Haggling when buying a car - tips?

[ILoveShoes]

Hey ladies,
I'm after buying a New car (not brand New - just New to me!)
I remember seeing on a programme ages ago about how you should haggle when buying a car.
I've been Googling and have found some good tips but I wondered if anyone had ever done this with any success?
Thanks!
xx

 

[dgirllamius]

When I bought my Golf I managed to get 300 off the price. I just kept saying knock 300 off and you got a deal - I wasn't going to budge. He umm and ahhed and finally caved in. I know it's not a lot but still.

 

[Loui1001]

I haven't but my husband and BIL are disgusted by this and apparently it's the done thing to do! Will be stalking as I'm thinking of changing next year x

 

[ILoveShoes]

A lot of the articles I've read said that dealers expect you to haggle!
I've bought 3 cars in the past, and I've never haggled! I've always been too keen.
Im going to try and be ambivalent and say "Im thinking of buying a car. What kind of deal can you do for me?"
xx

 

[ILoveShoes]

When I bought my Golf I managed to get 300 off the price. I just kept saying knock 300 off and you got a deal - I wasn't going to budge. He umm and ahhed and finally caved in. I know it's not a lot but still.

Did you feel silly, or were you quite comfortable?
I always worry what people Will think of me, which is ridiculous really.
Well done on getting £300 off!!
xx

 

[dgirllamius]

When I bought my Golf I managed to get 300 off the price. I just kept saying knock 300 off and you got a deal - I wasn't going to budge. He umm and ahhed and finally caved in. I know it's not a lot but still.

Did you feel silly, or were you quite comfortable?
I always worry what people Will think of me, which is ridiculous really.
Well done on getting £300 off!!
xx

I was very comfortable. I didn't feel stupid at all.

My brother was telling me how they actually try and sell you a car at said price so that you do haggle and get down to the price they are actually after so technically they don't really lose anything.

My car was 9500 so I got them down to 9200, but they were probably only really looking for 9000. My mum also bought a car at the same time from the same place and she got a bit knocked off too.

 

[suzib76]

Just be prepared to walk away from the car when you start a haggle as not all people are interested. Many will stick to their guns

 

[bananaboat]

You should absolutely go in there and haggle! Dealers start high with a buffer in there for buyer negotiations.

Request online quotes from several dealers - bring the lowest from one dealer and ask another what they can offer to beat it.

Stand up to leave when you're not happy with what they're offering. If they see you're serious, they'll usually see what they can do.

If you get close to the price you want and they can't budge any lower, ask if any extra options can be thrown in (extended warranty, remote starter, etc.).

 

[lilyd]

Be prepared to walk away

Look at prices around the country. We live in the South East and travelled to Manchester for our last car - it was a LOT cheaper. We agreed the deal over the phone, paid the deposit and then travelled up the following week.

 

[Lellow]

Be prepared to walk away

Look at prices around the country. We live in the South East and travelled to Manchester for our last car - it was a LOT cheaper. We agreed the deal over the phone, paid the deposit and then travelled up the following week.

Def look around the country for deals...weve bought all our cars from Wales where its much cheaper than the south-west where we live.

Weve saved loads and got real bargains.

 

[Miss_Bump]

If you can, go on the last day of the month as they still want sales to boost ther sales figures and is more of a chance you wil get more off

 

[Bittersweet]

My first car was posted as £1200 but I said it only had 6 weeks of tax left and il pay in cash if they knocked £250 off. So I got a car with 32,000 miles on it and full year mot for £950.

My car I ave one I got brand new but I will said only with a full tank of petrol, tax and floor mats and after some debates I got it (floor mats are like £350) xx

 

[MummyToAmberx]

if the place wants a sale they'll agree if they aint botherd they won't move.

i've managed to get prices off all the cars ive bought 1 way or another but im currently looking at brand new car, which they are not doing any deals on (odd as always deals on new cars) so i just walk away from that 1, then went looking on autotrader they were selling off all demo cars but they didn't care to inform me about that at the time i was in.

i think need look at all options first. x

 

[icklemonster]

Approach them the week before the end of a quarter (so you have time to raise funds within a week). Their commission will probably be based quartlerly opposed to monthly, and even a small sale will make a big difference. My colleague used to work in car sales and told me this.

I got a great deal by trading in my old car. We had it on autotrader for 2 weeks at £8k and hadn't had a single call. We apparoched webuyanycar and they offered us £6.9k.

We then saw a car which was perfect for us. I phoned up the dealership and said I had seen a car which had just been reduced from £13k to £10.7k but unless we got the full £8k for my old car there was no way we could afford it. I said I was cross with my husband for even starting to look at cars before we had sold our old one. I was just terminating the call when he agreed to pay us £8k for our old car. So we didn't get any money off as such, just a load more for our old car than we were expecting. I was very prepared to walk away which I think made the difference.

 

[ILoveShoes]

Thank you for all these tips, everyone
Im going tomorrow, so I'll let you know how it goes.
It's the end of the month, plus the New reg comes out next week, so I'm hoping that'll help a little bit when it comes to haggling.
xx

 

[suzib76]

Something else to remember is dont be too focused on a discount and potentially miss a good car. Sometimes the car is worth the price!

 

[Berri]

Are you trading in? Get online and know what your trade-in is worth. Know how much you want to pay for what you want and don't go over it... if they won't meet it walk away!

I helped my sis get 4k off a new-to-her car and when hubby and I bought the sticker price was 26k, we paid 17.5k cash plus trade-in (value 3k). I loooove to have a good haggle I was also not afraid to use my big pregnant bump to my advantage (was 37wks at the time!).

I think I started at 16k plus trade-in but in reality was expecting to pay 19k plus trade!

Oh and never use on-site finance (that's how they get you here!).

Good luck

 

[ILoveShoes]

Something else to remember is dont be too focused on a discount and potentially miss a good car. Sometimes the car is worth the price!

This is a really good point, yeah
Thank you.
xx

 

[ILoveShoes]

Are you trading in? Get online and know what your trade-in is worth. Know how much you want to pay for what you want and don't go over it... if they won't meet it walk away!

I helped my sis get 4k off a new-to-her car and when hubby and I bought the sticker price was 26k, we paid 17.5k cash plus trade-in (value 3k). I loooove to have a good haggle I was also not afraid to use my big pregnant bump to my advantage (was 37wks at the time!).

I think I started at 16k plus trade-in but in reality was expecting to pay 19k plus trade!

Oh and never use on-site finance (that's how they get you here!).

Good luck

Wow! Well done, Berri.
Whatkind of things did you say (if you can remember)?
I'm not trading a car in - I've got just under a £2.5k deposit.
xx

 

[amjon]

When we bought our van I went in knowing exactly what we would spend. We were ready to walk if they didn't agree to our terms. They kept bringing new offers but we just refused them until they agreed to what we wanted.