Has anybody used these people - A chap in the pub last night has bought 2 cars using them and rates them very highly.

Looks as though you can get a minimum of 10% for a SD4 XS without hassle.

http://www.autoebid.com/carasp/acarpost2.asp MY 09 GS manual in Lago Grey, Wood Co arm rest and side bumper strips - now sold.

MY 15 SD4 SE Auto Orkney Grey with colour coded Bumper Door Mouldings

looked at this and 2 other sites,orange wheels,and landroverdiscount.com,.....and to be honest when you work it out,theres not alot in it.if you push for a discount from a mainlandrover dealer you will get veryclose to these prices anyway,,i payed £55 more for mine with met paint,full alloy spare,colour code upper mirror caps was a freebie.And the vehicle was there to buy now,not in 10-12 weeks time. Current: Freelander 2 GS, Orkney Grey, Factory fit privacy glass, design pack and Clearview pack. Almond Leather ,rear spoiler,rear mudflaps.my13.

Gone:Freelander 2, GS, "61"

Gone: Freelander 2, GS.e, "59"

Gone: Freelander 2, S, "08"

I work for tata steel ,,we own landrover/jaguar...an we only get 20% off new vehicles....but , hey,at least its something..

casterman wrote:

I work for tata steel ,,we own landrover/jaguar...an we only get 20% off new vehicles....but , hey,at least its something..

Do family, friends and fellow freel2 members benefit ?  Freelander 2 TD4 Auto, SE, Narvik Black, Alpaca full leather, Rear Headrest Entertainment System, 6 CD, 18 HSE Wheels, Privicy tints

casterman wrote:

I work for tata steel ,,we own landrover/jaguar...an we only get 20% off new vehicles....but , hey,at least its something..

Back to the OP...

I've just ordered a new Discovery. Autoebid originally suggested that they thought they could get about 10% off it for me. BUT, their method is a reverse auction model:

You specify the car you want and what colours / extras etc you would like. You can specify some extras as 'must haves' and some as 'would like'. You can do the same with colours, so if there is only one colour you want, you can specify that, or you can choose a number of colours, or say 'anything except [black/white]' or whatever.

Autoebid will then set a 'target price' that they 'expect' to be able to achieve or even beat. But, until you commit to and go through their process, you won't know what the actual final price will be.

Once you've done all of this, Autoebid then circulate your requirement to their network of dealers. They can look at their existing stock to see if they have anything that meets your requirements, or they can spec up a car for new build that exactly meets your ideal specification / colour. They then put a price against the vehicle they are offering and let you have any further details about it - eg colour, additional extras etc.

If a car that matches or exceeds your requirement is offered at or below the target price (which you've accepted), Autoebid are then entitled to their fee and you are expected, but not contractually bound (I don't think), to go through with the purchase. They then put you in direct contact with the dealer and you pay the dealer direct.

With my Discovery order, their target price was quite a bit below any other quote I'd received, so I spec'd up what I wanted and went through their reverse auction procedure, which runs for 2 working days. Unfortunately, I only received a couple of bids from dealers, and whilst not bad, they were some way off the best prices I had been offered by other brokers.

I think the reason for this was possibly because I had specified a new build MY12 vehicle, and their price estimates / discount expectation was based on what they'd been getting for MY11 where perhaps dealers with existing stock were offering better discounts, although the list price and specification they were working to were the correct MY12 ones. To be fair, they immediately amended their on-line price guide to reflect the level of offers I'd received.

Interestingly, I let them know the level of the best offer I'd had and they then went in to standard 'broker' mode and came back with a matching offer and agreed to cut their broker fee to £100(!) to undercut the other broker's fee.

I have a good relationship with a local Dealer (not just because we've bought quite a few cars, ranging from FFRRs to a new SD4 from them over the years) and they agreed to match the best broker deal I'd been offered, so I've placed the order with them.

So, after all that, I didn't end up going with Autoebid, but if their target price (including commission) is at or close to the best deal you've been offered elsewhere, I don't see that you've got too much to use by trying them. Worst case, their offers don't beat the target price - you've 'wasted' two days. Best case, someone has a vehicle in stock, that matches or exceeds your desired specification, that they offer at the target price or maybe even a chunk less.

I would also recommend you try Shaun at Select Automotive - very helpful, very good prices and again, you ultimately deal direct with the main dealer. I know a number of people who've used him and been very impressed.

Thanks Calc for the very comprehensive reply  MY 09 GS manual in Lago Grey, Wood Co arm rest and side bumper strips - now sold.

MY 15 SD4 SE Auto Orkney Grey with colour coded Bumper Door Mouldings

I bought mine from the above in the dark days of 2007/8 when the world was imploding(as now) and paid 19.5k for a new 2008 free2 gs manual....a great deal..

casterman wrote:

I work for tata steel ,,we own landrover/jaguar...an we only get 20% off new vehicles....but , hey,at least its something..

You don't on a Freelander or Disco though. Sorry to be pedantic but Tata Bros own JLR just like they own Tata Steel.

heliosuk wrote:

casterman wrote:

I work for tata steel ,,we own landrover/jaguar...an we only get 20% off new vehicles....but , hey,at least its something..

You don't on a Freelander or Disco though. Sorry to be pedantic but Tata Bros own JLR just like they own Tata Steel.

Correct - no cheap Freelies for employees . The only discounts are on Defender, Range Rover Sport and Range Rover. So employees can either buy a Defender for £18k or a Rangie Sport for £45k

PS: Since when did Tata Steel own Tata Motors? You're just Corus that have been renamed - at least JLR kept their name