Share your car haggling tips

Saversammy

StripeyMiata wrote: »

Some people say to go in at the end of the month for new cars and you'll get better deals as the monthly targets have to be met, always thought it was an urban myth but happy to be corrected.

It is a bit of a myth these days, as registrations are all that counts, not sales.

All dealers work to 3 monthly sales targets, and sometimes there is a little extra for each month, but mostly it only matters if it is in that Qtr. Most of us try to hit target way before the end of the quarter, we did our best deals in Feb and early March and are now basically done for the Qtr.

If you leave it too late for the dealer to get a car (most cars are built 'just in time' these days), and register it by the end of Qtr, it won't make any difference.

Sammy

Saversammy

skivenov wrote: »

Second hand - when they turn an offer down, especially if they think you're wasting their time - whip a roll of cash out of your pocket and say "I'll take this somewhere else then". Soon turns their greed glands on.

If this advice is for private sales, it might work.

If for a dealership, it won't make a toss worth of difference.

Sammy

forzaitalia

A lot of car salesmen are incredibly polite and helpful. Yes of course they want to make a sale - they are in the business of selling cars!

I usually spot a car I like and then ask them for their best price. With my last car they knocked off £1000. They did try and sell us the cleaning kit, but say no, it just isn't worth it. The GAP insurance can be sourced online and usually costs half the price they quote.

We were just ready to sign for a Skoda Citigo when I asked how much the Satnav/media player cost as well as rear parking sensors. The salesman said he could throw those in for nothing! Yes I know they're not that expensive, but still nice to get them for free. I think Skoda staff are the best - everyone is friendly, not just the sales staff. The worst? Vauxhall - rude and unhelpful. We walked out.

OddballJamie

forzaitalia wrote: »

A lot of car salesmen are incredibly polite and helpful. Yes of course they want to make a sale - they are in the business of selling cars!

I usually spot a car I like and then ask them for their best price. With my last car they knocked off £1000. They did try and sell us the cleaning kit, but say no, it just isn't worth it. The GAP insurance can be sourced online and usually costs half the price they quote.

We were just ready to sign for a Skoda Citigo when I asked how much the Satnav/media player cost as well as rear parking sensors. The salesman said he could throw those in for nothing! Yes I know they're not that expensive, but still nice to get them for free. I think Skoda staff are the best - everyone is friendly, not just the sales staff. The worst? Vauxhall - rude and unhelpful. We walked out.

If they can still chuck things in, then you haven't screwed them down enough on the price yet.

If you aren't embarrassed when making an offer then it's not low enough.

barnumdog

I managed to get a good deal from my local VW dealer for a 13 month old Golf GTD
I walked away we were unable to close a £500 gap, and he rang me the next day, I still didnt budge
I rang him later that week and got my extra £500 part ex, and got them to install factory fitted bluetooth, ipod, and 2 years free servicing

bye_bye_band_G

I have just bought a brand new Fiesta, list price £11800 for £9000, which I thought was quite good.

First of all I took out the Ford finance deal on offer even though I was a cash buyer. It got me £950 off the car, but I phoned up and paid the finance off in full after a week.

I did tell the dealer I was going to Renault too, which encouraged him to knock a bit off, but really I just wanted to show him I was happy to walk away, which I did. I then came home and got prices for my exact car from Drive the Deal and Car Wow (both reputable internet sales, and both would have delivered to my home). Drive the Deal came in at slightly under £9000 and I really do think that was rock bottom. Armed with this price I went back to my local Ford dealer, asked him to match it and I wasn't surprised that he couldn't quite match it but I felt it was fair to give them the business as they'd spent a lot of time with me, and I didn't mind spending just a bit more to support my local dealership.

They'd come down over £1000 from their previous price. So don't be afraid to use your local dealer to test drive and choose, then walk away and do the internet research to find just how cheaply it can be bought for. Then give them the opportunity to reconsider their price.

I didn't part ex my previous car either, I sold on ebay (the ad was £15) which was pretty easy actually and got me a better price than either part exing or webuyanycar.com

BeenThroughItAll

PicassoMatisse wrote: »

Never let the dealer arrange finance. Always be a cash buyer. If you haven't enough cash get a personal loan from another source. You will then own the car outright-if the dealer sorts out the finance he/she will be paid commission from the finance company which will be included in the finance agreement and you will be paying that dealer's commission. Also, if you get finance from the dealer, you will be entering into a HP agreement and will not own the car until you have made the final payment on that agreement. If you sell the car you must clear the HP agreement, whereas if you take out a personal loan you can do what you like with the car. If you no longer need the car, you can sell it to whoever you choose, settle the personal loan or continue to make the payments and leave it to run to the end or until you decide to clear it. It's the bottom line that counts. If you take out finance, work out how much the vehicle will cost in total; don't just look at the monthly payment or the interest rate-personal loans use APR while HP agreements use Flat Rate which will always appear to be lower than the APR. To compare like with like double the Flat Rate and add 0.5% to give you a close approximation to the true APR.

Or, do let them arrange finance as you will get a better deal. Then use your cash to pay off the finance within the first couple of weeks.

Saversammy

StripeyMiata wrote: »

1) Never sign on the day, walk away. You'll start getting phone calls/emails the following days with better deals.

2) Don't buy the paint protection, GAP insurance, Tyre Insurance, Alloy Wheel Insurance. If you want paint protection, tell them you know they buy the kit for £50, they'll do it a lot cheaper once they are rumbled. If you want GAP insurance, Tyre Insurance, Alloy Wheel Insurance third parties do it cheaper.

3) If trading in get a value for your car in your head that you think is fair stick to it. If it has slight parking dents, you may get the old "ohh, that door needs a respray @ £500" scam. A dent (with unbroken) paint is usually £50 a panel to fix. If they start knocking value off for scuffed alloys tell them to !!!! off. Nobody cares about scuffed alloys these days, and if they do they are cheap to repair.

4) If you have decided on one car, play dealers off on each each other, even if they are owned by the same company. Most Ford dealers are owned by Trustford were I live but was able to get my local dealer and the one in Belfast to haggle with. At the end of the day each dealer has targets.

5) Salesmen are not your friend. The one who was friendliest to me, and when I took the kids to test drive the car gave them balloons and sweets, was the one who gave me the worst deal.

6) Kind of like number one, but take your time. There are loads of cars out here.

I ended up with my target trade in, £2000 off list price and 2.9%APR on a Ford Fiesta. Was 4.9%APR but they dropped to 2.9% when I walked away.

2. You wanna know how much the average Sales person gets if you don't buy the Paint Protection etc? About £30-50. How interested do you think they will be for that?

Work with them, a lot of the paint protection (do check the one you are offered out carefully) is worth having, and if you realise your salesperson wants it in the deal (so they can earn a bit more) they will work with you to get it cheaper than list.

We sell it for £249 retail, that is £207 real money after VAT. Dealership pays say £50 for a kit, and another £30 for the application, and lets say £30 to the Salesperson. So they make about £80 profit on it? So what, do you work for free?

The real issue with this is the !!!!!! places that charge way too much for it. I know a BMW place that charges £699 just because they think the customers can afford it!!!

As for the Tyre and Alloy, well I would not even try to sell it, bad value I think, but Write off cover can be a very good idea, again depends on price. Yes, the advice on this is buy if off the internet as its cheaper, which of course it is, but do remember that it is quite possible for a scam company to set up and take your money and not actually be around when you need them.

Look up "ghost broking" on Google for an idea of what can happen if you just simply buy blind online.


3. Well, hopefully you mean look in Parkers guide, webuyanycar etc, rather than just make up a nonsense figure and stick to it.


4. This does not work with me, but may work with others. If people do this to me I simply don't play. If they are not buying Paint protection or PCP then I stand to make about £30 after tax, can't be arsed to deal with idiots for that, sorry.


5. Agree with this, just bear in mind we are not *all* your enemy, to be lied to, disrespected, and talked down to. *Some* of us are normal decent people, who react better to some pleasant interaction rather than abuse :-). Also try to remember the Salesperson may have a different agenda to the dealership, and it may be closer to yours than you think :-)


6. There are, but do the research as you say, and if you are after a car that is rarer than hens teeth, either change the car you want or be prepared to ignore most of these tips -)

StripeyMiata

We sell it for £249 retail, that is £207 real money after VAT. Dealership pays say £50 for a kit, and another £30 for the application, and lets say £30 to the Salesperson. So they make about £80 profit on it? So what, do you work for free?

That's a lot cheaper than I was quoted, when you are getting close to £200 ish I think it might be worth a punt.


I was getting quoted:


£540 (Gardx)- FIAT Panda (think it was a pricing mistake actually)
£400 (Autoglym) - VW Beetle
£320 (Diamondbrite) - Ford Fiesta
£395 (Supagard) - Suzuki Swift
£399 (Gardx) - Renault Twingo (new RWD model)

3. Well, hopefully you mean look in Parkers guide, webuyanycar etc, rather than just make up a nonsense figure and stick to it.

Agreed, I got a friend in the trade to value my car, he based it on the GAP price which was £2400 (perfect) and he knocked £400 of it for a target of £2000. And he was pretty much spot on. From what I remember WBAC valued it at £2200 but I knew from dealing with then before (which I was happy with) they would have knocked a few hundred quid off the car because of the parking dents/ripped seats.

Saversammy

PicassoMatisse wrote: »

Never let the dealer arrange finance. Always be a cash buyer. If you haven't enough cash get a personal loan from another source. You will then own the car outright-if the dealer sorts out the finance he/she will be paid commission from the finance company which will be included in the finance agreement and you will be paying that dealer's commission. Also, if you get finance from the dealer, you will be entering into a HP agreement and will not own the car until you have made the final payment on that agreement. If you sell the car you must clear the HP agreement, whereas if you take out a personal loan you can do what you like with the car. If you no longer need the car, you can sell it to whoever you choose, settle the personal loan or continue to make the payments and leave it to run to the end or until you decide to clear it. It's the bottom line that counts. If you take out finance, work out how much the vehicle will cost in total; don't just look at the monthly payment or the interest rate-personal loans use APR while HP agreements use Flat Rate which will always appear to be lower than the APR. To compare like with like double the Flat Rate and add 0.5% to give you a close approximation to the true APR.

This could be really bad advice. Never say never with anything, just look into it in detail.

For a new car purchase, many car companies offer 'Deposit Contributions" I have seen them up to £2700 recently, and have dealt with many of £750-£2000 myself.

At the simplest level, you simply sign up for finance and pay it off within 14 days. You may pay a very small 'daily charge" for the few days you have it, but this is rarely more than a few quid.

Now, commission. In the past, this has been substantial, but in the last few years it has pretty much gone and on most new car deals, there is none anyway as the finance is subsidised.

APR has to be quoted for all loans and HP, Flat rate will sometimes also be quoted, and there are clearly dealers still abusing the system, but with the new FCA and TCF rules just coming in, these will soon go away as well.