How much can you reduced listed price of a car realistically speaking?

di-di-di-dah-di-dah

I am going to be looking for a new car. I know you should never pay a listed price but frankly speaking I have no idea what is a "good price" realistically speaking what really are dealers willing to go down when it comes to price. Is getting 10% of a success or just a start? I heard stories of people buying £27k car for under £17k with some clever haggling tricks and at right time of a year. Is that normal or were they exceptions I shouldn't even look at as possibilities.

I'm open to any tricks and tips here from you guys. I have read a guide online but would love to know what really is getting lucky and was is normal to expect?

Car_54

What Car magazine list "best" prices, or at least they used to.

vikingaero

Look on Carfile or Drive The Deal for what is achievable. You can go further by timing it - end of month/quarter/year end.


About the only way to get a good discount is via employee/family schemes that car manufacturers run.

Arklight

If you use Carwow or something like it you'll soon get a feel for achievable prices.

One thing that becomes apparent is that there is a floor for each brand they won't go below. I suspect this is set by the manufacturer to protect brand reputation.

In my experience this is usually at absolute most 10% below the RRP of the lowest spec model.

What this means in practice is that you're better off going for a higher spec model and aiming to pay the lowest spec RRP, than aiming for a particular percentage off across the board.

Car_54

Arklight wrote: »

One thing that becomes apparent is that there is a floor for each brand they won't go below. I suspect this is set by the manufacturer to protect brand reputation.

In my experience this is usually at absolute most 10% below the RRP of the lowest spec model.

If you have evidence of such illegal activity you should report it to the OFT.

AdrianC

di-di-di-dah-di-dah wrote: »

I am going to be looking for a new car. I know you should never pay a listed price but frankly speaking I have no idea what is a "good price" realistically speaking what really are dealers willing to go down when it comes to price. Is getting 10% of a success or just a start? I heard stories of people buying £27k car for under £17k with some clever haggling tricks and at right time of a year. Is that normal or were they exceptions I shouldn't even look at as possibilities.

I'm open to any tricks and tips here from you guys. I have read a guide online but would love to know what really is getting lucky and was is normal to expect?

It depends as much on the car as anything.

If you're after something relatively unloved, ideally soon to be facelifted or replaced, and are flexible on spec - then there's going to be some serious bargains if you can find a car that suits you in stock somewhere. Especially if it's a cancelled order to a spec that's a bit off-whack, maybe missing some "must-have" option or in a colour combination that would make most buyers wince.

OTOH, if you're after something in-demand for which there's going to be a factory order, and a delay before an available build slot, then you aren't going to get much at all off list.

Scrapit

Pre registered cars is a great way of getting a huge discount. You do effectively buy a brand new delivery miles "used" car though, you will likely be 2nd owner in the v5. Not sure why car54 thinks a minimum price of selling is illegal.

neilmcl

I agree with the above, it depends on the manufacturer and car in question.

For example you wont get any discount on a Dacia whereas you'd be doing something wrong if you couldn't get near 20% with a BMW. Also a lot will depend if you're willing to take out finance as a lot of manufacturer's will offer decent contributions if you take out their finance packages, fear not though as you can cancel them within 14 days or settle shortly after and still keep the discounts.

neilmcl

Car_54 wrote: »

If you have evidence of such illegal activity you should report it to the OFT.

Whilst I don't necessarily agree with Arklight's post I fail to see where the illegality has come from. A car dealer/manufacturer is free to set the minimum price below RRP it can offer one of their car's for.

owen_money

Scrapit wrote: »

Not sure why car54 thinks a minimum price of selling is illegal.

It falls under UK AND EC COMPETITION LAW -google it

Businesses which require retailers to sell at minimum prices are breaking the law. In contrast setting a “recommended retail price” is lawful, as long as the recommended price is genuinely no more than a recommendation. Businesses can be fined up to 10% of worldwide turnover for falling foul of price-fixing rules, and directors can be banned from running companies for up to 15 years.

A distributor/dealer buys the new car from the manufacturer. The manufacturer give the dealer a RRP, but if the dealer wants to sell the new car for £1 he can, but will lose a lot of money. The car manufacturer cant do anything about it

I've been on enough corporate law courses to know, fines can be heavy so they dont want employees falling foul of price fixing, hence the training

Car_54

neilmcl wrote: »

Whilst I don't necessarily agree with Arklight's post I fail to see where the illegality has come from. A car dealer/manufacturer is free to set the minimum price below RRP it can offer one of their car's for.

He isn't free, and hasn't been since 1964 (Resale Prices Act). owen-money has explained the current law above.


If you don't believe us, ask British Airways and Manchester United, among many others, who have been fined £millions in recent years for ptice-fixing.