Help with buying used car

Maureen43

Hello All

I need to replace my ailing car and have identified the model I want.

I need to part ex said ailing car too.

How do I go about getting the best deal on both/either the part ex or the price of the new vehicle? What are the best bargaining tools? What percentage of the asking price can I realistically expect them to drop?

Also, as I know nothing about cars, I was thinking of getting an AA vehicle inspection on a car before I buy for peace of mind. Does anyone have better suggestions?

Many thanks
M.

forgotmyname

Best tools is having a desirable part exchange where the dealer knows he can sell quickly and make a tidy profit.

And for you to want to buy a car that nobody else wants in a colour or spec thats hard to sell.

Foxy-Stoat_3

Maureen43 wrote: »

How do I go about getting the best deal on both/either the part ex or the price of the new vehicle?
What are the best bargaining tools?
What percentage of the asking price can I realistically expect them to drop?

Best deal for you would be to sell privately and buy privately but as you need to part exchange look at the price to change rather than focus on the part ex or new car value. No point in getting excited when they offer you £500 more for your part ex on a car that has a £1000 mark up. Which leads on to:

Research...look at ebay and autotrader...find out how much a private/trade sale for the same car is going to cost you and look at a few dealers around your area. Don't look at cars that are 200 miles away that are £100 cheaper....£1000 cheaper then maybe. You may find that a private sale for the car you want is cheaper than a dealer price with your part ex taken into account.

Best tool I can think of apart from research is take someone who knows about cars, if you know a friendly mechanic then you could pay them to view one or two you like at a dealer. You could save the cost of his time a few times over if he can negotiate on the price, or save a lot more if they spot a large bill coming up.

If you have done your research then you will know the market price for the car your after....there is no set percentage discount you can ask for, maybe free tax or mats if it hasn't got them. Unless its over priced but you won't be looking at the over priced cars in the first place.

Good luck