new on here, would love some advice on buying a used car

kelevraz

hello all, new in heare and i would like some advice, I'm constantly coming onto this forum and looking at threads for advice but now i really need some help, so here's the situation

i have £5000 to spend on a car, and I've put off buying a car for almost a whole year to save since i didn't want to do finance, anyway, as far as i know, times have really changed, dealers don't want to take your cash anymore, they want you on finance, so apparently having the cash there doesn't work as a bargaining chip like the way it used to. i.e 'the car costs £5000, ill give you £4500 cash for it right now', however, i have heard that this is a lot more possible when you talk finance, because they drive down the price of the car you want, but the interest makes you end up paying more. I've been trying to figure out how I'm going to get a discount when I'm paying cash and this is the idea that i came up with :

1 - allow the dealer to think that i am paying on finance, without actually confirming that i am
2 - negotiate with them to bring the price of the car down, anywhere between 500-1000 if possible
3 - let him come to me and tell me a final price that i am going to be paying for the car (remember, this is before interest rates, so he will probably try and win me over by pointing out how much I'm paying for the car alone)
4 - at the last second say actually i want the car cash

now IN MY HEAD, this will result in the following situation:

the salesman says, well, it was only that price on finance - to which i reply, oh ,so your only going to help me if I'm going to pay you more money, your a bunch of crooks, and HOPE, that it makes them feel so akward and on the spot, they have no choice but to give me the price they have already said they're willing to let the car go at - remember, most salesmen won't admit that they receive a commission from finance, they try to make it out like they just want the best deal for you, which in this case would be simple wouldn't it? £4000-4500 for a £5000 car, thats as helpful as you'll get. i guess this is more of a mental trick, it depends how the salesman feels, the hope is that he won't be able to justify saying we're putting the price of the car up incase i say ok then bye, as i know that a lot of salesman would rather lose SOME money on a sale then lose the sale completely. and at the end of the day, no company wants to know they've turned away a customer who will go and spend their money on somewhere else.

what i want to know is, does anyone think this will work? and if not, is there any advice anyone could give me on how to make my money go as far as it could

if anyones interested, im after a ford focus 1.8 hatchback, preferably 2006-2009

warwicktiger

You think you can appeal to the consience of a car salesman?

Best of luck!

kelevraz

warwicktiger wrote: »

You think you can appeal to the consience of a car salesman?

Best of luck!

well i mean thats kinda half of it

if i told someone hey ill sell you something for less, personally, id find it very hard to then have to tell the person, actually no im gonna charge you full price lol

Guest101

I think you'll have more luck, the more customers are in the showroom.

Perhaps get a couple of friends to have a look around at the same time.

But check the finance document, because most of the time there is a 14 day cooling off period, at which point if you just pay back the money financed, then there is no problem.

kelevraz

Guest101 wrote: »

I think you'll have more luck, the more customers are in the showroom.

Perhaps get a couple of friends to have a look around at the same time.

But check the finance document, because most of the time there is a 14 day cooling off period, at which point if you just pay back the money financed, then there is no problem.

thats what i thought, but then once i sign the agreement, am i not obligated to pay the total price that i would have to pay at the end of the agreement? if i did that, isnt there a chance that i could end up even worse than paying cash? coz i would have to repay the total amount that i signed i would be paying back if i had stuck to the agreement

kelevraz

sorry also, when you say more luck depending on how many people are in the showroom, is that because it could potentially make them look BAD if i kick off about it? orr because of some other reason that i dont know

forgotmyname

Kick off about it? lol you think someone will sell you a car if you kick off?

1. He will think your a time waster and leave you sitting there whilst he tends to genuine customers that dont tell lies.

2. Negotiate. £1000 on a £5000 car? Only if the cars £1000 overpriced.

3. Let him come to you? He will be with genuine customers. Not playing childish games.

4. Tell tham its cash. Only if you do really have the cash and going to buy a car.


Call him a crook, im !!!!ing my self laughing now. Are you 12 years old?

Oh yes call him a crook and expect a bigger discount.

They have a set price to sell the car for to be in profit and no matter what you say or do you will NEVER get it for less than that.

Call him a crook and that £5000 car will be £6000 to you. Then when they knobble it and it breaksdown i would say sue me.

londonTiger

never rely on the dealer or any seller to give you impartial advice on what they're selling (unless you know them personally and have your best interest at heart).

I had two experieces, first time round the dealer just lied through his teeth, car was absolutely battered on every panel (scratches and light dents everywhere). Told me it hs full service history and a great runner and that there are people coming in daily to view the car and calling about it so I better be quick.

Lucky escape I walked away after sensing BS.

Second time round I got my brother to phone up a dealer he knows to sell me a car. I told him my budget is £2K and guess what? He tried to sell me a 1700 car for 2000, because he knew that's what I'm willing to part with.

I haggled it down to 1800 with the help of my brother and walked away with it.

Guest101

kelevraz wrote: »

thats what i thought, but then once i sign the agreement, am i not obligated to pay the total price that i would have to pay at the end of the agreement? if i did that, isnt there a chance that i could end up even worse than paying cash? coz i would have to repay the total amount that i signed i would be paying back if i had stuck to the agreement

Like i say double check the agreement, but - under the consumer credit act, you can cancel the finance with-in 5 days (from the day after it was signed) - it is infact more common for credit agreements to have even longer cooling off periods. At this point the finance is cancelled (and you have zero liability) and you should be given the option to continue the deal as a cash purchase - no sales person wants to lose the whole sale.

Doing this towards the end of June is your best bet, as that is the end of Q2. The sales person will want to hit his bonus.

You should then, though i cannot guarantee this, be able to get the discount you seek. As a general guide towards the end of Q2 is best, if they operate a half year bonus, they'll be desperate to get it.

Guest101

kelevraz wrote: »

sorry also, when you say more luck depending on how many people are in the showroom, is that because it could potentially make them look BAD if i kick off about it? orr because of some other reason that i dont know

No don't kick off, but you can haggle abit more. If the sales person see other customers there waiting, he'll want to get you signed up quick, and you to walk away happy, as this is great PR for him.

Causing a scene won't help, well most of the time it won't.

kelevraz

forgotmyname wrote: »

Kick off about it? lol you think someone will sell you a car if you kick off?

1. He will think your a time waster and leave you sitting there whilst he tends to genuine customers that dont tell lies.

2. Negotiate. £1000 on a £5000 car? Only if the cars £1000 overpriced.

3. Let him come to you? He will be with genuine customers. Not playing childish games.

4. Tell tham its cash. Only if you do really have the cash and going to buy a car.


Call him a crook, im !!!!ing my self laughing now. Are you 12 years old?

Oh yes call him a crook and expect a bigger discount.

They have a set price to sell the car for to be in profit and no matter what you say or do you will NEVER get it for less than that.

Call him a crook and that £5000 car will be £6000 to you. Then when they knobble it and it breaksdown i would say sue me.

there is always one person on forums with a high post count who obviously spends wayyyy too much time on here, so much so that its made them some kind of fake keyboard warrior

mate, im a big man, your asking if im 12 but your reply looks like something written by an excited schoolkid, if you have nothing to say, then be gone, just because you have 10k posts and more and im sure people on here like you, dont be fooled into thinking you can talk any which way to people that you want, if you look at my post, you can clearly see there's a slightly comical side to it, for someone who talks as though theyre the smartest of the bunch, either you have no sense of humour, in which case, go away, OR, your CLEARLY lacking in the common sense department or you would be able to see this from the post

everyone else came with other replies that were helpful if anything, please, next time dont waste so many characters on replying to someone's post who clearly isnt on the forums ANYWHERE as much as you are, just so you can talk rubbish, its not a good look, no matter what way you think about it, which is probably why no one picked out your post and agreed with it