Volvo overseas delivery?

Question

Has anyone participated in Volvo's overseas delivery program? What was your experience? Did you think it was worth it? How much do you actually save?

Answer 1

1 - VERY good idea!

2 - I have.

3 - It was really terrific! The free air, hotel night, and two (or three, I can't remember) taxi rides certainly make the trip economical. And the people at the Factory Delivery Center (FDC) are very professional, friendly, and efficient. All in all, it was a very smooth experience.

4 - It was definitely worth it for me. I had a seven-week European holiday scheduled so it saved me a ton just on auto rental fees. Plus, I had my own car and I liked that, too.

5 - This is the best part of all! I picked up a 2006 V70 R at the FDC in Goteborg in May of this year. I paid $38,575 for it and that included all normal expenses associated with a new car: duty, customs broker fees, shipping across the ocean, you name it and it was included - just like when you buy a car at the dealer.

What the car would have cost me in the US is a bit complicated to explain. Here goes. The list price (MSRP) of the car I got was $44,902. The dealer invoice price (i.e., what the dealer pays for the car) was $42,002. At the time of my purchase there was a $2,000 incentive on offer for this car and, not generally known, there was a Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI) bonus of $1,000 on offer to my dealer that I assume I could have gotten him to pass through to me. So, if the dealer had been willing to sell me the car at his real cost, I could have gotten it for $42,002 - $3,000 for a total of $39,002 - just $427 more than I paid.

Since I was planning the European holiday, however, buying the car through OSD saved me $1,617 in airfare and $1,760 in auto rental fees (these fees may seem low for a seven-week trip; they would have been our half of the cost shared between two couples). I considered that to mean that the car was really costing me $38,575 - $1,760 - $1,617 = $35,198, $3,804 below dealer invoice.

Now, serious shopping in the US will generally result in your finding Volvos for substantially BELOW dealer invoice. See www.fightingchance.com for how to never pay dealer invoice for a car again. So, if I might possibly have found the car for approximately the same amount in the US, why do I think OSD is such a good idea?

It was a combination of things: first, the dealer incentive of $2,000 that was on offer at the time of my purchase isn't always available (so you can't count on it); second, I wanted to have a MUCH larger car available than I would have been willing to rent (four people x seven weeks is a lot of stuff to be hauling around!); and, third, I wanted to see some of Scandinavia and picking up the car in Goteborg made that possible and cost me less than if I'd picked it up nearer to my European holiday destinations.

One thing to be aware of is that it is quite common for Volvo to offer you expensive "packages" at greatly reduced prices or even for free! For example, I paid $595 for a Premium Package for my car; it's MSRP was $2,400 and the dealer invoice was $2,064. Later on, that package was offered to OSD customers at no charge!

Another feature to the OSD process that I found attractive is that you can have the exact car you want; that is, you're not bound by what the dealer has on his lot. My model on a dealer lot is almost always completely "loaded" and that is something I definitely do not want - I don't need all the options and I certainly don't want to pay for those that I don't desire to have!

I'd like to refer you to a website that has a forum dedicated exclusively to OSD. It's http://forums.swedespeed.com/zeroforum?id=55. To participate in the forum requires a short registration process; you can read exiting posts without going through that process. This forum has been moderated in the past by OSD sales staff at different US Volvo dealerships. It was there that I found a guy named Bob Kennedy from University Volvo in Charlotte, NC.

Bob was able to answer all my questions promptly and accurately and I gave him my business even though I live in NH. (The car came into Baltimore and it was delivered to my local dealer, where I picked it up). I learned that there's a fair amount of detail to managing an OSD transaction and I used Bob because most dealers (including my local dealers) do only a handful of these deals each year. University Volvo sometimes does many a week.

I hope I've been able to help you with your questions. It's probably worth noting that I have no affiliation whatsoever with either University Volvo or www.fightingchance.com (except as a happy customer (and a happy repeat customer with www.fightingchance.com)).

Good luck!

P.S. I just went to the OSD forum at www.swedespeed.com to make sure everything was as I remember it (it's been awhile since I was there) and found that, as of 10/3/2006, all option packages are free on 2006 models. See http://forums.swedespeed.com/zerothread?id=66630 for more details. I suppose this could be attractive if you were willing to take a new copy of one of last year's models at a terrific price; if you plan to keep the car more than five years, it may make good financial sense.

P.P.S. One last thing to keep in mind - even though Volvo and its dealers tout the benefit of driving your own car on your European (or Scandinavian) holiday, it may still make financial sense to fly into Goteborg, sign the papers, drive the car around the block (I don't know if you even have to really do this), go back to the airport and fly home. When I asked them, the staff at the FDC told me that many buyers have done just that!

Answer 2

University Volvo Charlotte

Answer 3

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
Volvo overseas delivery?
Has anyone participated in Volvo's overseas delivery program? What was your experience? Did you think it was worth it? How much do you actually save?

Answer 4

First I'll answer the questions: I participated. It was awesome. It was totally worth it. I saved $2000.

Now I can meander on about the program's details. I put down a $2000 deposit on my Volvo S40 on January 31st, 2005, ordering exactly the options and option packages I wanted. By mid-March I had arranged financing of the balance, which Volvo requires to be done one month ahead of delivery. To arrange flights, I called some 800 number and got a surly travel agent who knew everything about booking for the Volvo program. She had no problem booking my brother out of Newark and myself out of San Francisco and having us meet in Stockholm for a twelve hour layover (eight was sufficient -- after that we were jetlagged zombies) and then fly to Göteborg where we picked up the car. Besides the flights for two, Volvo also provides for one night in a fancy hotel in Göteborg, along with a ride from the airport to the hotel.

The next day we took the factory tour, picked up my car, and we were off. A week later we dropped off the car at a place in Antwerp, Belgium, and flew home. Then I had to drive my old car for another six weeks before being reunited with my S40.

I could go on and on and on about the trip, and certainly more into the details of all the paperwork and oddities of financing a car that's not in the country yet, but I'll just summarize:

Advantages:
1. I saved $3000 off the MSRP, which is about $2000 better than I figure I could have negotiated, and $1000 less than the Consumer Reports invoice price.
2. The trip to Sweden was great. I'll remember it for the rest of my life.
3. I chose every option to be included in the car.
4. I had a cool white-on-red European-shaped license plate until my California plates came in.

Disadvantages:
1. After deciding to buy the car on Jan 31st, I didn't have the car in the States until June 16th. I had made three payments on it by then.
2. There were extra trips to the car dealer to do paperwork, which are never pleasant. (In Sweden, the paperwork was a breeze.)

-Nat

Answer 5

Volvo Osd

Answer 6

a customer did this several years ago the actual savings off of the car were more than offset by the cost of touring Europe for two weeks after visiting the factory, but it was much cheaper than any travel agent could ever possibly do for the touring part.
they took their 2 kids with them and everyone had fun. the kids are now driving the car it is still in good shape and the kids still remember all about the trip and still talk about it . just be sure to have the car back to the proper port at the specified time, and be patient for the arrival of your new car back here it will arrive and with no damage, eventually.

Answer 7

You don't save much, but what you gain is "priceless". Go get it in Europe and plan spending another 2-4 weeks over there, touring Europe in your own car. Make sure you take somebody who is nice to you during the trip.

Answer 8

--->> Tips---> https://trimurl.im/e49/volvo-overseas-delivery