Car price haggling

Flâneur

Tips, advice and rough % marks for discount, just advice

Given I'm off to buy a new car when I can finally work myself up for the hassle*, any pointers in this? Could likely be a "proper" dealership, only a few years old, less than 30k on the clock (probably closer to 20 or less).

So anything helpful, or amusing would be appreciated.

Yes it will be more expensive than my bike for those who like the rules!


*Yes I do like my cars but i'm not buying a 911 or RS6

ballysmate

sa0u823e wrote:

Tips, advice and rough % marks for discount, just advice

Given I'm off to buy a new car when I can finally work myself up for the hassle*, any pointers in this? Could likely be a "proper" dealership, only a few years old, less than 30k on the clock (probably closer to 20 or less).

So anything helpful, or amusing would be appreciated.

Yes it will be more expensive than my bike for those who like the rules!


*Yes I do like my cars but i'm not buying a 911 or RS6

A car supermarket is easiest. No haggling. The price you see is the price you pay. If you can sell any PX privately you can save £££

slowmart

Without knowing your budget and your preference its hard to provide informed advice

Cash is king but dealers will make a commission on the sale of finance and the insurance there after

It helps a clean deal if you are not part ex'ing

Since everyone is after a deal most salespeople will only have limited scope for movement so don't be surprised when your tactics fail to get you the movement you would hope

If you look at your budget could you get a new cheaper car with a 5 year guarantee and get the dealer to throw in 3 years free servicing? We did that for my wife's car. It may not be trouble free but it's certainly as cost free as they come.

napoleond

Good car supermarket like Fords of Winsford. Fair trade in, good price. Zero haggling. Good service. Perfect really!

motogull

Do your preparation. Make clear you know there is plenty of choice and you are on a bit of a fact finder. We did this a few moths ago. There were 3 cars we were looking at, salesman said the priciest was out of our budget. We said we wanted to know what the figures were for something to get us started. Anyway after a few offers each way and us in a nice way saying we'd reached our top and would leave it there, we got a call on the mobile 5 mins up the road saying our offer was accepted if we went back and put a deposit down. There are plenty of cars, so don't worry about walking away. They want the sale more.

Stevo_666

Plenty of price comparison points are availabel on the interweb. When I bought our last car from new, I went on a few websites like 'Drive The Deal', then went to my local dealer armed with a quote for them to beat. Very easy.

tlw1

Stevo 666 wrote:

Plenty of price comparison points are availabel on the interweb. When I bought our last car from new, I went on a few websites like 'Drive The Deal', then went to my local dealer armed with a quote for them to beat. Very easy.

and that was for a niche car (pink fiat 500)

Fords of Winsford are good - especially as they are customers

Flâneur

between 15-20k probably be a golf or an a3, may as well load the bike n climbing gear in without a struggle and too young for an estate (v68 cough)

Happy with cash given that most of the rates right now seem to be 7% (new) or 11% (2nd hand) + from dealers (around 3.4% from a bank should I choose to keep my cash). PX isn't happening selling my really old golf for a few quid somewhere is easiest, runs well but they will just scrap it so offer peanuts.

I am guessing that at around the 22k mark for the new models I doubt I would sink them to a price I want to pay without going into my house deposit, but who knows

I would generally say that unless they come down on prices

PS thanks

crescent

A lot of good info in this guide. A bit of an eye opener to some of the techniques that dealers use.

http://www.carbuyingguide.org.uk

veronese68

sa0u823e wrote:

I am guessing that at around the 22k mark for the new models I doubt I would sink them to a price I want to pay without going into my house deposit, but who knows

I'd buy a car for £3k and put the money into a house and hopefully a smaller mortgage. I know of a lovely Audi A4 estate, apparently not an old git's car. That 's what the 25 year old previous owner kept telling me when I used to extract the urine out of him. It's very nice, exciting to drive, comfortable and reliable. Oh and nobody thinks all Audi drivers are cnuts*.

* Some or all of the above may be untrue.

veronese68

Oh, just buy a Porsche 968. Loads of room in the back and below your budget.

Ben6899

Veronese68 wrote:

sa0u823e wrote:

I am guessing that at around the 22k mark for the new models I doubt I would sink them to a price I want to pay without going into my house deposit, but who knows

I'd buy a car for £3k and put the money into a house and hopefully a smaller mortgage. I know of a lovely Audi A4 estate, apparently not an old git's car. That 's what the 25 year old previous owner kept telling me when I used to extract the urine out of him. It's very nice, exciting to drive, comfortable and reliable. Oh and nobody thinks all Audi drivers are cnuts*.

* Some or all of the above may be untrue.

This.

Why are you spending £20K on a car? It's completely unnecessary.

tangled_metal

I am not sure of Audi prices and deals these days but a mate went into a dealership to buy a secondhand one and came out with new at a better deal than the 1 or 2 year old car he was looking at. It was one of those 3 year lease rental deals but when he looked into the actual figures and said it worked out cheaper for him. he replaces cars every 3 years anyway. The monthly charge over the 3 years, full servicing including parts and a fixed max price for the car should he want to keep it after 3 years (never did). His costs from a car loan from his bank worked out with a higher rate of interest and when he wanted to sell he'd probably not get as much as he hoped for it.

I am not sure if you could do as well as he did but look into the figures including servicing, tyre replacement, etc. Things like extended warranty is often a rip off but I know someone who got 2 years for about £50. It was due a big service (with cambelt change and other things) plus he replaced his exhaust within those extra 2 years for free. Tyres were included. That was with a local mitsubishi main dealership too.

We got a good deal with a PX when we got a new (secondhand) car. Small, local, independant dealership. They offered a lower deal price or a good PX deal but it amounted to the same, I got a car at the independant dealer price with a top value on my old car. In the books the car was less than a grand if bought at the highest book price and that was what I got. It was not worth anywhere near that due to some mechanicals that I expected to come up. however I agree avoid PX deals on the whole.

RideOnTime

You can find cars for sale on the internet...
pictures and allsorts...

team47b

...I used to love allsorts, especially the blue ones.

Flâneur

Veronese68 wrote:

Oh, just buy a Porsche 968. Loads of room in the back and below your budget.

not quite a '75 911 though is it mate. I'd take a Tuscan TVR too if I had your skills.

RE Ben.

Why because I can and I want to? I'd prefer to hit the 15k mark but have a budget should I have to go higher. I'd want to buy a car to last me another 10 years. I have a tidy if not amazing house deposit (for a lone person) set to one side, and my 03 plate golf could do with being replaced, I have owned it for over 11 years.

veronese68

sa0u823e wrote:

Veronese68 wrote:

Oh, just buy a Porsche 968. Loads of room in the back and below your budget.

not quite a '75 911 though is it mate. I'd take a Tuscan TVR too if I had your skills.

Not as nice, but a far more sensible choice. Infinitely more interesting than an A3 or a Golf. A mate has an old 944S2, older version of the same, and it is reliable and can easily swallow a bike in the back. Get it looked after by a good independent garage, preferably a specialist, and it won't cost a fortune to run. Slightly higher running costs will be more than offset by the lack of depreciation.
Couldn't recommend a TVR, they spontaneously combust as a design feature.

Flâneur

Veronese68 wrote:

Couldn't recommend a TVR, they spontaneously combust as a design feature.

Isn't that the excitement? I did try the a6 estate was a dream to drive, I just couldn't bring myself to own it. My own imagined stigma got their first

ugo.santalucia

I recently bought a Focus.

Negotiations started at 8900 with 3 months warranty. Then they threw extras on the table (diamond coat finish and other stuff).
Half an hour later I got the car for 8800 with 12 months warranty, the diamond coat (not that I wanted it) and a full tank.
They are always reluctant at lowering the price, but you can get extras thrown in the deal, for the me the deal winner was the warranty.

So yes, always haggle... you won't be able to get a grand off, but you can get what you want.

Ben6899

sa0u823e wrote:

Veronese68 wrote:

Oh, just buy a Porsche 968. Loads of room in the back and below your budget.

not quite a '75 911 though is it mate. I'd take a Tuscan TVR too if I had your skills.

RE Ben.

Why because I can and I want to? I'd prefer to hit the 15k mark but have a budget should I have to go higher. I'd want to buy a car to last me another 10 years. I have a tidy if not amazing house deposit (for a lone person) set to one side, and my 03 plate golf could do with being replaced, I have owned it for over 11 years.

If you really want to, fair enough. But you don't need to spend £15K to get a car which will last you 10yrs. That's all I was saying... trying to save you £10K.

napoleond

Ben6899 wrote:

sa0u823e wrote:

Veronese68 wrote:

Oh, just buy a Porsche 968. Loads of room in the back and below your budget.

not quite a '75 911 though is it mate. I'd take a Tuscan TVR too if I had your skills.

RE Ben.

Why because I can and I want to? I'd prefer to hit the 15k mark but have a budget should I have to go higher. I'd want to buy a car to last me another 10 years. I have a tidy if not amazing house deposit (for a lone person) set to one side, and my 03 plate golf could do with being replaced, I have owned it for over 11 years.

If you really want to, fair enough. But you don't need to spend £15K to get a car which will last you 10yrs. That's all I was saying... trying to save you £10K.

I personally wouldn't pay more than about 15k on a car (used)
Questioning why someone would spend more is like questioning why you'd spend over a grand on a bike

keef66

+2 for Fords of Winsford. Despite the fact they are miles away that's where my wife's car came from. Very much a hassle free buying experience. By a large margin the most expensive thing I've ever bought using a debit card; 6 month old 13k miles Focus for £9k.

Mind you, that was in 2002

Only just thinking about replacing it!

capt_slog

I'm crap at haggling.

So when my youngest bought his first car, his grandad offered to go with him . From what I heard of the sale, I had to feel a little sorry for the bloke in the car showroom.

It went something along the lines of.......

"with the 6mths tax and the fuel, that comes to £3000"
"We'll give you £2500"
"Oooh I couldn't do it for that, the lowest I can really go is £2800?"
"yes, but that's nowhere close to £2500 is it? and that's what we're going to pay"
ETC.

Happy son.

Flâneur

Ben, Sorry if that came across wrong, wasn't intending to come across as a snap response. I appreciate the sentiment. If pure logic was the case I would keep my 03 golf, still turns over first time every time and apart from being mucky has nothing really wrong with it, however I would just like something newer and given work I can afford it. Also be nice not to pay the old tax system ;0

Why did I spent all that money over a grand on bikes damn it ;0

kajjal

Best to buy cars when they have dropped to roughly half original retail price. Normally two to three years old for most makes once you have done the deal. That way you get a nearly new car but some one else has paid for the depreciation and the drop in value after that year on year is minimal.

Buying brand new is throwing money away, if you want very new get a six month or so old car typically for 20% or more off the original retail price once the deal is done.

k-dog

Capt Slog wrote:

I'm crap at haggling.

So when my youngest bought his first car, his grandad offered to go with him . From what I heard of the sale, I had to feel a little sorry for the bloke in the car showroom.

It went something along the lines of.......

"with the 6mths tax and the fuel, that comes to £3000"
"We'll give you £2500"
"Oooh I couldn't do it for that, the lowest I can really go is £2800?"
"yes, but that's nowhere close to £2500 is it? and that's what we're going to pay"
ETC.

Happy son.

My father in law does that. Got my wife a great car before we were married. Spent something like 6 hours in the dealer. Down from 8,000 to 4,500.

joelsim

Yep a 2 year old car...

Think about the finance too. As you have suggested the car is £15k.

1) Finance the car with cash and take £15k extra on a mortgage
2) Buy the car on finance and use the cash in the mortgage

Option 1 - assume over the years that the interest rate is 5% on your mortgage. Total interest charge based on adding £15k to your mortgage (on a 25 year loan) = £18,250 (That's just on the £15k not including paying that £15k)

Option 2 - assume loan over 5 years at 7%. Total interest charge = £5,250

No brainer. It is cheaper to get a short-term loan than add to your mortgage.

Of course, if you were to overpay your mortgage by £15k for the next 5 years then adding to the mortgage option would be cheaper, assume 3% APR, total interest would only be £2,250.

All of the above makes assumptions of course but do the maths, and check that your mortgage with £15k more isn't pushing you into a more expensive borrowing threshold too as this would negate any savings very quickly.

Ben6899

NapoleonD wrote:

I personally wouldn't pay more than about 15k on a car (used)
Questioning why someone would spend more is like questioning why you'd spend over a grand on a bike

Very true.

Ben6899

sa0u823e wrote:

Ben, Sorry if that came across wrong, wasn't intending to come across as a snap response...

Not at all, mate. I was just throwing in my 2p.

debeli

Run cars into the ground, strip anything saleable and drive to a scrap dealer with a bikle in the boot on the last day of MoT and Tax (ring first to get a guide price).

Then replace at auction.

If you want the kind of thing you don't find a t a big auction, ask yourself what it is you really want THAT particular car for.... Then either go for something similar at auction or pay the extra by going to a dealer.

I've been doing this for both our family cars for a while. I'm not a mechanic or any sort of expert. I've made daft bids but have been saved by even dafter bids from other plonkers.

I've had a couple of unpleasant surprises (repairs needed that were not visible or audible) but even after the £200 was spent on both those cars, the saving was significant.

In these days of cars being built, sold and run as white goods, auction houses make sense even for fools like me.

Go once without money and sort of keep a note (and make notes) in the catalogue of price achieved, things you noticed about the car... you'll soon get a feel for things and you'll soon notice which ones the trade swarm over and the price at which they stop bidding. Sometimes it's so sudden you can almost hear the slam.

Also, be aware of the increments at which commission is generated.... so a car for which you bid £6050 might cost £150 in commission more than one that you bid £5950 for...

And don't get swept up in it all. Be prepared to come home empty-handed. No trade-in, no fuss, no haggling. And usually a nice cafe onsite.

alan_sherman

I was looking at a second hand family wagon car for about £8k a couple of years ago. ended up buying a brand new Zafira for £11k with a lifetime warranty. I tend to keep hold of things until they are dead though so the lifetime warranty was a real bonus. Free breakdown for the first year helps too, and no MOT for 3 years. Also no replacement parts 3 years in whilst a used car may have cost me an exhaust or tyres or something.

Just saying keep an eye out for deals on new as they can be significant.