Used car prices and px

Rtj123

Hi everyone 
I have a car I’m looking at to buy. A garage has offered me £5500 px on my car. (Suzuki swift) They are currently on the market for 8k - 9k. Mine has a few dents but other than that it’s a nice clean car. 

The car I’m looking at buying is 4 years younger, the spec of it is less. I.e. no sat nav, reversing sensors etc (suzuki vitara)
the car is priced at £12300. They prices seem to have creeped up from even after Xmas as I could get the same car in a higher spec for the same money as this dealer is asking now.
I tried to haggle the price down the 12k but they point blank refused. They wouldn’t offer me anymore for my car. The sales man actually said ‘no one haggles on price anymore’ is this true? I can’t get my head around the prices, how my car is worth so little and there car so much! And they fact they would lose a deal on £300. I walked away. Not sure if that was the right thing to do, I am a cash buyer so maybe they weren’t that interested anyway?
do you think used car prices will start to fall soon?

CliveOfIndia

Rtj123 said:

I have a car I’m looking at to buy. A garage has offered me £5500 px on my car. (Suzuki swift) They are currently on the market for 8k - 9k. Mine has a few dents but other than that it’s a nice clean car.

There will always be a fair difference between what a dealer will buy a car for and what he will sell it for.  He has to check it over, rectify any mechanical faults, repair any cosmetic damage, offer a warranty, cover his overheads, staff costs etc., then still make a profit on top.  If you don't feel the price was fair then just walk away.

Rtj123 said:

The sales man actually said ‘no one haggles on price anymore’ is this true?

Not completely true, but it is becoming more common for dealers to advertise cars at pretty much the price they're willing to accept, with little room for haggling.

Rtj123 said:

And they fact they would lose a deal on £300. I walked away. Not sure if that was the right thing to do,

Yep, always walk away if you're not happy with the deal.  They probably knew that they can sell the car easily for the full asking price, so there's little incentive for them to accept a lower figure.

Used car prices have gone crazy over the last year or 2, and dealers are having no trouble shifting what stock they can get their hands on.

Bottom line, if you're not in a desperate hurry to buy a new car, take your time in looking around, and don't make a deal if you don't feel it's fair.

Herzlos

People shop for cars differently now. They go to a search engine, pick a make/model and then sort from cheapest to most expensive, and are often decided on the car before they even call.

So a dealer has to list the car at the bottom price - if they inflate it by £500 to knock it off as part of the haggling process, then no-one will even call them.

They've also got overheads and some profit to make, so you're easily looking at about £2-3k between what they'll buy for and what they'll sell for. Demand and used prices are bonkers at the moment, so the dealers aren't usually in any rush to sell. Someone else will buy it.

facade

Rtj123 said:

<snip>

A garage has offered me £5500 px on my car. (Suzuki swift) They are currently on the market for 8k - 9k. Mine has a few dents but other than that it’s a nice clean car. 

<snip>

 how my car is worth so little and there car so much!

<snip>

Basically, they are running a business.

First they have to pay VAT on the difference between what they bought your car for and what they sell it for.

So if it sells for £8500 they have only "made" £2400

Out of that they have to rectify the bodywork & paint damage, and valet it.

They likely have to put an MOT on it too.

They have to pay their electricity & gas bills, as well as rates & rent and staff wages. (You could argue that these don't count as if they don't buy your car they couldn't pay them out of it, but they money comes from somewhere...)

Then there is the well known fact that some unscrupulous owners hide very expensive faults (which is why they are getting rid of the car, it doesn't matter because the trader can fix anything for free) leaving them with a large bill to get it into a saleable condition or having to put it through a trade auction without claiming it is fault free (and all traders know what that means, and bid accordingly)

Finally, they have to be prepared to rectify any faults that appear in the first 6 months

If you want more for your car, best to sell privately, or try the likes of WBAC.

jimjames

Rtj123 said:

They wouldn’t offer me anymore for my car. The sales man actually said ‘no one haggles on price anymore’ is this true? I can’t get my head around the prices, how my car is worth so little and there car so much! A

If you think your car is worth £8-9k then put it up for sale and try to get that price. You'll then have that cash in your pocket to buy the car you want. I suspect that you might not get what you expect and may also find it's a lot of hassle to sell privately, all of which lead to lower PX price being offered.