Used cars - how much can I haggle?

the_skint_minx

Hi All

My OH is in the fortunate position of having about 6k in cash to spend on a new used car.

I've heard that because of the financial crisis, things are really bad in the used car industry these days - can anyone tell me how much we can realistically haggle off list price within this price bracket?

Is offering 5k in cash for a car listed at 6k taking the mickey?

Thanks

sheslookinhot

No, that offer is the max you should pay.

MX5huggy

Its not how much you get off its how much it costs.
Depends on what sort of car he is looking for in what sort of dealership.
Small frugal diesels are selling well at the mo you won't get a good deal big thursty petrols is where the bargins are are.

TighterThanTwoCoatsOfPain

Not taking the pee (if it comes across that way)... just amuses me over on the House board where they all back slap telling each other that 20% off the "sticker price" is the max you should pay!

There's no real answer on this one... you pay what you feel its worth. Perhaps its an 8k car already reduced to 6k for a quick sale??

Rolandtheroadie

Get to the local car auction and get yourself 6k's worth of ex mobility, fully serviced, 2 to 3 year old.
Check out the possible road tax implications before you buy.

harveybobbles

I'm finding that car prices are going up now anyway... Stuff that was selling on the yard for say, £6000 is making almost that at auction.

If I had a car for you at £5995 and you offered me £5000 in cash I'd tell you to go away, put it in the bank and pay on your debit card along with the extra 995 quid cos I'm not moving on price...

Every other (!!!!!!) customer that I've had to deal with over the last few weeks has had the same attitude as the OP - cars are not selling, so I want money off.

It's not what money you get off, but what you get for your money...

Some places might knock you off £1000 and you will be thinking you got a good deal, but that dealer probably had the car over priced by a grand anyway hoping that he will get the people like you.

So do your research on what cars you want and what sort of money they are...

sigur

Instead of starting another thread I think this may be the best place to raise my question.

I have been looking at a few cars on autotrader/ebay and have seen one or two I like. I have then looked on the WhatCar website for their valuation figures.

Dealer
Private
Part Exchange
Trade

Given the current climate which figure should I be looking to go for ?
It is a private seller and he is midway between the Dealer and Private figures.

sheslookinhot

Don't go much more than the part exchange price.

Hintza

harveybobbles wrote: »

I'm finding that car prices are going up now anyway... Stuff that was selling on the yard for say, £6000 is making almost that at auction.

If I had a car for you at £5995 and you offered me £5000 in cash I'd tell you to go away, put it in the bank and pay on your debit card along with the extra 995 quid cos I'm not moving on price...

Every other (!!!!!!) customer that I've had to deal with over the last few weeks has had the same attitude as the OP - cars are not selling, so I want money off.

It's not what money you get off, but what you get for your money...

Some places might knock you off £1000 and you will be thinking you got a good deal, but that dealer probably had the car over priced by a grand anyway hoping that he will get the people like you.

So do your research on what cars you want and what sort of money they are...

Are you talking your book Harvey?

Rolandtheroadie

Ok, just done a search for the same car as mine but older (only one I could find going through auction in the past 4 weeks).

Original Price£21,140 Franchised Dealer£5,160 Independent Dealer£4,760 Private Good £4,405 Private Poor £3,445 Part Exchange£3,830

FORD MONDEO GHIA X TDCI 130 - 1998CC 5dr Hatchback Mar 2004 (04) Apr 2009 57,195 3050.00


Ok, high mileage (not really, a dealer would say 12k per year probs meaning average.)
I dont know what condition it was in, it could have had more hits than the Beatles although we'll never know.

So the £4760 an independant dealer equates to £3050 at auction ( add a bit indemnity etc, say £150 max?)
The next dealer thing is "thats Parkers though, that doesnt count".
Perhaps it's for the aftercare. Look at the posts on here, what aftercare.

Auction every time.

kitchpoo

scotsman4th wrote: »

FORD MONDEO GHIA X TDCI 130 - 1998CC 5dr Hatchback Mar 2004 (04) Apr 2009 57,195 3050.00


Ok, high mileage (not really, a dealer would say 12k per year probs meaning average.)
I dont know what condition it was in, it could have had more hits than the Beatles although we'll never know.

So the £4760 an independant dealer equates to £3050 at auction ( add a bit indemnity etc, say £150 max?)
The next dealer thing is "thats Parkers though, that doesnt count".
Perhaps it's for the aftercare. Look at the posts on here, what aftercare.

Auction every time.

Interesting, so you are confident at purchasing at auction that the starter motor isnt fouled up from the cluch plate going, the injectors are all firing and not needing a new rail. My neighbour just did this on a Mondeo TDCi, after ploughing £1750 (at mate rates!) in to a £2700 car, it was reliable. If you do your modal homework, and know what to look for, or just strike it lucky, auction can be good, lots of newspaper articles springing up now encouraging novice auction visits tempting them in with low prices, but underplaying the pitfalls.

Back to the OP, there is a questionmark over how much movement a dealer will have at the moment, the most pertinant is when did they get the car. A dealer who got the car traded in 6 months ago, would have gone to the book for the price so it 'owes' them that much and a large dealership might be inflexible on selling below that price. A smaller dealer may have cashflow issues and may take a hit on a car. So what you want to look at is the trade value at the time the vehicle came to the dealer to get a realistic value. If it was traded in yesterday, then today's price prevails. Start low, if the dealer laughs at your offer then try again.