Haggling tips at dealership

ddebski_us

Hi

Am off to look at cars this weekend. I know it is often difficult to haggle the price down, and easier to negotiate other things, like full tank of fuel, car mats, tax etc.

Any other tips?

I have a £5k deposit, looking to spend £8-9k and have a part-ex (between £650 and £850 I'm looking for). Have the option to pay by debit card (by moving cash from cc and then transferring to 0% card) (to mitigate a cc fee) - hoping this will help negotiate a cash discount too.

Anything else I should think about?

TIA

xDx

Hintza

You need to know the value of the car before you can haggle.

If the car was on at £5k and no haggling or £7k but he gave you £1k off which is the better deal?

You can see the answer here but would you know that at the garage?

scotsbob

From the off the salesman will try to control the deal and want to know if part exchange is involved and if you are paying cash or taking a loan. None of this is his concern until you have negotiated a price.
"What car are you driving just now?" "How will you finance the purchase?" etc are questions to avoid answering.

Once you have decided on the car you want, discuss a price. Once you have got his price you tell him thanks you are now going to another dealer to look at a similar model.

When you return an hour or so later you use that as your starting price to get the part exchange.

Remember dealers prefer to sell on credit because they get a cut from the finance company so a discount for cash is unlikely.

This is January a slow month for car sales that is in a buyer's favour.

motorguy

scotsbob wrote: »

From the off the salesman will try to control the deal and want to know if part exchange is involved and if you are paying cash or taking a loan. None of this is his concern until you have negotiated a price.
"What car are you driving just now?" "How will you finance the purchase?" etc are questions to avoid answering.

Once you have decided on the car you want, discuss a price. Once you have got his price you tell him thanks you are now going to another dealer to look at a similar model.

When you return an hour or so later you use that as your starting price to get the part exchange.

Remember dealers prefer to sell on credit because they get a cut from the finance company so a discount for cash is unlikely.

This is January a slow month for car sales that is in a buyer's favour.

January definitely not a slow month in the motor trade. If you cant sell cars in january, you'd be safer packing up and going home.

Otherwise i agree though.

Split the transaction out

• Negotiate the best price for the car itself - even if its with 'i have a car currently but my brothers buying it / i will sell it privately after i get a new car'.
• Negotiate the best price for the trade in. Reintroduce the trade in saying, 'well whats my car worth as a trade in'. negotiate that.
• Negotiate on the finance rate. Compare with the best rates you can get online.

fivetide

Hintza wrote: »

You need to know the value of the car before you can haggle.

If the car was on at £5k and no haggling or £7k but he gave you £1k off which is the better deal?

You can see the answer here but would you know that at the garage?

Quite right. Don't be taken in by £1000 minimum part exchange offers and all that jazz. The overall cost to change is the most important thing. Focus on that.

ddebski_us

All the extras then, like full tank of fuel etc, should I be expecting them as standard?

Hintza

ddebski_us wrote: »

All the extras then, like full tank of fuel etc, should I be expecting them as standard?

You aren't getting it yet.

If I was getting for the price I wanted I wouldn't expect anything extra.

Concentrate on the price and knowing when you have a good price.


DO YOUR HOMEWORK BEFORE YOU GO and don't buy the first car you see.

steve-L

ddebski_us wrote: »

Hi

Am off to look at cars this weekend. I know it is often difficult to haggle the price down, and easier to negotiate other things, like full tank of fuel, car mats, tax etc.

Any other tips?

I have a £5k deposit, looking to spend £8-9k and have a part-ex (between £650 and £850 I'm looking for). Have the option to pay by debit card (by moving cash from cc and then transferring to 0% card) (to mitigate a cc fee) - hoping this will help negotiate a cash discount too.

Anything else I should think about?

TIA

xDx

Experience in parenthood might be relevant.....

Overall.... if your on your 1st (just reading your sig) then I'd say spend less than you think you have! (If this isn't your 1st perhaps ignore me)....

1) All cars are liabilities, sometimes necessary but liabilities all the same!
2) You can progressively reduce the liability but never eliminate it!
Buy a Maker Approved car - buy from a reputable Indy or buy private.
You can also buy from a car supermarket type place!
You can also pay for a warranty.....
Remember Sale of Goods act is somewhat weird for used cars!
(pglic and myself have discussed this in various threads)

You are never really fully protected.

In general the Franchised dealers will give the best protection....
Then IMHO the Independents, large chains and car supermarkets ???? (Check threads on here).....

Warranties (both dealer and separate) have exclusions and these are often the expensive items!

No offense meant to pglic but most Indy dealers will at least try and minimise their losses if they make a sale that turns bad. The poor ones will try and absolve themselves of blame altogether.
The poor ones (not pglic) will make any recovery process long and expensive. I recently had to go to small claims with a car dealer... I won but had the money locked up for 6 months and extra hassle and still didn't recover ALL costs (perhaps I could have but it was extra risk over getting 2/3rd back) ! Even the good guys in the Indy's are going to try not to make a £500-£1000 loss on a car....

Without sounding glib (or perhaps I do) ... dealers have to not only pay for a certain sq. ftage, tax and a certain pot-plant density per sq ft... but they also have to cover themselves for the extra liability they take on every time they buy and sell a used car.

Obviously... many things can be spotted by a good mechanic but many things can't.... there is ALWAYS a risk so they need to factor that in as well.

Aim on them needing to make £500 from you for the transaction.

At the other end, you buy privately and take on that risk yourself.
You might however save yourself a grand or so in that price bracket.. or at least £500.....

So back to your 8-9k.....
First decision is if you want/need to spend that much...

There are plenty of REALLY good cars for 5k-7k..... more if you buy privately.

If you spent 5-6k privately you could put aside a couple of thousand for the unexpected?

Regardless of if you decide to do this remember its an option when negotiating.
Know what you can sell your car for and what you could get privately BEFORE starting any negotiation.
Meanwhile feel free to use dealers to try out cars! (Some might simply not feel right for you... my OH doesn't like a car she can't see the end of the bonnet and that ruled out a lot of options)

Just FYI: My last car I purchased privately and the one before that the dodgy dealer and the one before that a reputable Indy.

The last car was a BMW 330D - I wanted a estate but a private sale offered the saloon for £6000 locally. After meeting the owner and his Dad (it was on his drive) I knew they were a reputable family and he had good reasons to sell.

With 112,000 on the clock its not much for a 3L diesel and it was cheaper because it had cloth non sport seats. A similar car would have cost £7,500+ from a dealer in fact Parkers valued it as a private sale at £7,200.. the reason he hadn't previously sold it is people were looking for a leather interior for that engine.... and he had advertised it initially at £7,200.

I bought the leather interior for £600 (eBay) and it took an afternoon to fit. I should get round to selling the cloth seats and get £100 or so back). Apart from replacing the pollen filter its just required washer fluid and diesel for the last 10k! (replaced pollen filter myself for £20) - coming to to an oil service.

The middle car was a nightmare. Long story... lost £1500 bought from an Indy... I don't think they were evil... but they thought they knew what was wrong, bought it cheap and replaced the turbo ... but that didn't fix it... so they wriggled and wriggled... and ....

First car was from an Indy.... high milage 155,000 - £4000 Honda Exec (swapped from a 306 hatchback) ... it takes prams without folding, cots, you name it.... and now the nipper is 3 it takes bikes, scooters and shopping.....
It cost me a brake caliper - disks and brakes have been renewed as have 3 tyres (dealer had put really cheap tyres on.... it has to be road legal when they sell it.... I'd have preferred £100 off and bought some semi-decent tyres! ). Turbo failed at 175,000 ... cost me £300 to have it stripped and cleaned.

Observation: In one case I lost out by going through a dealer, in the other I gained nothing. I guess if the turbo had failed after 2k miles then the good Indy would have replaced/repaired....

So just as a thought.... Honda cost £4000 and has been perfectly good... a pleasure to own and drive almost except its eclipsed in the driving pleasure by the BMW.... Will need a new clutch and DMF soon and that will cost £1000 but its worth it because its such a faultless car!

BMW cost me 6,600 (by the time I added leather).... and has been cost free and shows no sign of costing more than replaceable parts.

NOTE: Both have leather! Do not underestimate the power of leather to repel baby puke.... food and other kiddy stuff!

Estate is really a fantastic family car.... my partner was initially totally against it after learning in a focus hatchback. within a month however she was converted and find the space perfect for kiddy shuttling, lifts to other mums, taking shopping and recycling without fuss.... and then still being able to put a pram or two in the back.....

ddebski_us

Hintza wrote: »

You aren't getting it yet.

If I was getting for the price I wanted I wouldn't expect anything extra.

Concentrate on the price and knowing when you have a good price.


DO YOUR HOMEWORK BEFORE YOU GO and don't buy the first car you see.

No, I do get it. But, even when you have the price you want, would you still not try and get more??

steve-L - thank you so much for the insight - it is very useful.

I don't know anywhere near as much about cars as I'd need to if I was to buy privately, so a dealer/supermarket it will be.

My car is old now, a 3dr '52 reg polo. It's slowly falling apart and, to be honest, I do want to treat myself to something as new as possible, now that I have the finances available (my student loan is coming to an end finally, and so I'm putting part of it to the car - I've never had this money and so will not miss it!)

I was looking at a Honda Civic or a Golf, but am thinking they are too big really for what I need. My DH has an MPV and DD is usually in that, mine just needs to be big enough for the pram and a car seat now and then.

So, have changed my thinking to another Polo or a new style Fiesta (don't like the Jazz). No big engines (max 1.4 I think), still not decided on petrol/diesel (always had petrol but see diesels return more MPG and lower tax - but diesel costs more than petrol and mainly do short journeys) and not decided on manual or automatic.

This car shopping is going to take me a while I think!!

oliverr

I'm unsure on your mileage, but for town driving and the odd motorway trip a petrol will work out less. A diesel will cost more to buy in the first place, and more to fill up and although it will be slightly more economical - with less miles you probably won't get that money back. Plus, petrols are getting more and more efficient these days.

The Polo and Fiesta are both very good cars. The Polo holds its value better, and is better built inside (but does cost more). The Fiesta is a better car to drive than the Polo though.

Have a look at the Nissan Note though, slightly bigger than the Polo/Fiesta, but smaller than the Golf type size. Spacious inside, though. Hope this helps somewhat.

hethmar

Skoda have a 25% discount on brand new Fabias at the moment. May be worth checking out.