Buying a New Car - Offering Cash

Cardinal-Red

Hi there,

We're looking to buy a new Ford Focus, and so have been doing our research on it. We've picked a car that comes out at around £16,000 all in. We have an employee discount card (entitling us to 25% off I think). We also have an 'empty' Cahoot loan which we want to use to buy the car. Finally, we have a part-ex car.

So the current bill looks like:

Original Price 16000
Discount 4000
Part Ex Value 3500
Amount to be Paid: 8500

Now seeing as we're paying by 'cash', what kind of discount should we be looking for, if any, given the employee discount card, the part ex etc. Would it be better to sell the car privately (been offered the part ex value by a family member but would have to wait until September)?

I got stung last time by not being assertive enough with a Ford salesman and really want to get my money's worth. But then I've been told many garages now prefer finance customers because of the interest they levy.

So any informed info would be much appreciated...

blue_haddock

Not sure on the terms for ford but i know if a toyota employee buys a car through a similar scheme you get no further discount. Also cash is no longer king - the dealership will get a kick back from the finance company and so they would prefer you to have it on finance

flea72

no extra discount at all, i would have thought

any bartering power you have, is lost in your p/x, and the fact your are buying as an employee means the dealership is basically doing work for no return

ive yet to see anyone get free mats, let alone any extra discount, with an employee deal

IvanOpinion

Earlier this year I tried pushing hard on a cash deal and, as per 'blue_haddocks' response the dealership was not really interested. I do however rely on DW at times like these, she doesn't drive but is great in negotiations. Do your homework and determine the exact car you want (which you already have) work out your strategy and play it out.

Usually I get DW to be all excited about the car we are going to see. As part of the test drive I will always let the dealer know that I also want to test drive the main rivals to his vehicle (e.g. Honda Accord, Vauxhall Astra etc.) - Honda is usually a good bet because it seems to frighten some dealers - just say that you hope to test drive the Honda on Saturday morning and make your decision before end of play that day. Let him know that the money is all available and it is just a case of buying the right car.

This is when DW comes in ... as I start to walk away she gets all stroppy .. and starts the 'Oh but I really like this one' routine .. then in hushed tones (but loud enough for the dealer to hear) I explain to her that I like it as well but the price is a little bit high (so I may as well look at the Honda at the weekend ... this car will still be here next week). At this point the dealer asked me to make an offer ... I went for a silly price and the dealer just laughed ... so I asked him for his 'best and final offer' .. he came somewhere in the middle which I agreed on ... then as we were filling in the forms (before signing) I told him that I would not drive a car away without mats, flaps and full tank of petrol (worth another £100). Overall I got nearly £1000 off a car that 'What Car' said you could not get any discount on.

The only thing is you MUST be willing to walk away.


I use the stroppy DW act when buying many things .. she does it really well

Ivan

flea72

ok you got £1k off, but that prob wasnt for paying cash, that was just the amount of play the dealership had given themselves, with the figures

in Cardinal-Red's case, they have already been given £4k off the list price, just for being a staff purchase - i dont think any wife, with fabulous acting abilities, would be able to get any more off that deal!

Cardinal-Red

Thanks for the replies guys. As I expected, the discount on the employee card will rule out any cash discount. To be expected I suppose - musn't grumble with the £4000 discount already granted!

Main consideration for asking was do I borrow from Cahoot at 8.5% or Ford at 5.5% - if the cash discount was significant then maybe the Cahoot one would have been better.

Thanks again!

bylromarha

I guess Ford finance have an early redemption policy? If they don't then maybe take the finance package if the discount offered for finance outweighs the set up costs etc, then pay the entire balance off before the 1st payment is due.

We got free mats and full tank with vauxhall employee discount...and a huge bunch of flowers from the dealer. Nice touch I thought...pity about the car though. 1 litre Corsa, never again.

ffs

Paying cash probably reduces your bargaining potential. Most of the profit car dealerships make is on Credit Protection Insurance, so if you're not buying with credit they're going to lose their opportunity to make serious money out of the deal.

soolin

If possible though try more than one dealership.

I've just ordered a new Citroen, one dealership would not budge on list price, a second one a few miles further away would discount by about 9%. This discount is on top of the current promotion giving £2250 pounds of book price. That discount though was the same whether I paid cash or took out the interest free finance, but there was no part exchange involved.

Interestingly the price for my new car is several thousand lower than a couple of second hand ones in my local paper! Obviously some second hand sellers haven't seen the current discounts and are in for a shock trying to get a good price for their year old cars.

Soo

MrSmartprice

We are just buying a new Citroen C2. The difference between dealers is amazing. We tried 4 dealers, playing them off against each other till they fell by the wayside one by one. (I love it when they finally say they give in as they cannot match another's price.)

As we had a part-ex, the "cost to change" was the crucial figure. It varied by around £1700!! And the one we eventually went for then offered a 1,4SX at the same price as a 1.1SX to clinch the deal.

bylromarha

MrSmartprice wrote:

We are just buying a new Citroen C2. The difference between dealers is amazing. We tried 4 dealers, playing them off against each other till they fell by the wayside one by one. (I love it when they finally say they give in as they cannot match another's price.)

As we had a part-ex, the "cost to change" was the crucial figure. It varied by around £1700!! And the one we eventually went for then offered a 1,4SX at the same price as a 1.1SX to clinch the deal.

If you haven't yet given a deposit, have you tried Broads of Watford? They're always happy to beat any quote I gave them.