Uncovering the Truth: Real Prices of Lada Vesta and Dealership Tactics in Russia

Sales of the new Lada Vesta have started in Russia. How much do cars cost at dealers, and why are the prices so much higher than those declared by AvtoVAZ

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Sales of the restyled Lada Vesta NG started throughout Russia on June 9th. Before that, AvtoVAZ produced several thousand cars and delivered them to dealers, and also set recommended prices: from 1,239,900 rubles. for an empty sedan with audio preparation, mechanics and a 90 hp engine. up to 1,689,900 rubles for the top station wagon SW Cross with multimedia from Yandex and a 106-horsepower engine.

The correspondent of Autonews.ru, under the guise of a simple buyer, visited several Lada car dealerships of three different holdings and made sure that the cars are not yet available in all trim levels, and their real cost is very different from the one named by the automaker.

Lada Vesta has become more expensive than its Chinese counterpart with a gun

In the very first Lada showroom, the updated Lada Vesta was not found; instead, the dealer had a pre-styling Vesta Sport on display. However, the seller immediately assured that the cars had already arrived at the holding’s central warehouse in Moscow. And, if you make a deposit in the amount of 30 thousand rubles, then tomorrow the car will be delivered to the point of sale and it will be possible to pick it up.

Having rummaged through the closed dealer computer system, the seller printed out an offer where they asked for 2,115,850 rubles for a white sedan with a basic 90-horsepower engine and a fairly simple Comfort Plus configuration. (the recommended retail price is less than 1.3 million rubles). Of these, however, 395,850 rubles. was due to additional equipment installed by the dealer.

The seller immediately crossed out the last amount with a pen, noting that each specific car has different additional equipment, and another car may have fewer “special stages”. But they will definitely be, the manager said and confidentially added: “Well, you understand everything.”

However, even without additional equipment, the cost of a simple white sedan at the dealer was 1,720,000 rubles. And this despite the fact that the highest recommended price on the AvtoVAZ website is 1,699,900 rubles. for the Vesta Cross sedan with a 106-horsepower engine and the richest Techno version. For comparison, in Comfort Plus for 1.72 million rubles. the dealer does not even have an audio system – only a budget plug for a 1DIN radio.

“We can cut plastic for a 2DIN car radio,” the seller commented on this fact.

During the conversation, the manager received confirmation that the goods vehicles had already been unloaded at the dealer’s site, and he suggested walking a few hundred meters to them. On the way to Vesta, I came across a brand new Kaiyi E5 Plus sedan.

“We sell them too. We are ready even today to sell for 1.9 million rubles, and this is for a car with a 150-horsepower turbo engine and a CVT, ”the dealership manager hinted. The recommended retail price for the E5 is 1.96 million rubles.

There were about a dozen Lada Vesta on the site. They looked like they had just been unloaded from a car transporter and had not even been washed. But, according to the seller, additional equipment has already been installed on all of them.

It is interesting that the top versions, which can be distinguished, in particular, by the large display on the center console, were not found on the site. But there was a sedan in the simplest configuration with unpainted black door handles and exterior mirrors.

Wait three months without specials

In the showroom of another large dealer holding Lada, the new Vesta was already standing – a sedan in the Life configuration, without additional equipment, but for some reason for 1,548,596 rubles. instead of the 1,400,900 rubles promised by the plant. Moreover, the manager hinted that there are also dopas, so the price is introductory.

At the same time, the seller named an honest recommended price for the model of interest – the Vesta SW station wagon: 1.329 million rubles. And she added that the buyer has the right to order such a car at this price. True, it will have to wait from two weeks to three months. I involuntarily recalled the words of the manager from the first salon, who recalled that AvtoVAZ had now gone on an early vacation, production was stopped, and after it was resumed, cars from new batches might rise in price.

Those cars that were found in the second showroom were also all already equipped with additional equipment. So, SW Cross station wagons were available for a price close to the factory price of 1.54 million rubles, which increased to 1.8 million rubles due to additional equipment.

Finally, in the third salon, we managed to meet the same white Lada Vesta NG sedan in the Life configuration with a price tag that corresponded to the factory’s recommendation: 1,400,900 rubles.

“We didn’t manage to rewrite. There is additional equipment. The price of the car is 1.7 million rubles. The remaining versions have not yet arrived to us, but they will not be cheaper than 1.7, ”the manager explained.

What additional equipment is put on Lada Vesta for 800 thousand rubles.

The list of options that dealers “mandatory” install on their own was approximately the same for all three car dealerships. This is primarily an additional sound insulation. Here it should be noted right away: Autonews.ru correspondents, who tested both the old and the new Lada Vesta, did not notice problems with noise in factory-made cars.

Next come different types of alarms, including those with feedback. Interestingly, it is obvious that the dealer divides one set of security system equipment into several positions in the list of options. For example, an alarm, central locking, and an optional engine immobilizer may come as three items with a fee for each, although these are usually functions of one security system.

But not a single salon included a really necessary audio system for basic configurations in the list of “mandatory” options, but everyone expressed their readiness to put any “music” at the request of the client for an additional surcharge to an additional surcharge.

There are few customers in the salons, Lada is taken without looking

Of the three salons, only one showed a group of people who showed interest directly in the Lada Vesta NG. The correspondent of Autonews.ru unexpectedly recognized them as colleagues, a film crew of one of the TV channels, which was waiting for a potential buyer to ask him questions.

In other showrooms, customers who came in were more interested in the budget Lada Granta. But the phones of managers were bursting with calls from those who wanted to know more about Vesta – in all three cases, they had to wait for the seller to hang up.

Many cars from the first batch have already been booked, according to the sellers of all three showrooms. However, the “live” cars remained. The expensive configuration of SW station wagons can be considered a shortage. More precisely, in the top versions of Vesta, so far it generally only comes in the form of sedans.

They could not give answers to obvious questions at dealerships. For example, about when the gamut of colors will be expanded. Recall that now Lada Vesta is offered either painted with plain white enamel or platinum-colored metallic. For the latter, they ask to pay 15 thousand rubles.

The question of why only 90-horsepower eight-valve engines are installed on station wagons, conventional or Cross, and how long this will continue, dealers also could not answer.

What did you like about Lada Vesta

The strongest impression for drivers will be a visible improvement in the quality of finishing materials. Even in the poorest configuration, the front panel is made for the most part of very pleasant soft plastic, the door trim has become a head better. At the same time, Vesta remained absolutely recognizable in terms of landing and main controls. However, she has never been criticized for this.

Autonews.ru sent a request to the AvtoVAZ press service regarding the pricing policy of dealers.