Small family Cars Haggling and prices?

zef88

Hi I'm looking to get a small family car diesel with low mileage (<20,000 miles/ ex demo). I do about 16,000 miles per year.

I'm looking at a 13 plate 1.6tdi ford focus, 13 plate 1.6 tdi seat leon and 13 plate 1.6 tdi vw golf

the golf is listed at £13,800 the ford and seat listed at ~£12,500

Which cars would you recommend and how much would you expect to haggle off each car (not sure id different manufactures will give bigger discounts?)

Any help greatly appreciated.

Paully232000

I just bought a 13 plate car and got 10% off the list price and also got service inclusive added to it which is a service package until the car is 5 years old, floor mats and some other bits and pieces included.

If you cant get money off, ask them can they add some other incentives to get you to buy. Also taking finance apparently helps in the negotiation, and remember to haggle the finance APR as well if you are taking it. Obviously comparing that to any loan you could/may get instead.

jimjames

If you're doing 16k miles a year I'd question the wisdom of buying a low mileage car as you'll lose more in depreciation than getting a high miler to start with. You're paying a premium for that low mileage that you'll then lose by putting it above average.

zef88

Thansk for the advice Jimjames I was thinking the same but I plan on keeping the car for at least 4 years. What sort of mileage car would you suggest?

Any reliable diesel car suggestions?

vansboy

http://www.cargiant.co.uk/Volkswagen/Golf/results-Volkswagen-Golf.asp

VW has 'reputation' of being better than some brands, theres a few Golfs there for you.

You wont haggle on the prices at that place, though.

Personally if you were to save a £1000 up front by getting something with say 30k miles on it, you will still be selling at only 75k in 4 years time - not a scary mileage to anyone, when they come to buy it.

You'll get lots of suggestions on what to buy, but it's best you have a look and try for yourself.

And watch the trim levels and any options fitted, which may have cost £$£$ for the first owner, but won't be worth a great deal more in selling price, but nice if you can get a well spec car, instead of standard production model.

VB

fatbelly

zef88 wrote: »

Hi I'm looking to get a small family car diesel with low mileage (<20,000 miles/ ex demo). I do about 16,000 miles per year.

I'm looking at a 13 plate 1.6tdi ford focus, 13 plate 1.6 tdi seat leon and 13 plate 1.6 tdi vw golf

the golf is listed at £13,800 the ford and seat listed at ~£12,500

If that's the new model seat at that price I'd be going for that, I think.

motorguy

vansboy wrote: »

http://www.cargiant.co.uk/Volkswagen/Golf/results-Volkswagen-Golf.asp

VW has 'reputation' of being better than some brands, theres a few Golfs there for you.

You wont haggle on the prices at that place, though.

Personally if you were to save a £1000 up front by getting something with say 30k miles on it, you will still be selling at only 75k in 4 years time - not a scary mileage to anyone, when they come to buy it.

You'll get lots of suggestions on what to buy, but it's best you have a look and try for yourself.

And watch the trim levels and any options fitted, which may have cost £$£$ for the first owner, but won't be worth a great deal more in selling price, but nice if you can get a well spec car, instead of standard production model.

VB

?????

The two 13 plate golfs that car giant have are lot more expensive than the ones the o/p is seeing?

motorguy

zef88 wrote: »

Hi I'm looking to get a small family car diesel with low mileage (<20,000 miles/ ex demo). I do about 16,000 miles per year.

I'm looking at a 13 plate 1.6tdi ford focus, 13 plate 1.6 tdi seat leon and 13 plate 1.6 tdi vw golf

the golf is listed at £13,800 the ford and seat listed at ~£12,500

Which cars would you recommend and how much would you expect to haggle off each car (not sure id different manufactures will give bigger discounts?)

Any help greatly appreciated.

Of those three the golf is the best all rounder. The focus dynamically probably drives better though.

The focus is in the process of / just had a facelift, so you're not buying a current model there, whereas with the other two you are.

If you really like the Leon, a lot came with a complementary upgrade of LED lights, and upgraded sound / nav so keep an eye out for those.

I would definitely have the golf.

Dont get too hung up on the amount of discount - view the sticker price relative to what other dealers are asking. I would rather have £100 off a car listed at £14,000 than £1,000 off the same car listed at £15,000 elsewhere.

At that price point and age, you should be able to buy from a main dealer for a competitive price. They will have the cleanest, best prepared and potentially lower miles cars compared to supermarkets which tend to get the ones the main dealers dont want.

Also supermarkets will add on stuff for "admin", valet and servicing - all stuff a franchised dealer will include in their price.

I personally wouldnt go searching for a higher miles car.

The above is all based on my experience last year when doing exactly the same - i ended up going for the golf.

At that stage it was the last of the mk6 golfs (would have loved a mk7) and they were all over the place at £12995. All dealers were offering an easy £500 off, but had to work v hard to get more than that. Managed to get another hundred off the one i wanted.

Watch for when they were registered. At that time the ones i was looking at were reg Mar -> Oct 2012. I went for the younged one possible as it means a longer manufacturers warranty, and there was no difference in price

motorguy

vansboy wrote: »

And watch the trim levels and any options fitted, which may have cost £$£$ for the first owner, but won't be worth a great deal more in selling price, but nice if you can get a well spec car, instead of standard production model.

VB

Typically these cars will all be ex lease / hire car / "management" cars so will be standard spec with just metallic paint.

Any cars that arent will be because they're ex privately owned or dealer demo cars for which you will typically pay considerably more.

motorguy

fatbelly wrote: »

If that's the new model seat at that price I'd be going for that, I think.

Nice enough car but falls behind the focus and golf overall. Also, will be worth less come resale time.

motorguy

zef88 wrote: »

Thansk for the advice Jimjames I was thinking the same but I plan on keeping the car for at least 4 years. What sort of mileage car would you suggest?

Any reliable diesel car suggestions?

Dont go for a higher miles one.

All these cars will be ex lease / rental so should be around 13,000 miles. Higher miles ones will be more likely to have scratches, dings and will "feel" their miles. They'll also be less likely to be stocked by a main dealer.