How to get a discount on a car

MrsE_2

bartsimpson wrote: »

What is the best discount you have had on a car, new or used, and what technique did you employ to get the discount?

Have a sex-change, I've never had to buy my own car yet:D



But the payments for my new car do come out of my account & hubby only has to give me some money to meet the payments.;)

So for the first time, I'm paying towards my car.

Francophile

This is a while ago but bought a car for £3800. 2 years later go to trade it in for a new car and they offer £4200 plus 1 years road tax and mud flaps. Thought that was pretty good. More recently went to buy a new car costing £10,200. Special offer on giving £2000 off so we're down to £8200. Said we'd like to trade in our car which we thought we'd get £3000 for if we were lucky. He made a call and came back and offered £6000 for our car. Result brand new car for £2200. Couldn't believe it. We tried to act nonchalent as we but his hand off.

Francophile

Sorry that should read "bit" his hand off.

goldspanners

bartsimpson wrote: »

Can you elaborate on your haggling technique?

My best discount was around £500, all I did was go to the Parkers website used price guide and said, well this is what Parkers recommends, can you match it?

I reckon with some different tricks of the trade and a bit more time and thought I may have secured a much bigger discount, but I hate dealing with car salesmen.

went to dealer knowing what i wanted,haggled a very good deal on the car,just kept asking for more off the price he was offering,as it was the last of the old shape focus (2004) he kept coming down to seal the deal,full tank of fuel,mud flaps,car mats.
then when i got to a price that he would not move from i said that sounds good,i also have a ford priveledge discount to take off from that aswell thank you.
so in total i saved 3 grand.

bartsimpson

Currently at haggling stage with salesman on a £29k car. They have offered a pretty low part ex value on mine of £12,000 - I reckon I could get £13,500 if I sold privately.

They are quoting the cost to change at £15.5k as their 'very best offer', having gone off to consult their 'sales manager' several times during this telephone toing and froing today. They have come down from the 16k cost to change they originally quoted, but said that the price doesnt include any road tax on the vehicle, which incidentally is £400 per year.

So basically, the £29k car is being offered for £27.5k in their eyes, but with no road tax which i sort of expected to be included.

In my eyes, they undervalued my part ex by £1.5k and what they are really offering is a £29k car for £29k, but minus the road tax.

I really hate dealing with car salesmen, it's been really stressing me out today - does anyone have any idea what I should do next???

The ball is in my court now, to tell them tomorrow whether I still want the car at their 'final offer'.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

goldspanners

i would be walking away,right in to another dealers to ask if they can beat it.
or get on to some of the online dealers you hear mentioned on here like deal drivers see what they can offer you and then use this as a haggling tool.
what are you considering buying?

bartsimpson

goldspanners wrote: »

i would be walking away,right in to another dealers to ask if they can beat it.
or get on to some of the online dealers you hear mentioned on here like deal drivers see what they can offer you and then use this as a haggling tool.
what are you considering buying?

it's a used m-class merc - i thought the online quotes were only for new cars?

I think this is the problem, there ARE other cars around that are similar, but they can't be made to my spec because they are used.

goldspanners

im guessing the one you have found is the exact spec you want.
did you tell the salesman this?
if so that is why he is staying firm on his price.
sorry i didnt realise it was used.
just assumed at 29k it would have been new,sorry. i would be hoping for more off it than what he is giving you.
is it a merc dealer. ( i hate merc dealers) they are so smarmy.

bartsimpson

goldspanners wrote: »

im guessing the one you have found is the exact spec you want.
did you tell the salesman this?
if so that is why he is staying firm on his price.
sorry i didnt realise it was used.
just assumed at 29k it would have been new,sorry. i would be hoping for more off it than what he is giving you.
is it a merc dealer. ( i hate merc dealers) they are so smarmy.

No I didnt tell them, havent seemed very enthusiastic about it really. Which is why their offer is surprisingly bad.

Maybe they just think i am young and inexperienced. I am paying cash not finance, which may make it worse for them.

Im really stuck as to what my next move should be - perhaps do nothing at all and see what happens?

John51

If you are a cash buyer you can get very close to cost price with a bit of effort and time using the car auctions. I have done this but only once, it is time consuming.

At the car auctions learn to spot the dealers. When a car is bought by someone they don't know, the buyer is called to the podium to hand over a small cash deposit. This usually equals the auctioneers rip on the sale although not a full rip off, it does indemnify you if the car is stolen or has loan debts. (I still daydream of buying a stolen police car at auction and being allowed to keep it because of the indemnity lol.)

So the dealers won't be called to the podium. Identify a dealer or 3 who regularly buys the type of car you want. The dealers have good discipline, if they have the car down as say £3.2k then they will NOT make a bid higher than that, another car will be along soon enough. The ideal situation is 3 dealers bidding and the bidding stops. The auctioneer will try to elicit one more bid. That bid comes from you. If another bid comes, well they're private, not dealers, it is not your car, let it go.

Done right it costs you one bid more than a dealer will pay which to non dealers is an absolute bargain even if the car needs a little work.

I'd advise not bidding until at least your 5th visit to the auction, sometimes the non dealers looking for a car make the early cars way expensive and sometimes the early cars are cheap and the later cars go for silly money.

If ever the dealers don't bid much on a car that looks like it's worth much more, do not, under any circumstances, make a bid. Most likely the dealers have been tipped off by the auctioneers and the car is a lemon.