handful of units to achieve a big bonus, he will give some more money away and even sell a unit at a loss, as it is fiscally worth it for him to look at the bigger picture.

You should have no trouble finding a Toyota dealer to match DtD, especially if you make the purchase at the end of a month and quarter, as dealers are on for double-bubble bonuses at that time.

I recently had to buy a couple of Prius' and my local dealer (Jemca Bromley) refused to budge off of a 3% discount, saying (with their usual high-handed arrogance) I could go anywhere and I would not better that deal.

Within 15 minutes and two phone calls I had another Toyota dealer offer to match Broadspeeds 11% discount and deliver both cars for free. Guess who got the business....