Today, I bought a 9 month old VW Golf for my daughter (yes, I'm soppy like that!).

After declining all the finance options (HP, PCP, GAP, contract hire, personal loan and blah blah) I negotiated what I think is a pretty fair price of £13.6K.

They even tried to charge a £99 admin charge for HPI checks, DVLA transfer etc. for a car which they had owned since new....rescinded when I kicked off.

I offered to pay the VW dealer the full amount by debit card and this is what they said:

Payment for deposit by debit card up to £1K fine.
Payment of the balance can only be made online.
Debit card (yes debit card) 2% surcharge.
Cash not accepted (OK I understand no druggies or launderers).
Cheques not accepted.

I'm just wondering, if my dad was still alive and did not do internet banking, how would he have managed to buy a car from these shist*rs without being ripped off with a 2% surcharge?

Am I just getting old and senile or is this just wrong wrong wrong? If it ain't broken, fix it till it is.

Can't you do a bank transfer ?

I'd kick off again - there should be a way to do it without fees - otherwise they have misled you on the purchase price.

For high value money deals its normal practice to use bank transfer so a tractable route is found.

Its to safeguard against money laundering.

Regards Range Rover quotes.....

The Luxury That�s More Than a Luxury.
Conquer the world, and look good doing it.
Built for the unexpected.
Over prepared, but never underdressed.

2007 Vogue SE TDV8 Epsom Green (old car).
2010 Discovery 3.0L GS Mk4 Black.

I think you've missed the point.
I am paying for the car I bought today via two internet bank payments...sorted...but one payment via debit card would have been easier.
I'm just saying for the oldest in our community, it seems very difficult to pay for a car these days.
My now deceased dad would have had to go to his bank to arrange a transfer to pay for a car which he would like to have paid for at the dealer. If it ain't broken, fix it till it is.

It read as though the online option was a debit card method - so it appeared that you were complaining about the 2% surcharge

Last edited by Alistair on 11th Jan 2017 11:08pm. Edited 1 time in total

When we paid for our FFRR we paid £5500 over 2 credit cards and the dealer dropped the 2% fee so I cant see what the issue was unless its due to money laundering rules. Range Rover quotes.....

The Luxury That�s More Than a Luxury.
Conquer the world, and look good doing it.
Built for the unexpected.
Over prepared, but never underdressed.

2007 Vogue SE TDV8 Epsom Green (old car).
2010 Discovery 3.0L GS Mk4 Black.

paid £14k towards my westie by debit card with no fuss, strange that you had problems..

Alistair wrote:

It read as though the online option was a debit card method - so it appeared that you were complaining about the 2% surcharge

Realist wrote:

When we paid for our FFRR we paid £5500 over 2 credit cards and the dealer dropped the 2% fee so I cant see what the issue was unless its due to money laundering rules.

This was a VW dealer...diffent rules I guess  If it ain't broken, fix it till it is.

stan wrote:

paid £14k towards my westie by debit card with no fuss, strange that you had problems..

VW rules are different I guess.
I was just thinking of the older (even older than us) generation  If it ain't broken, fix it till it is.

Ryanair (and others) used to do it, but scrapped it a few years ago

Paid for my Fattie by debit card and cash.

Deposit in cash, part payment in cash to their limit (from sale of my old fattie) put the balance in the bank and paid the remaining on debit card. No fees total paid was amount agreed for the sale. They want you to do bank transfer as they have to pay a fee on the card transaction so are effectively down on the transaction.  There is nothing that can't be fixed with a hammer😜😜
FFRR 4.4 SDV8 Autobiography Santorini Black.
KIA E-Niro 4+
2021 Discovery 5 D300 MHEV commercial

Even a debit card?
First time I've heard of it. If it ain't broken, fix it till it is.

northernmonkeyjones wrote:

Paid for my Fattie by debit card and cash.

Deposit in cash, part payment in cash to their limit (from sale of my old fattie) put the balance in the bank and paid the remaining on debit card. No fees total paid was amount agreed for the sale. They want you to do bank transfer as they have to pay a fee on the card transaction so are effectively down on the transaction.

Iirc the debit card fee used to be a flat rate per transaction but now is a percentage, which is fine for most transactions but when you are looking at tens of thousands of quids then it adds up.

I think it depends on your card service provider but it's around 0.2% per transaction on a debit transaction. So still cheeky by VW. There is nothing that can't be fixed with a hammer😜😜
FFRR 4.4 SDV8 Autobiography Santorini Black.
KIA E-Niro 4+
2021 Discovery 5 D300 MHEV commercial