Ok so who haggles like crazy when buying a car ?

[jollyranchers]

I was wondering what peoples approach was when buying cars from garages.

 

I automatically assume every dealer should knock off £300 quid for a cash deal?!

 

Some play hard ball and say screen price or nothing ! , some wont even give you tax if you pay screen price !

 

Whats your approach , do you go in asking for lots of money off and walk if they dont play ball ?

[Tarmac@TarmacSportz]

Personally if I really really want something and im happy to pay the money I don't bother haggling much. I just ask politely if its their best price and normally they will knock a bit off.

[rtbiscuit]

you got to have a reason for them to drop the price; i can't see them doing it just because they like you face.

 

my approach is to do my homework first. work out the prices, find out what the average is for the age year mileage etc, bring evidence etc. then i go over the car find any niggles things that will need doing etc and then i work down the price using solid points to negotiate.

 

if you came to buy form me and gave me no good reason to drop the price i'd tell you to jog on

 

no one wants to give it away. some places automatically inflate the price so that when they knock a bit off they make you feel like you've got a bargain, when in reality your just paying list price.

 

i got nearly a grand knocked off my current car, just by knowing how to play the dealer.

[jollyranchers]

, i do like to think i'm getting a bit of a deal!!

 

pee's me off sometimes when they are hard faced enough to not even want to throw in 6 months tax !!

[Stew]

 

Whats your approach , do you go in asking for lots of money off and walk if they dont play ball ?

 

This. Sort of.

 

I ask for what I want be it money or stuff and walk if they don't play ball. Ultimately if you're happy with the deal it's all that matters.

 

I walked on a 10k Golf GTI a number of years ago over £100.

 

I recently bought a new motorbike and it was a new model with limited availability, I still got a discount and stuff thrown in. If you don't ask you don't get.

[James B]

Just ask if it's their best price and dont say anything or move. Just look at them. For at least a min.

 

Most human beings get extremely uncomfortable with long silences and will do anything to break them. Even drop the price by a lot.

 

Try it, but remember the more uncomfortable you feel, they will feel that too. It's like playing chicken.

[Zugara]

walk if they dont play ball. There are plenty of dealers around, even if its a long drive, willing to do a "Deal".

 

I managed to haggle £1000 off my car plus full tank of fuel and 12 mths tax.. Took some doing but i complained to the manager at KGM reading about the

salesman and she took over the sale.

 

Best time to do the "deal" is near the end of the month when they need their sales figures.

[MacW]

Just ask if it's their best price and dont say anything or move. Just look at them. For at least a min.

 

Most human beings get extremely uncomfortable with long silences and will do anything to break them. Even drop the price by a lot.

 

Try it, but remember the more uncomfortable you feel, they will feel that too. It's like playing chicken.

 

Honestly, if anyone did this to me I'd turn and walk away and be thankful I didn't have to deal with the weirdo anymore.

[rtbiscuit]

at the end of the day the seller has a minimum price and the buyer has a maximum price, if the 2 don't overlap it aint never gunna happen

 

if you've got an unrealistic idea of what it costs then sellers won't sell, and if your a seller and you have unrealisitic ideas on price then buyers wont pay up either.

 

i have found that being on here there are a lot of members who want something for nothing and think the forum is some kind of second hand charity shop. and i've told several people to jog on with parts.

[Chesterfield]

As above, do the homework and find what prices cars can be had for elsewhere. If you have a choice of cars you want to buy, dont be afraid to walk away from any individual place if you arent getting the deal you want.

[Zugara]

at the end of the day the seller has a minimum price and the buyer has a maximum price, if the 2 don't overlap it aint never gunna happen

 

if you've got an unrealistic idea of what it costs then sellers won't sell, and if your a seller and you have unrealisitic ideas on price then buyers wont pay up either.

 

i have found that being on here there are a lot of members who want something for nothing and think the forum is some kind of second hand charity shop. and i've told several people to jog on with parts.

 

 

What, they jog on with your parts..... Can i have some???

[Nik]

With garages(especially large dealerships), always haggle, no 2 ways about it! Go about it in a nice way, and they're more likely to help. And if they're not nice about it, I wouldn't buy a car from them, because if you need to go back for any reason, they'll just be a pain in the ass.

 

Similar to Stew above, I brought a brand new Buell motorbike a couple of years back from a main dealership, the list price was 7.5k, I paid 6.5k with 2 years free tyres, insurance and they agreed to fit all my mods as and when I needed. In that experience, its was surprising how different dealerships talk to one another. I simply put word about I was looking to buy at my price and at first no one would help, a month or so later they started dropping their prices, soon they were literally out-bidding each other. I returned to the dealership I wanted to buy from because they were nice folk, and they agreed to match the best price.

 

My Zed was listed at 12.5k by an independent garage, which to be honest was high for the year and milage, but it was great condition, I paid 11.5k in the end which was much more reasonable -I actually only handed over 11k as after agreeing a price, I said I wanted to part ex my old Hyundai(good riddance)! We had quite a laugh over this sale.

 

So in my experience there is everything to gain by haggling. Somewhat unrelated, but it springs to mind. You need to be relaxed to haggle successfully; personally I don't find it that easy spending thousands of pounds on items that will only loose you money! I get around this by viewing lots and make some offers to gauge reaction, even cars you can't afford -they give you perspective on the sale and what you can realistically expect for your money- and it also gets rid of the 'starry eyed' look and sweaty palms when you find the one you want to go for. Its only human instincts, but if the dealer see's that, they know they don't have to budge on the price.

 

Buying from a personal is a totally different kettle of fish however!

 

Not sure if thats useful info, but its what I've observed in my limited experience

[Sarnie]

The best way to go about it imo is to gain the respect of seller, whether its a private sale or a dealer.

 

Phone up before viewing the car, get a handle on the details of the car and arrange a time to view. Don't talk money over the phone.

 

Turn up on time. View and test drive the car. Assuming you like the car, only then start talking money.

 

There is nothing worse than the knob heads who text or email offers of substantially lower than the asking price, without even seeing the car!!!!!! I refuse to engage anyone in bids for the car unless they have seen it or prepared to offer the asking price.

 

What amazed me was when I was selling the Gallardo that people would actually text me offering £80k for the car, without even seeing it or asking any details of the car!?!? WHo buys an £80k+ car in that way?!?!?!?

 

As RT says, you need justification for your haggling, be it the condition of the car or cheaper cars elsewhere.

 

Also don't assume that a dealer has £5k of profit in a 350z, some dealers knock out cars with less than £1k of profit, which after paying overheads doesn't amount to a great deal......

[spursmaddave]

When I bought my Zed I was told there wasn't much room for haggling as there were another 3/4 people after it, and I think that was true.

 

So I haggled on the part-ex, a 2005 Hyundai Coupe. The guy said that the book price was £5k but as it had a nasty scuff on the front bumper it would be £4.75k tops. After mucho haggling and furrowed brows he agreed on £5.5k. After all the paperwork was done he asked me how much I had lost on the Hyundai as he noticed I only had it for 11 months, I told him I paid £4k for it He actually saw the funny side of it, which was nice

 

To be honest I wanted the car and would have given in but I thought it was worth a shot.

[choptop]

Be nice, know what you want and haggle, haggle, haggle! If they want your business you will find common grround and a way forward

[stanski]

Be nice, know what you want and haggle, haggle, haggle! If they want your business you will find common grround and a way forward

 

+1 but remember they dont have to sell it to you - so dont go overboard just p***s people off!

[James B]

Just ask if it's their best price and dont say anything or move. Just look at them. For at least a min.

 

Most human beings get extremely uncomfortable with long silences and will do anything to break them. Even drop the price by a lot.

 

Try it, but remember the more uncomfortable you feel, they will feel that too. It's like playing chicken.

 

Honestly, if anyone did this to me I'd turn and walk away and be thankful I didn't have to deal with the weirdo anymore.

 

 

 

LOL. I'm not a weirdo (too wierd at least) and not suggesting people act like a mute when buying something. Just an observation that sometimes the best way to negotiate isn't what you say, but what you don't say.

[Stretch]

The problem with buying a vehicle like the zed is that the dealer knows that you want that specific car and if it's a good example there will definitely be other punters interested. Not like haggling over a vectra or mondeo

[andlid]

10% straight away. Then another 5-10% if you don't have a trade in. then - anything that you feel is worth a deduction. Also I don't bother with that they say they will service it there before you take it, use that to knock down the price further. Also be prepared to walk away... :-) if you buy private its more fun to haggle, I use the haggling fund to get parts and service the car...so I don't really save anything.

[tez162003]

end of the day, as said already, If you dont ask you dont get.

 

I dont go out my way to argue loads off a price, ive only ever done private sales so far. I just cant justify dealer prices or new car prices. (plus i cant afford them)

 

I won my 350z on ebay, knowning full well if it was a dog id walk, sod the feedback. Did the checks and test drive and all was good. but couple of bits id have to pay to get 100% so knocked few hundred of him due to me needing those few hundred for the fixes (dent removal and new windscreen mainly) If it was 100% good enough for the money id have been happy to pay it.

 

With dealers id say sod them, they expect it! When i one day get a car from a dealer id be trying for the usual New Mats, Tax, Tank of Fuel and money off and see if they'd throw in a date with there fit blonde receptionist/after sales girl

[choptop]

Be nice, know what you want and haggle, haggle, haggle! If they want your business you will find common grround and a way forward

 

+1 but remember they dont have to sell it to you - so dont go overboard just p***s people off!

Who said anything about p***sing people off? Be nice and you will have no problem at all. Good salespeople love good salesmanship.

[Ekona]

Also don't assume that a dealer has £5k of profit in a 350z, some dealers knock out cars with less than £1k of profit, which after paying overheads doesn't amount to a great deal......

This. We bought our current MR2 from a Toyota main dealer in January who made a loss on it, simply because we caught them on the right day. We saw all the paperwork proving it too, along with the price the car was going to be the next day (£1K more). It was such a good deal there was no need to haggle.

 

When I bought my Zed I paid the sticker price for it, on the condition that they fixed a few little things on it (chips, scuffed alloys, gearknob etc). When the work was done it was worth what they were asking, and I was happy to pay it. I'm loathe to get money knocked off unless I feel it's really worth it as I understand that everyone has to make a living somehow, and if I feel I've got a fair (not necessarily good) deal then I'm happy enough.