Tactics for buying used car from dealerships

I tend to agree with the above, some do some don't.


I've personally never paid the screen price for a car. I've always haggled something off or walked away.


Have documented proof of the value of the car you're looking at and be prepared to walk away would be my advice.


I think £1200 off a £10k car is a bit much to expect but if you don't ask you don't get, what's the worst they can say? No?


Best of luck!

thor wrote: »

I haven't bought a car from a dealer for over a decade but am presently looking to get a second hand one so was wondering what the situation is these days when it comes to knocking a few quid off the asking price. Do dealers generally even offer discounts anymore or are their profit margins so low that you can't expect any reductions?
I am hoping that people who have bought recently from dealerships could give an account of their experiences when it comes to bargaining.
I've seen a 3 year old mazda being advertised for £10600. If I went in with an opening offer of £9400 would I get laughed out of the forecourt or would it be too cheeky to go in even lower, say £9000?

Usually these days dealers price at the price they need to get, not at a price with some discount bolstered on.

There are exceptions of course but i wouldnt flounce out of the dealers in a huff if he doesnt discount.

Check the price of other examples on autotrader and see how it stacks up. Dont forget its better to get £10 off a car priced at £10,000 than £1,000 off the same car at another dealers priced at £11,000.

Just to give you an indication of margins dealers are working to these days - we sold our Passat to an independent trader recently and he paid us directly in to our bank account, the sum of £12,300. ie, there was no other car involved to bolster up the trade in value.

He sold that on to a big dealer group, so lets assume he took £250 for his trouble, so thats £12,550 they paid. The car is up for sale today at £13,995. Take out even the minimum of overheads and costs at say £1,000, theres not a big hill of beans in terms of profit left....

Nobbie1967 wrote: »

It depends where you are buying it from. If you search on Autotrader and go to see the keenly priced examples, chances are that you will get little or no discount as it's been priced low to get you through the door and their is little room for further negotiation unless you have PX.

Some garages rely on passing trade and may have more room to haggle, but check the starting price as it may be high to start with.

This is my experience. Just bought a new car that appeared on the first page of Autotrader results (and a better vehicle than several of the ones that came after it).
Asked the dealer if there was any movement on the price and he basically said it was priced to sell, because as you say, there's no point sticking some fat on the price just to trim it, if it means prospective buyers don't see it several pages deep.
He offered me a token £100 off, although in the end I waived that discount in return for them waiving their policy of not accepting credit cards for the full balance which was worth more to me.

Note the car reg from the ad
Determine condition of car from photos
Get a free valuation via autotrader website, note part-ex, private sale and dealer prices given.
Not worth a trip if car is overpriced.
As others have said don't expect dealer to sell below their cost plus profit margin price.
Don't pay over the odds for extras.