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Skoda has had an approved used car programme going in Ireland for a while now - since 2015 to be exact - but it has updated things for 2018 with the introduction of a used car finance package.
The Skoda approved used programme works just as you'd expect. Skoda's Irish dealers pick the cream of the second hand Skoda crop. Cars have to be no more than five years old, and have fewer than 120,000km on the clock to qualify. They're then "stringently" checked through 110 points to make sure all is in good mechanical order, and anything that needs replacing is replaced with proper, factory-fresh Skoda parts. Now Skoda is also adding a 12-month roadside recovery scheme and a 12-month warranty to all its used cars.
In addition, free puncture repair and complimentary summer and winter health checks with courtesy wash and valet are included. These offers are available on all orders up to September 30th 2018.
They're also now easier to buy, because Skoda Bank is offering preferential finance packages for buying an approved used car, doubtless as a way of trying to stop Irish buyers from popping over the water or over the border to buy a used car from the UK. PCP deals come with 2.9 per cent finance, while a more conventional Hire Purchase agreement can also be had at 2.9 per cent APR.
It's an offering with ambition behind it. Skoda is currently the sixth-best selling brand in the country for new cars, but is in 12th place for used car sales, and all of this is part of the plan to rectify that.
Commenting on this, Cathal Kealey, PR manager for Skoda Ireland, said: "Since we launched our Skoda approved used car programme in 2015 we have had an extremely competitive used car offer in the market. Of course, since then there have been additional challenges to the used car market as a result of Brexit and the fall in sterling value which is making used car imports more appealing to some people. For Skoda, we have not experienced a dramatic rise in imports and we firmly believe this has been down to the success of our used car programme.
"The interest people pay on personal loans may often erode the perceived savings on the car. By offering attractive low rate finance at source on our used cars in partnership with Skoda Financial Services customers are less likely to travel abroad. We see our used car finance offers as a major factor in limiting the number of Skoda used car imports in Ireland at present."