How much deposit is reasonable when you order?

[birdseed]

As per the title, how much of a deposit do Audi want when you place your order?

I recently test drove the b8, having lost my b7 a couple of months ago to a theft. They wanted £5k-which surprised me somewhat. When i bought a A4 tdi for £26k in 2006 they wanted £1000, but accepted £500.

If they then mess you around with delivery times or if heaven forbid you change your mind, is the deposit refundable?

[doodlebug]

Unless it is a very specific spec/colour no more than a grand. However I am aware that various dealers have had their hands burnt on RS4s, so there is some caution.

With respect to refund, down to the dealer's contract with you. If any change such as extension to delivery time is way beyond expectations then they would refund. It's not generally in their interests to be difficult.

[adsgreen]

Good grief - it was £5k to order F430.
M3 was £1k and all others £500. Unless you were ordering a very bespoke exclusive colour I. Can't understand why they'd dream of asking that amount of deposit.
The rules are a bit grey and you need to double check all small print.
However if there is a change on the dealers side such as a change of delivery date, price or availability if an option then you are within your rights to have a full refund as the contract breech is on their side.
Some contracts (I did have the joys of arguing one with a 'premium' marque.) have some convoluted setups where they have a build fee which isn't part of the deposit but more of a 'transaction fee' which isn't refundable no matter what.
Also they put stipulations on what constitutes a breech by the dealer - for example one had that a delay if 3 months past the agreed delivery date was not considered to be a breech and you couldn't cancel.

[F@tBoyF@t]

Good grief - it was £5k to order F430.
M3 was £1k and all others £500. Unless you were ordering a very bespoke exclusive colour I. Can't understand why they'd dream of asking that amount of deposit.
The rules are a bit grey and you need to double check all small print.
However if there is a change on the dealers side such as a change of delivery date, price or availability if an option then you are within your rights to have a full refund as the contract breech is on their side.
Some contracts (I did have the joys of arguing one with a 'premium' marque.) have some convoluted setups where they have a build fee which isn't part of the deposit but more of a 'transaction fee' which isn't refundable no matter what.
Also they put stipulations on what constitutes a breech by the dealer - for example one had that a delay if 3 months past the agreed delivery date was not considered to be a breech and you couldn't cancel.

Breech *

"Breach" - surely...?

[Brooner]

they never took any deposit when I ordered mine

[churchwa]

£1k on my credit card (airmiles, thank you). Will see how much they will let me put on my card when it comes to collecting it. If you want to talk to a great dealer then drop me a line and I cant introduce.

[doodlebug]

£1k on my credit card (airmiles, thank you). Will see how much they will let me put on my card when it comes to collecting it. If you want to talk to a great dealer then drop me a line and I cant introduce.

Balance has to be paid on debit card or by BACS, cannot be a credit card.

[churchwa]

Depends on how nice the dealer is, but yes 99% of the time you are right.

[doodlebug]

Depends on how nice the dealer is, but yes 99% of the time you are right.

Well, by letter of the law, credit card a no no, so deviation is at the dealers risk. It's anti fraud measure so pretty daft to be caught out.

[churchwa]

What makes you say that, I have sold plenty of cars entirely on CC, debit cards now have the same payment protection as CC's so I don't see what it is against the law?

[doodlebug]

What makes you say that, I have sold plenty of cars entirely on CC, debit cards now have the same payment protection as CC's so I don't see what it is against the law?

Discussion with dealers, in fact everyone I've bought a car from. Not sure whether it is FCA/Pru regulation or a trade requirement.

[churchwa]

Naaa, it just eats it the margin, no, law that I know of.

[doodlebug]

Naaa, it just eats it the margin, no, law that I know of.

Yeah could be. It does seem a bit strange though, handling fees are not so massively different now, except Amex, and I've yet to find a dealer that accepts Amex.

[adsgreen]

I've bought car on debit card and credit card before now. It's purely the interchange charge to the merchant that puts them off. All the transactions needed a conversation with the bank over te phone before authorising. No big deal.
Debit cards are still cheaper but yes the difference is lower. I still think most debit cards are a fixed fee.

[churchwa]

Debit cards cost 21p per transaction for us but CC's cost 1.89% so there is quite a big difference!