Car buying from a dealership

Peco141

I've never bought straight from the dealer but hoping to do so in the coming days or weeks.

I'd be buying the car outright, no requirement to PCP and PCH and I appreciate garages make more of their money from customers paying up.

With that in mind, based on the car's value on Auto Trader/the dealership website, is that the price you can expect to pay, or can dealers be haggled down?  I've no experience in this whatsoever.

In other words, is it possible, or at least what is the likelihood, you'd get a car advertised for say £20,000 for £18,000 or £19,000 from one of the bigger dealerships?

I'f anyone has experience in this and able to share, it would be much appreciated.

MattMattMattUK

Peco141 said:

I've never bought a straight from the dealer but hoping to do so in the coming days or weeks.

I'd be buying the car outright, no requirement to PCP and PCH and I appreciate garages make more of their money from customers paying.

With that in mind, based on the car's value on Auto Trader/the dealership website, is that the price you can expect to pay, or can dealers be haggled down?  I've no experience in this whatsoever.

In other words, is it possible, or at least what is the likelihood, you'd get a car advertised for say £20,000 for £18,000 or £19,000 from one of the bigger dealerships?

I've anyone has experience in this, it would be much appreciated.

Is the car new or used? Main dealer or independent? What is the car, mileage and how much is it advertised for?

Peco141

I've convinced myself that a low mileage used is the better deal than brand new, so perhaps a year or two old used.

The car, I've not fully decided on just yet, but perhaps Kia Sorento, or perhaps Volvo XC90 if I'm able to push the budget a little. (the 20k quoted in my original post was just for generic reference).  Mileage would be hopefully less than 10k but would go to a max 12k.

Total price is also a little up in the air.  Could be around 40k, but again could stretch the budget a little further if it's relevant to answer the question.

By main dealer, do you mean Kia and Volvo and by independent you mean Arnold Clark, Evans Halshaw etc?

MattMattMattUK

Peco141 said:

I've convinced myself that a low mileage used is the better deal than brand new, so perhaps a year or two old used.

In that range you will still loose a fairly substantial amount to depreciation, cars that are 3+ years will give you much better value for money.

Peco141 said:

The car, I've not fully decided on just yet, but perhaps Kia Sorento, or perhaps Volvo XC90 if I'm able to push the budget a little. (the 20k quoted in my original post was just for generic reference).  Mileage would be hopefully less than 10k but would go to a max 12k.

Do you really need a car that big? Both are very large cars, poor fuel efficiency, the XC90 especially is a giant lumbering lump. The Volvo carrys a premium above the Kia in some circles but Kia have seven year warranties.

Peco141 said:

Total price is also a little up in the air.  Could be around 40k, but again could stretch the budget a little further if it's relevant to answer the question.

Going for a three year old car could easily shave another £10k off that, probably more.

Peco141 said:

By main dealer, do you mean Kia and Volvo and by independent you mean Arnold Clark, Evans Halshaw etc?

Kind of, but also the likes of Car Giant, Big Motoring World, Cinch etc. Have a proper look on Autotrader and you will get a better view of what is out there.

Arunmor

There are interesting deals out there in new cars so if it was me I would keep an eye on new prices too perhaps only to act as a base price.

Also spread your options to other manufacturers that might pop up some good new deals.  EVs are looking better value at the moment (but possibly still to expensive)

Start a spreadsheet and note down prices of cars that interest you and then when a good deal pops up whether new or used you will know its a good deal.

Peco141

Yeah, I've had a look, but we do like the style and are fortunate, for the first time in our lives, to pick up something we want rather than settle for something else.

We do a lot of camping, kayaking and paddleboarding, so it's been our preference to get a bigger car for some time.

I'll have a look at those others site too, many thanks.

Does anyone know if main or independent dealership are to be haggled with when paying the car up front?

MattMattMattUK

Peco141 said:

Yeah, I've had a look, but we do like the style and are fortunate, for the first time in our lives, to pick up something we want rather than settle for something else.

We do a lot of camping, kayaking and paddleboarding, so it's been our preference to get a bigger car for some time.

Nothing wrong with a bigger car if it is needed for practical reasons, but it is always worth keeping options open. It is also not about settling, it is about using the money most efficiently, how many kayaking or paddleboarding holidays would a saving of £10k, 15k, 20k buy you?

Peco141 said:

I'll have a look at those others site too, many thanks.

There are lots of options around, make sure you do not limit yourself.

Peco141 said:

Does anyone know if main or independent dealership are to be haggled with when paying the car up front?

They can, but no one can tell you if a specific one can be at a specific period in time. When they sell all stock with no issues then no, when they need to sell an extra vehicle to get over a commission threshold at the end of sales period, absolutely yes. It is a question to which the answer is entirely conditional. The other factor is though that a main dealer, eg. Volvo or Kia, will charge you substantially more than buying the same vehicle, same age, same mileage, same condition from an non-main dealer, so even with haggling they are likely to be more expensive. 

Peco141

Some really great points you make, Matt.  Really appreciate your responses. Food for thought in terms of the larger car.  Going to have to ask ourselves some serious questions, and cheers for the responses around dealer prices.  Things I would not have considered.

baser999

We bought our present used car from a main dealer in June and managed to negotiate a decent deal with our trade in. They proposed a settlement figure  to reflect the trade in which I said was more than I’d planned on spending and would ‘go away and think it over’. Before we left they asked what would secure the deal and already having a p/ex figure in mind I threw them a number which after a little discussion they accepted 🙂 

Ironically a week later the car was taken back in needing a new water pump and wheel sensor and I said that had I known there could be underlying problems I’d have perhaps walked away or not paid what we did. After all the car had supposedly been serviced and MOT’d by them in the week between us viewing it and driving off the forecourt. Without any argument the dealer extended the warranty to a second year which in itself is worth a fair amount.
So personally I’d say there’s probably movement in any ticket price one way or another 

HumberFlyer

Paying up front is what they don't want. It's having you buy the car on finance as they make good money from it. I have just bought a 13k car from a main dealer.... no way could I get any discount, they wouldn't budge on it.... but they would if I take finance (that's a no for me)...... I did get a discount on ceramic coating though with them

Iceweasel

Why is finance a no?
All dealers make money from you opting for finance so don't expect any reduction due to offering to pay cash.
The word NEVER to use is 'discount' - what you want is a 'buyer incentive' they take many forms - such as 'dealer promotion' or 'manufacturer's contribution'.
The end of the month is the best time as the salesmen want to up their monthly figures and/or achieve their target sales.
Checkout the finance conditions - the clever thing to do is to go for the finance to get the reduction - and then pay it of after a week- within the legally allowed  'cooling off' period.
That way you get the money off and the dealers are happy - it's win win for both.
Some salesmen will actually suggest such a procedure as they have nothing to lose by it and everything to gain.
I'm very much old-school and for years paid in cash - I'd never had a loan or finance in my life, apart from a mortgage - that was until my grandson sat down and explained the above, successfully allying all my reluctance and fears of getting into debt.
On my last car I achieved 23% off the list price.
I managed to get both a promotion and an incentive - but no discount. Ha ha.