New Car Buying - Haggle Approximations/Advice

[roachcoach]

Hi all,

We're looking at getting a second car due to my job forcing me off the bike and into our only car (40 mile round trip per day is a bit heavy, even for me, on a bike!)

Background out the way, I'm looking to haggle the sticker prices down since our budget is relatively tight, but its not something I've done much of.

Things I know I have in my corner are

a) No p/x
b) Would buy outright that day
c) Car market is crap just now, plus the scrappage scheme is gone
d) I dont need that car.

Possibly the biggest hitter there is d - salesmen need sales (a lot) more than I need that particular car.

Anyway, are there any guidelines percentages I should reasonably expect to be able to leverage off?

I don't want to come in with such a lowball offer I get marched out Equally, however, I want to try and make sure I dont start too high.

I've read that extras are often easier to get thrown in than a direct money off result, but with it being second hand I'm not sure how viable that is.

Any assistance would be very gratefully received

[Clingy]

Just push push push. If the salesman seems amenable to 10% reduction, go for more and more until he walks away. You can always go back and offer more again. He wont say "no" cause you hurt his feelings. But you walking away is the strongest bargaining tool.....if he really want to sell (and presumably still making money) he wont let you go.

But more importantly, is it worth that much to you? Do your homework, know what similar vehicles are actually sellling for (not what they are advertised at). I would say 10% reduction is a minimum on Trade sales from a reputable dealer (don't consider buying from a dealer you don't have recommendations on). Private sales are a whole different ball game and I must admit I prefer them. You have a chance to way up the person selling, where they live, how tidy their house is etc etc.

[Flibb]

Are you looking at new or used? If new then try drivethedeal

used.. I've haggled on some, then had to take screen price on another, but the screen price was a good deal and the salesman actually had somebody trying to buy it while I test drove it. And it wasnt dealership BS, they were on the verge of having the bloke chucked out as he got a bit rude, which you dont want when your showroom is busy.

Depends if you really want a particular deal or car

[roachcoach]

Thanks, we've not actually decided what car to go for yet, however I'm tempted by a astra VXR (massive kid at heart). I figure those wont really shift much off forecourts given the stupid road tax/current petrol prices so I'm hoping that makes a difference to it.

Thanks for the guideline, definitely not shy about walking away, plenty of cars out there and if the deal aint right, it aint right.

I did read its worth doing this at month end when folks are scrabbling to hit their targets - anyone know if there's any truth in this or is it dealer dependent?


I'm probably looking at a dealer - better recourse there than a private seller (doubly so if I do plump for the VXR)



edit: Its used mate.

edit 2:

Its more a particular deal - say we did decide to get a vxr, I know I can get what I want for about 9.5k but I'm hoping I can get a bit more for my 9.5k than I'm seeing, maybe knock a 10.5k screen price down to the 9.5 or something was the kind of hope I had.

Its a second car - there's no urgency in it, we can wait.

Obviously that's from the side of getting a vxr, if we get a little runaround for the mrs and I use the existing car then the landscape around the haggle changes - small runaround cars shift 10-a-penny compared to high tax hot hatches.

[kalniel]

Its more a particular deal - say we did decide to get a vxr, I know I can get what I want for about 9.5k but I'm hoping I can get a bit more for my 9.5k than I'm seeing, maybe knock a 10.5k screen price down to the 9.5 or something was the kind of hope I had.

Yup that's the best way to go about it IMHO - you have x amount of money so you can either spend it with them, or not.

That said, where I tend to buy my cars (car supermarkets) tend not to have much margin or much in the way of salesman bonuses relating to price - the most I've managed to get off was £100 for the 'end of the month'.

[roachcoach]

Thanks folks, need to decide what we're going to do first and they way I see it is if you dont ask you dont get