Help haggling on a new car.

SG27

So, the wife wants a new car as the current one is fairly old and starting to fall to bits. After much discussion and persuasion I have failed to convince her that a nearly one would be better than brand new but as it's her money that she has saved up it's down to her. And I'm fine with that.

Anyway she is thinking of something like a KA or Fiesta or similar. So what is my best approach at get this car at as lower price possible from the dealer?

We have the cash to pay outright but I'm willing to take finance if it will get the car for a better price? I can fairly easily beat the APR on the finance with a couple of decent interest paying current accounts.

I'm thinking of visiting several dealers to ask for the best deal and making them aware I'm doing this. Anyone got any other tips or advice? I've never bought a new car before and the last time my wife did was about 12 years ago.

F1F93

Go on Drivethedeal.com, orangewheels.com, etc, and find the best price for the model you've got. Then go into the dealer and ask for their best price. They will probably say that the best price is the one that they advertise, etc. Show them the quote. If they don't beat it, ask them to add in something else for free, like tinted windows, floor mats, etc. Then ask for the quote in writing, then go to your next nearest dealer and repeat.

Also, just remember that you'll be using these guys a lot. It'd probably be in your best interest to go for a slightly more expensive dealer if it means you'll get a better after sales service.

Good luck!

alleycat`

Concur with the previous post.

Look up the best deals via a few of the more reputable brokers.

This should give you a target price.

Negotiate with the local dealers using that price with whatever margin you think is fair for their time (assuming you are using them for test drives, etc.) as well as the fact having a local dealer is helpful if anything does go wrong.

If you find that you can't get anywhere near to the target price use one of the brokers that source via the main dealer network, where you are the first registered keeper and owner, and not one where you get the logbook 6 months later.

DtD have a good reputation in the space as do Carfile and to some extent Broadspeed.

Where the locals might not be able to give you the target price they are usually able to cough up on extras like mats,flaps,fuel and servicing so you can always try squeeze those bits in lieu of getting the cash off the top.

O and try not to get sucked into "if you sign today" conversations, it's always a good idea to walk away cool off and think about it.

SG27

Thank you both very much. I've looked at some of the brokers and they are quoting good prices so I'll go in armed with these!

SG27

Turns out a friend of my wife worked for ford and can give us a privilege/ambassador voucher for a discount. I've done some googling but can't see what the discount is anyone know? So should I haggle then tell them about the voucher or voucher first and then try to haggle?

F1F93

Find out the discount you get on the voucher first. Then if its still morr expensive than DTD, dont mention the duscount voucher yet. I'd get their best price (aiming to match DTD) and then ask if they can give you an extra discount because of the code. But dont expect much, if anything else off.

Above all, act confident! They will be desperate for a sale. Leave it till the end of the month and theyll be trying to meet their quota, so will be more willing to lower the price.
This is what I did. I mentioned I was very into cars and was training to be an accountant (to get the hint across early that I knew what I was talking about). I got his best price and haggled a bit. I then walked away, asking if he'd honour the price tomorrow (I NEVER make a big purchase immediately - I always wait overnight just in case I change my mind). Dont let him pressure you into a sale. I came back the next day to complete the deal, dependant on finance. I got the lowest APR he was allowed to give (he actually showed me the computer screen, and it came up with an error when he tried to give me a lower APR). I completed the deal that day. Turns out, I was the one to meet his quota for the month, hence why he was so desperate!

Hope this helps!

alleycat`

The "Nissan" equivalent of that Ford offer is 15% and people are limited to 2 "friends" a year.

Oddly i found a case where a broker claimed they could get a new QQ at a cheaper cost than the F&F Nissan deal, which boggles my mind.

If the Voucher from Ford gets you 15% off i doubt you'll do better.

kkgree1

We've bought 2 Fiestas new through Drive the deal and would highly recommend them. We asked the local dealer for their best price but they didn't come close (2k difference). The service packages are good value but you are tied to that dealer so you need to factor this in. We hadn't realised this and decided against it in the end. We use the local dealer for servicing/repairs for both cars and have built up a good rapport with them as we use them enough.

SG27

The drive the deal price is about £2000 different from the dealers website price. Hopefully I can't get them down to this sort of level when taking the voucher into account.

I think the voucher discount varies with each car rather than just a straight % off. I'm quite looking forward to a bit of haggling. Hopefully it will go to plan!

SG27

Off to the dealership! I'll post how I get on.

SG27

Well that went well

He wasn't happy when I told him the online broker price. He basically said those companies aren't very good. You won't get the price quoted etc. I said I would be happy and confident using a reputable one. So after some fairly easily negotiating and a couple of trips for him to talk to the manager we got a very slightly better deal than broker price but for the next model up! So sounds very good. It's on the condition we take the finance but it's 4.2% rather than the 7.2% quoted on the website.

Most of the money off comes from the deposit allowance from taking the finance basically they take about £1300 off just for agreeing to it. Which sounds a bit too good to be true at 4.2%! Can't see any catches though and he assured me there are none and that we could even repay the loan almost immediately of we wanted for around an £80 fee.

Not signed yet. I said we would talk it over and get back to him. Seems to be a very good deal though!