Buying a new car

True_Blues

I'm looking to buy a new / nearly new car and looking for some advise in negotiating with the dealers. I'm not new to owning cars but I change my car very infrequently and not had a lot of experience buying from dealers, plus negotiating is not my strongest asset.

I'm now in a fortunate position where I can afford a decent amount to buy a car and have arranged with a couple of dealers to have test drives. There was a possibility that I could have had the JLR family discount but that has not worked out, which is unfortunate as a 20% discount on the list price would have been perfect.

Is there a typical discount range that you would expect to get, are there any things that they can easily throw in to sweeten the deal, and are then any best times to agree the deal (e.g. end of month)?

Many thanks for your help & thoughts

loskie

just look at carwow or drive the deal

neilmcl

If you can't get near 20% off a new car then you're not trying hard enough

As above have a look at the brokers such as CarWow and DTD but also consider finance as the dealers/manufacturers will offer extra discount if you take out their finance deals. It's quite common practice to take out finance, get the discount, then cancel within 14 days without penalty or you can simple settle the finance with very little cost in terms of interest.

worried_jim

I think JLR will still offer you 20%. (and a reach around)

tacpot12

You should be able to get 20% at JLR as they are desperate for business.

When negotiating your best tool is our willingness to walk away from a deal that is not good enough.

Victor Kiam tells the tale of a friend who walked into a dealer, said "I want this model in this colour and spec. and will pay $X, my offer is good for the next five minutes." X was about 20% less than the retail price for the car. The salesman accepted the deal after a conversation with the sales manager because in business time is money, and the less time they spend selling to you is more time they can spend selling to someone who isn't prepared to walk away from a deal that isn't good enough.

One of the oldest tricks in the book is that a salesman leaving the office and coming back saying "my sales manager won't accept the deal" when the salesman hasn't even been to see the sales manager, he's just been to get a cup of coffee while you stew.

Make sure you are clear what you expect from the dealer before discussing a price. I would ask for the normal Pre-delivery Inspection and a Full Tank of Fuel. Expect to pay Road Fund License on top of the agreed price but nothing else.

Not having a trade-in makes is easier, but if you do, get a firm price on your trade-in first.

True_Blues

Thank you all for your quick responses. I have a few questions based on your responses (sorry if these are obvious)


Do you genuinely think that JLR will get near 20%?
What is a reach around?


I am prepared to walk away from a deal as I am not desperate for a specific brand. I did have a quick look on carwow but the offers that they have sent are all on finance, I have been saving for this so do not need the costly interest however I was going to keep quiet about that until the price is agreed.

neilmcl

True_Blues wrote: »

What is a reach around?

I suggest you google that one yourself :rotfl:

Arklight

Just get a load of quotes from Carwow and then hammer it out with the dealers. You'll find that there's a floor below which they won't go for each model. This means you can be better off choosing a high spec car and negotiating a lot off, rather than a low spec one you can only shave a little from.

True_Blues

neilmcl wrote: »

I suggest you google that one yourself :rotfl:

I think that I've been working abroad for too long - that just broke my profanity filter

True_Blues

Arklight wrote: »

Just get a load of quotes from Carwow and then hammer it out with the dealers. You'll find that there's a floor below which they won't go for each model. This means you can be better off choosing a high spec car and negotiating a lot off, rather than a low spec one you can only shave a little from.

I'll spend some more time with carwow - I haven't been impressed so far.
I think that you are right about going for a higher spec, I was looking at the SE and HSE ranges with the intention of looking at the SE with some additions, by the time I'd added them I might as well go for the HSE which as you say might be easier to negotiate rather than a spec'd up SE

Goudy

I'm not answering the reach around question, but discounts will depend on a few things, mainly what and how your buy.


The best you'll get off a new Dacia is around £100, but you'll have to work for that, other manufacturers will usually offer a bit more if, like suggested above you search around the likes of Carwow.



Generally cars on finance or PCP deals tend to attract "offers".
These can be in the form of deposit contributions or quite often you can negotiate a better interest rate.


There are many that have taken a car on a PCP deal with a large deposit contribution, then settled the finance a month later. I've done it myself, it worked out as a 4K discount on a 20k car, but you need to check you won't be overly penalised by settling early or you can say goodbye to a large slice of savings.



General rule of thumb is, if you don't ask you won't get.
Be cheeky but with a smile!


In regards to extras, ask for everything and see how far you get.



There are quite a few discount schemes you might qualify for due to where you work.
Obvious ones are military, police, fire service, NHS, teachers, prison service, but there are some odd ones about.
I'm seen BT and M&S staff discounts, British Cycling members discounts, even an Aston Villa season ticket holder discount in the past.


Some, but no all of the above will offer the same deals to family members, you can often stretch the term "family", I got my partners son's girlfriend a NHS discount through Fiat Privilege, but it's me that's the NHS Slave.

Dealers won't tell you about them, you need to ask. 20% discount isn't uncommon on these schemes.