Buying used car - Parker's valuation much lower than dealer price. Should I haggle?

Christyt

Hi all,

Looking at buying a used car in Eastbourne independent dealer. Toyota Aventis 2003 (03 reg) 45000 miles.

Had a look - scratched up on front corner but couldn't spot any other obvious problems (I'm no expert though).

Wants £3k for it. Not much paperwork - one service and the log book. Printed out previous services from Directgov website.

Couldn't get a Glass's valuation (car wasn't found for some reason) but Parker's said independent dealer shoudl be charging £1900K.

They throw in service, MOT and 6 month warranty which doen'st include paintwork, exhaust, audio, battery or tyre problems, just mechanical ones.

The difference between the Parker and dealer's valuation is very large. Should I get a big discount?

Any tips on haggling some money off?

Seen a similarish car sold in South for similar price...

Any advice most welcome!

WestonDave

Dealers often tend to be higher than Parkers prices, which tend to be a national average, whereas in the South East you'd expect prices to be higher. You can try haggling, but at the end of the day trying to say Parkers says it should only be £1900 isn't going to shift him if he doesn't want to sell at that price. If he thinks knowing his market he can get £3k, that's what he's going to hold out for - so expect a bit of movement but don't expect a 30% reduction!

The other point is whether you've allowed for the lower mileage on your reading from Parkers - a seven year old car would be priced with 70k mileage as standard - you need to adjust this for the 25k lower mileage this one has.

BOOM_3

You should ALWAYS try and haggle and save yourself a few squid whatever price the car is! Worst that can happen is that the seller refuses to budge! :cool:

Best of luck with it!

Lirin

Always haggle! It's part of the fun!

I'd haggle even with buying a new car, you never know what they might throw in.

Christyt

Hiya - thanks all.
I did get the mileage adjusted on the Parkers price so it should be accurate. Is there often a £1000 difference in the Parker's valuation and the 'market' valuation? if so what's the point of them?

Re the haggling I'm thinking of going in at £2500 and seeing what he says. Try and get some floor mats thrown in!

johnson293

Anytime I've tried mentioning 'Parkers' prices to a dealer, they always says that they use the 'Glass Trade Guide' which is supposedly more accurate than Parkers.

Agree with other comments though - always haggle - theres always a decent mark up on cars, so they'll generally be able to adjust the price and/or deal somewhere.

Christyt

Just did the deal - asked for them to pay the road tax (ie £200) - they offered to pay 6 months. I accepted along with couple of floor mats.

Better than nothing!

blue_haddock

A point to note.

Parkers is merely a 'guide book'
Anyone in the trade will either go off Glasses or Cap