Dealing with Car Salesmen

BoxerfanUK

pvt wrote: »

-Don't worry about being embarrassed;
-Don't worry about offering a price that's too low and that will make you look silly;
-Do your homework and know where else you can get the car for that price or cheaper - take a printout with you. If it's not comparable (smaller engine/lower spec) let him point that out, and then say it doesn't matter to you;
-Be prepared to walk away - you can always come back;
-Consider finance, they sometimes offer a big discount for this - and you can cancel it after the deal is done;
-If he says he's going off to ask his manager, ask if it wouldn't just be simpler for you to go with him and cut the messenger out.

Just remember you have the upper hand, and the deal can always be struck by you when you decide you've got a decent offer. The salesman is never going to say he's changed his mind and isn't going to sell you the car any more is he? In other words, you can keep pushing until the deal won't work for him, and then back off to the previous offer and do the deal - but the salesman can't do the same, he ever knows when you're gonna walk away and not come back.

Good luck and have fun.

Good advice PVT. Did exactly that with my current car ended up negotiating with the manager and salesman together.

At the end of the day you do the deal if you feel it's right for you. As I said earlier, I ordered a new car today and got a deal I was happy with. I could have got even cheaper If I was prepared to wait longer, got a pre-reg and sold my current car privately but didn't want the hassle of the latter so did the deal I was happiest with for the least hassle and the car coming in two weeks.

A couple of good sites

1) Carwow http://www.carwow.co.uk/?mkwid=sFP2LJTnr_dc&pcrid=47566553752&pkw=carwow&pmt=e&gclid=Cj0KEQjw_IKiBRD7rPqut_OZ4qgBEiQASm4GAuhBO2e0oWoIgl70UzTcI1chtB6ISIgk6IMqMDCmtiIaAs058P8HAQ

Input details of the car you want and they invite main dealers to submit to you via e-mail their best prices. Six Toyota dealers e-mailed prices to me with a fair fluctuation but all quite a bit less than full retail. Didn't use any of them, but played the best price off with my local Toyota dealer.

2) Autoebid. http://www.autoebid.com/

Not really for part ex's, but the best new car prices I've found to date.

DoctorFoster

OddballJamie wrote: »

Popped in my local Vauxhall dealer after work today for some goodies and found out the lifetime warranty is being canned for new customers at the end of this year. So don't hang about if you do want a new Zafira.

That's worrying, customer service is going to drop or they know they have a future problem with something in their range.

OddballJamie

DoctorFoster wrote: »

That's worrying, customer service is going to drop or they know they have a future problem with something in their range.

Officially the story is most people get their cars on PCP over three years then trade them or hand them back so only a small percentage are taking full advantage of the warranty.

Unofficially it looks like it's harming their new car sales as people want to keep their cars longer.

At least it means there will be a few more used Vauxhalls about with service history.

I was assured that any car already included in the Lifetime Warranty will still be honored. Had mine four years and just hit 25,000 on the clock, another 12 years to go then.

greenbee

BJV wrote: »

Not bad but please remember that sales people are just human they will of been trained so that they can gain your trust and so that you feel some connection. This is because when you trust them they are more likely to be able to convince you to buy.

Pity no one told this to the guy I saw yesterday. He was so obnoxious and insulting that I walked out without buying a car I'd fully intended to buy when I went in there.

arcon5

I wouldn't bother getting a quote from webuyanycar - let alone use their prices in any kind of negotiation.

motorguy

arcon5 wrote: »

I wouldn't bother getting a quote from webuyanycar - let alone use their prices in any kind of negotiation.

Why not?

It will give you a raw trade figure and therefore you can see how the dealer is performing relative to that.

pvt

If you need a raw trade figure then it's probably better to buy a copy of Parker's guide and show that to them.

Traders aren't going to take figures offered by wefleeceanyone.com, and their myriad lookalikes, seriously.

Exemplar

pvt wrote: »

If you need a raw trade figure then it's probably better to buy a copy of Parker's guide and show that to them.

Traders aren't going to take figures offered by wefleeceanyone.com, and their myriad lookalikes, seriously.

And having spent many years in the trade we used to call Parkers 'Hans Christian Anderson' as it's a fairy tale.

'My car is worth £X because Parkers says so'...

The real tip for dealing with trade in values is to look on Autotrader (other sites exist) and look for your car and base yours on the minimum available.

As for dealing with salesman I found honesty works. My BIL wanted a new Astra 1.4 Coupe so asked me to do all the negotiations etc. So I researched, researched, researched. So when we went into a dealer we were able to say 'this is the car, spec etc and this is what we want to pay OTR'. The sales guy went away and 10 minutes later we deposited.

Simples.

Hintza

alcot33uk wrote: »

So I researched, researched, researched.

This is the vital element but most people can't be bothered doing this legwork.

motorguy

pvt wrote: »

If you need a raw trade figure then it's probably better to buy a copy of Parker's guide and show that to them.

Traders aren't going to take figures offered by wefleeceanyone.com, and their myriad lookalikes, seriously.

You're not grasping what i'm saying. The WBAC figure is not to try to beat the dealer with - its to let the O/P know how much better the dealer is doing than the rawest of raw trade prices.

So if WBAC are saying £1600, then a dealer bid of £2000 sounds about right. If WBAC are saying £2000 then the dealer isnt laying a very big egg by offering the same.

As has already been stated if you rock up with a copy of Parkers you're going to look a bit of an idiot.