Used Car - main dealer says no price flexibility

Hintza

I don't know whether the price is right or not but this is the second thread in two days and the common theme is not whether the price is a good price or not but the ability to haggle and get some money off.

The salesman would have been better starting at £7.5k and giving a £500 discount.

OP until you know the value of the car you can not haggle!

IamNotAllowedToUseMyName

You can get a rough price guide from the Web from parkers or what car for free. For extra payment they will adjust the price for mileage. That's your starting point - is the price at the top end or above that guide price?

Salesmen will risk you walking out if they think you are hooked and will be back. You need to give them a reason to think lowering the price will change you into adefinite buyer from someone making a choice.

We chose 3 competitive models and told the salesman at each dealer what we were looking at and made it clear that we thought they were the same to us and price plus options were our criteria. All the salesmen chased us on the phone so we hooked them rather than the other way around.
Find another car elsewhere that is a good alternative. Tell the new salesman y your experience and ring the original, tell him that you have found another car, tell him the exact details and why you think it is a good choice for you, but you still quite like the idea of his car at say x hundred pounds less including whatever extras you had already discussed. If he still says no, go elsewhere, allowing him time to talkto his manager.

Some salesmen may be sexist, if you have a male friend you could see if they could get a deal.

knightstyle

Sounds like Evans Halshaw, the price is set by head office and local dealer has to sell at that price. They will add £99 admin and £20 petrol fee as well!
So the only negotiating you can do is to get these removed, get free servicing, get any extras, car mats etc. you want.
If you can find an identical car for sale cheaper in the area within 5 days you can claim the price difference back.

Ozzuk

I found many places would offer a max £250 off prices, I too thought this lack of haggling was odd and discussed it with a dealer, he said with so many people looking at cars on the internet they found it better to put their best price out there at the start. I think you'll likely get much better deals on new cars, especially if taking out finance but I've never had much success with 2nd hand.

colino

It is all down to traders own policy on how they market their cars. If this unknown cars price is fixed at £7000, is that higher or lower than comparable, trader supported cars locally? If it is the same or higher, do they flatter buyers by enhancing the trade-in values or "giving" perceived extras on the sale car?
If it is lower, what's the problem?

funkycoldribena

Nodding_Donkey wrote: »

People wind me up when they want a discount 'just because'. It's a different matter if there is a reason, e.g. faults that weren't mentioned in the advert, but if the car is as described they are just chancers.

You must be a salesmans dream....

motorguy

Midget_Karen wrote: »

I am a serious buyer - I could buy it outright now.

And therein lies most of the problem.

Outright purchase means

• No finance commission for the dealer
• No trade in to make money off
• Little chance of selling extras such as paint protection, GAP insurance, tyre protection, etc.

Technically speaking, you're his worst kind of customer.

Chances are his net profit is somewhere in the region of £300-£500 so its not a big surprise that hes unwilling to give any of that away.

These days dealers have to price the car at the discounted price on the likes of Autotrader just to get the phone to ring, so its probably no surprise he has little or nothing to work with in terms of further discount.

If its a fair price relative to its condition and what other sellers are asking and you're otherwise happy to pay it, i wouldnt get hung up on "having to get a discount".

salubrious

There are plenty of car owners out there driving cars they are unhappy with but had a discount when purchasing

motorguy

funkycoldribena wrote: »

You must be a salesmans dream....

No. I would say hes a realist.

Heres how people generally check their cars these days :-

• Do a search on the like of autotrader for the make model engine miles of car they want.
• Sort by price.
• Ring the cheapest dealer.

So the only way to get the phone to ring is be the cheapest. That only happens if you have already discounted your retail price heavily.

So as has been said, who is the more canny buyer - someone who buys the car at £7,000 with no discount or the person who negotiates £500 off the same car at a different dealers marked up at £8000?

Herzlos

Exactly; my local dealer told me that the vast majority of his customers have already decided to buy the car before turning up, they just arrive and pay, because they've done the browsing already. But if he didn't have them priced competitively to begin with these buyers would be going to whoever was above him in autotrader.

People need to stop fixating on discounts and focus on the actual purchase price. Is it a good deal? Are you happy with what it's actually going to cost?

If it's a car you want at a price you are happy with, are you really willing to walk away over a £200 discount or some free mats?