Buying a used car... what's a good haggle benchmark?

mobbonkhouse

Hello everyone,

I am looking to buy a used car this weekend and just wanted to see if anyone could give me a bit of advice about how much I should be looking to trim off the price.

So, the two cars I am interested in are..

1997 R Reg MAZDA 323 1.5 GXi
3 Doors, Manual 5 speed, Hatchback, Petrol, 27,066 miles, Metallic Silver, MOT-08-2008. 1 owner from new, air bag double, airconditioning, alarm, alloys, Central Door Locking, fog lights, FSH, Heated Rear Screen, Long Mot, long tax, Low mileage, power steering, Rear Wash/Wipe, warranty, Electric mirrors, Electric windows, Electric sunroof, Radio/Cassette. Insurance Group:9,


1998 S Reg FORD Fiesta 1.25 Zetec
5 Doors, Manual 5 speed, Hatchback, Petrol, 56,975 miles, Red, MOT-11-2008. 2 former keepers, airbag single, alarm, alloys, Central Door Locking, fog lights, FSH, Heated Rear Screen, Low mileage, power steering, Rear Wash/Wipe, warranty, Folding rear seats, Radio/Cassette, CD Multichanger, Long Mot. Insurance Group:6,

They are both on at £1995 and have a Parkers price of £1200 ish.

Now, lets assume they are both in good nick and I am paying with cash...what should I be looking to knock them down to? List price? £1500? £1990 and a set of fluffy dice?

I am looking forward to the haggling, I just need a bit of guidance!

Many thanks in advance!


Edit: I couldn't find any info about a good bench-mark for used car haggling on here, so maybe other people could share their stories?

harveybobbles

The Mazda 323 will be high insurance. Low miles for the year - check with caution its not had a hair cut.

The Fiesta 1.25 is a good engine!

Mazda will last longer, but the Fiesta will be easier on the pocket when its tims for parts etc

mobbonkhouse

harveybobbles wrote: »

The Mazda 323 will be high insurance. Low miles for the year - check with caution its not had a hair cut.

The Fiesta 1.25 is a good engine!

Mazda will last longer, but the Fiesta will be easier on the pocket when its tims for parts etc

Thanks for the tips...I'm going to have a good check over the MOT certs for the Mazda.

From casting my eye over the forum, aren't you in the trade Harvey? Go on, give me a clue, what do you reckon I could get them down to?

harveybobbles

Yeah i am. Been in the trade for 11 years. Buying, selling, doing up cars from £50 to £25,000.

The Fiesta I'd say is early teens. But bear in mind that any trader you buy a car from wants to see some kind of margin out of it.

The mazda sounds good on paper - one owner, low miles. Has it had some old guy driving it an riding the clutch.

Always use your first impression!

harveybobbles

Just done a search on Autotrader.co.uk for Mazda 323's. There is a nice pretty blue metalic Y reg 5 door one for less money.

Didn't know they did them as a 3 door to be honest!!

Anyway, see how you go and keep us updated...

Crabman

mobbonkhouse wrote: »

From casting my eye over the forum, aren't you in the trade Harvey?

The signature gives him away

Just checking you've seen Martin's Article on New Car Buying (incl. haggling)

harveybobbles

Maybe I should change my signature to a line that Swiss Tony used to come out with on Harry Enfield................

harveybobbles

As for haggling - no one haggles with me. The screen price is the price I want! Simple rule!

Most people come in wanting free tax, free mats, free tank of fuel, brand new tryes etc etc... THEN want money off! Cheeky bar stewards!!!

Jonesya

Might be worth finding out when the next major service is due and what is required - is there a cam belt change due?. If you can't get money off then you might get something back by asking them to do the major service or by bringing it forward. That'd assuming it's a garage, if buying private you could use it as a bargaining chip when negotiating.

mobbonkhouse

Harveybobbles - thanks for the info about the Y reg. The thing is, I can really only go quite local with my search, mainly because my K reg Cavalier is on the verge of kaput and I need a car for work. So I am trying to do as much research as possible on the net so that come the weekend I have a battle plan! I'm not going to rush into anything if it's not right though.

Jonesya - they're both from the same garage, but I will keep the question about the service in mind.

Crabman - thanks for the link, I did have a little flick through it and there is some interesting stuff in there....i'm looking forward to having a bit of a haggle, I might even did a bomber jacket out of the back of the wardrobe!



Oh and...harveybobbles, where's your sig from then?

mobbonkhouse

Well, just to let you know how it went, I am now the proud owner of the Mazda 323 and very happy I am too!

I got him down to £1650 from £1995 (taxed and tested until August next year), which isn't an amazing result, but it's one I'm happy with.

I thought I would try being a bit sneaky so I scribbled down some details of similar cars from all over the country, with the Mazda and the Fiesta in the middle...I then circled a couple, did some more scribbling, folded it up a few times to make it look worn, basically to give him the idea that he was one of a long list I was looking at. It seemed to work, I said I was looking for the Mazda and he took the list from my hand as if to work out what Mazda I was talking about...he then asked me later on if I was looking at many cars.

We chatted about p/x on my Cavalier and he gave it some spiel about how he would scrap it for me, but then when it came to the signing over I suggested that he wouldn't need the service history, he then blustered a little bit and said it might come in handy.

Anyhoo..the haggle was pleasant enough, there wasn't really anything to fault on the car and the history was immaculate.

So, all in all a fun way to spend a morning, I just hope the wheel don't fall off within 2 weeks!

Thanks to you all for your advice.