0% Finance

[ChrisLF]

It was available before if you dug around for it, but dealers have recently started to push 0% on loans, though you do need to put down 50% deposit.

I'm wondering if this is to try and stimulate sales now that Volvo has moved to online sales and discounts are no longer available?

0% is not something you usually associate with the likes of Volvo is it.

[Den48]

Hi
Definitely a scheme to try and drum up sales I believe, will appeal to cash buyers where they can keep half in the bank and earn some interest but I believe 50% deposit will be too rich for most buyers so I can’t see the scheme delivering too many extra sales.
Would be interesting to compare Volvo sales, all cars, after the agency no discounts system has run for a while.

[JFDIT]

I was about to pay cash for mine when I was told I could get 0% finance over 36months AND £750 further discount for taking the finance deal! Bit of a no brainer

[Bob]

When I bought my T5 in 2018 during the XC40 launch, I was offered 0% finance on 50% of the cost of the car, plus a £1000 dealer deposit if I remember correctly.
I was also able to purchase 5 year servicing for £500 (again, if I remember correctly), which was a bargain, especially as having it service by Volvo also included a years free breakdown and recovery once the warranty had expired. My 5th and final service under this contract is due in October.

[ChrisLF]

I took out the £500/5 years servicing on mine, this has now risen to £699 but is still reasonable.

[Den48]

Hi
Just been checking, the 5 year/ 5 service plan has risen to £1149 and the 3 year plan is £ 699, there is also a reference on the Volvo website to Volvo service plan plus that includes maintenance items such as wipers, brake pads and discs and brake fluid can’t find any costs though.

[ChrisLF]

Oh, Ok, I didn't read it properly. Not so reasonable then!

[Bob]

Not as good a deal at £1149 for 5 years, but this is just under £230/year so probably still a good deal on cars with petrol/diesel engines as I've heard the annual service cost is well over this price.

[ChrisLF]

Was considering the 0% but the removal of discounts because of Volvo now selling online has put the mockers on that. A couple of months ago I was offered nearly £4900 discount on a B4 Plus which made it an acceptable buy. Volvo asking full retail smacks of greed to me and I wouldn't be surprised if they have to drop their prices otherwise they are just handing sales to competitors, which they have probably already done to some extent by dropping AWD apart from EV. Mercedes went down the agency route sometime ago and this is interesting (sales have dropped and continue to do so) and echoes my own thoughts and that folks will just go elsewhere. And if all manufactures go the same way then a lot of folks, mainly private buyers may consider new cars too expensive or simply won't be able to afford them, especially as we move further into the EV era, which will hit sales. I would have thought that manufacturers would have enough on their plates without this agency thing! Doubt that other Chinese manufacturers will be slow in coming forward!

https://www.am-online.com/news/manufact ... ail-sector

[ChrisLF]

I was looking at my figures again yesterday and the online price with the extras added; tinted glass, spare wheel and tow bar has gone up around £900 from the retail price in March! Just what customers were asking for!

I suppose with the move to the agency model by manufacturers they are banking on us forgetting how much cars were and the discounts that were available and just us looking at the prices and deciding if it is reasonable and whether we want to pay it. So much for competition!

It will certainly be interesting to see how sales go between those adopting the agency model and those sticking with dealers. Made me smile when I read that Mercedes are pleased with their move to the agency model because of positive feedback from customer's buying experience despite sales dropping significantly, I bet the bean counters aren't happy!