Booking amounts and waiting periods: the dealer games to know
Between booking and delivery sits a stretch where a few dealers get creative — with prices, priorities and 'adjustments'. Knowing the common moves keeps your deal the one you agreed to.
What a booking really is
A booking amount reserves a car against your name and starts the clock on delivery. It should come with clear written terms: the price agreed, the exact variant and colour, the expected waiting period and the refund policy if you cancel. A vague booking is where later 'misunderstandings' are born.
Treat booking as the moment to pin everything down, because your leverage is highest before the dealer has your full payment.
The games to watch during the wait
The common ones: a price rise during the wait passed on to you (a price-protection clause prevents this); a 'priority' or 'fast-track' fee to jump the queue (rarely worth it, often invented); accessories or an extended warranty presented as compulsory for delivery (they're not); and the quiet offer of a different variant or colour 'available sooner' that happens to suit the dealer's stock, not you.
None of these is universal — most dealers are straight — but all of them happen, and all are easier to resist with written terms in hand.
How to protect yourself
Insist the booking confirmation states the price, variant, colour, timeline and a price-protection clause. Keep the itemised receipt. If the dealer resists putting the price in writing, that's your warning. During the wait, confirm your delivery slot in writing and refuse any charge that wasn't in the original quote.
At delivery, check the car matches the booking exactly — variant, colour, features — before you make the final payment, not after.
What we'd do
We'd book only with written terms and a price-protection clause, keep every receipt itemised, and treat any new charge during the wait as something to question, not to pay. We'd confirm the delivery date in writing and inspect the car against the booking before paying the balance.
Tell us where you are in the process and we'll tell you which of these moves to watch for next — and how to hold the dealer to the deal you actually agreed.
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