Some EOFY deals should be taken with a grain of salt | comment

If you’re in the market for an end of financial year (or EOFY) deal, our advice is to take some of the “deals” advertised online with a grain of salt.

Some EOFY deals aren’t any different to those offered earlier in the year.

Holden’s website has an “end of financial year offer” on its Spark city car of $14,990 for the manual and $16,690 for the auto. Problem is, the brand has been offering that deal since the car was launched in March.

At least Holden has advertised a deal for its auto version, the most popular model.

Ford’s advertised website deal on the Fiesta Ambiente is for the manual only, at $15,790. The only way to get a price for the auto is to use the company’s “Build your Ford” feature, where the auto is quoted at an eye-watering $21,504 (and the manual is $19,444).

So if you were relying on the website for you purchase research, you’d think the auto was an extra $5714. That’s not the case. A quick call to a dealer reveals you can have one for $17,990 drive-away.

Other websites — Toyota and Hyundai, for example — adjust their “build your car” features to include the latest deals. That seems the sensible and transparent thing to do.

Hyundai’s is the most transparent site — it tells you the normal full retail price, the drive-away deal and the discount. Simple really.

But Nissan follows the Ford formula. In one part of the site the Pulsar ST manual hatch is $23,036 drive-away. On another part it’s $19,990 drive-away.

There are other anomalies on the Nissan site. As mentioned, its ST Pulsar manual is advertised for $19,990 drive-away and its higher-spec ST-L is $18,990. Elsewhere the ST-L is quoted at $1000 more than the ST and comes with more equipment, including a display screen, a better audio system, different seat trim, parking sensors, fog lights, leather-wrapped steering wheel and electric folding mirrors.

That’s a great deal on an ST-L and a not-so-good deal on an ST.

Hyundai’s is the most transparent site — it tells you the normal full retail price, the drive-away deal and the discount. Simple really.

Are you shopping for an EOFY deal? Tell us about your experience in the comments below.