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Car Haggling


Laird Lugton
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If they don't want to haggle on price try going for upgrades,alloys,sat system,colour etc,all these can add a lot on to your price,but if you get them as free upgrades then you make a saving,don't forget a free tank of fuel,you will need it for a shogun or disco :)

 

And pay some of your price on a credit card, even if it is a couple of hundred,it will protect you should things go wrong

Edited by welsh1
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If your fortunate to get a salesman who is comming upto the date where he has to hit his sales target your laughing ( they usually have to clear it with their sales manager) but you can get massive savings.I bought a 1 mth old Ford Focus Zetec 1.6 tdi with all the extras and 200mls on the clock for £11500 that had a screen price of £14,495.

Main tip is not to seem to keen,don't even test drive it till you get him to budge,I just say I want to pay x amount,and a test drive is only going to waste your time and mine,if we can get near what I want to pay I might be tempted to go for a spin.£13,500 and we are going for a spin.Back at the garage I offer £11000 and will pay now,trots off to see his boss,£12500, sorry mate £11000 you got my number I got to go as got another 3 to look at ( lie).Hadnt got 2 miles up the road,ring ring, £11500.

Went back to the garage and did the deal after squeezing a set of mats and mud flaps out of him.Picked the motor up the following day with 2 yrs warrenty and ford assistance.

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I've never payed the screen price on a new car . Just be cheeky as its your cash not theirs . Once you've settled on a price then ask for the extras such as free sat nav , mats fuel, road tax . The secret is not to let them know how interested you are and say there's another garage locally with all the things you want included . The important thing is be prepared to walk away but leave your phone number in case they want to change their mind . I once got £1200 off a £7k car because I was paying cash with no part ex

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I've never payed the screen price on a new car . Just be cheeky as its your cash not theirs . Once you've settled on a price then ask for the extras such as free sat nav , mats fuel, road tax . The secret is not to let them know how interested you are and say there's another garage locally with all the things you want included . The important thing is be prepared to walk away but leave your phone number in case they want to change their mind . I once got £1200 off a £7k car because I was paying cash with no part ex

 

Sounds like he had an obscene mark up to start with and pocketed most of the profit without declaring it for tax purposes.

 

It all depends whether the OP means a new Discovery or a used new to him. Despite what many think the mark up on new varies from 3% to 8% so even a £50k new car only has a working margin of a few thousand max. The only way a dealer can knock huge amounts off is if the manufacturer has placed extra promotional money behind certain models or a dealer may occasionally be in a situation where he could afford to sell one or two for no profit in order to hit target.

 

Used cars are a completely different kettle of fish, you may occasionally be paying £5k for a car that owes the dealer half that so in percentage terms the profit is huge, but such cars don't come along every day so he'll want to realise a good return on it all the same. More commonly a £10k car will have a working margin of £1500-£2000 out of which the dealer needs to pay for running costs, commission, prep work, service, MOT, warranty, part ex over allowance and then pay VAT on the margin left !

 

I sometimes feel people think we pay a couple of grand for stock.

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Ok so if your see a second hand car in a main dealer and backstreet sales.

 

For between 10000-15000.

 

How much profit do you recon there is?

 

And how much do you recon you can get knocked off?

 

Only asking as I'm looking about at the moment.

 

Thx

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The most important thing you need to do is your homework. Have a look what is available, set your requirements and try to remember what is important for you, and be prepared to walk away. I have made some great deals in the past, simply because I was ready to walk away and they saw that. Be reasonable as to what you are asking them to do, and after they agree the price, ask them to throw something else in for free.

 

My latest car purchase (an M5) saw me save £3000 on the price they claimed it was already heavily discounted, and got them to upgrade the sound system on top of that (worth just under £2000) simply becase they saw I was not going to budge. timing is also important. If you buying a car helps them achieve their quota they are more willing to budge...

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Never ask "is there anything you can do on the price" as they can happily say no... Be constructive and confident, any weakness or chink in your armour and you're a gonner...

(Used to work with a guy who was the countries top Merc salesman).

Guess not to buy a car at beginning of month, as they'll have a new fresh target sheet - wait until nearer end of month... Your sale might bump them up onto the next level of bonus...

Don't be arrogant or get the salesmans back up - you want him to want to help you not to hate you, I sell exhibition space and my stands in a shipping expo and my stands are circa £20k so I get a lot of people try to haggle and if they come into the negotiation like a bull in a china shop I take great pride in not selling them a thing.

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If your looking at a new discovery forget pretty much any chance of a discount the order books are already full enough so they don't need to offer discount. this was the case 6 months ago when a friend went in with the cash for a new HSE, got the same story from couple of land rover dealers and he walked out of both of them, neither tried calling him once he left the showrooms.

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Never ask "is there anything you can do on the price" as they can happily say no... Be constructive and confident, any weakness or chink in your armour and you're a gonner...

(Used to work with a guy who was the countries top Merc salesman).

Guess not to buy a car at beginning of month, as they'll have a new fresh target sheet - wait until nearer end of month... Your sale might bump them up onto the next level of bonus...

Don't be arrogant or get the salesmans back up - you want him to want to help you not to hate you, I sell exhibition space and my stands in a shipping expo and my stands are circa £20k so I get a lot of people try to haggle and if they come into the negotiation like a bull in a china shop I take great pride in not selling them a thing.

 

Correct - for some reason people assume salesmen or car dealers are vulnerable souls on the edge of a mental break down cos they haven't made any money that month. There are 4 quarters, so 4 end of quarter weeks where they may be in the mood for a deal more than the usual, who says they hadn't already hit targets anyway ?

 

I've let plenty of people walk, it's harder than you think to buy the right car and prep the thing for sale, after all the expenses are deducted the average net profit is £500-£600 quid, profit which is easily swallowed up by the inevitable bad deal and the car that sits around for no reason and gets sold at loss.

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If your looking at a new discovery forget pretty much any chance of a discount the order books are already full enough so they don't need to offer discount. this was the case 6 months ago when a friend went in with the cash for a new HSE, got the same story from couple of land rover dealers and he walked out of both of them, neither tried calling him once he left the showrooms.

 

Correct - we went to the main dealers around 8 years ago and the salesman as nice and polite as he was simply wasn't interested or in a position to talk deals because the order books were 3-6 months behind, good position to be in and if I'm honest better for all of us in the long run if all industry worked that way. There should be no need to begrudge anyone/business a slice of profit. When I buy guns I invariably don't haggle, particularly if I can see the price is OK, so what if they make money out of me, at least they'll be there when I go to buy other stuff, rather that than see their premises taken over by a coffee shop.

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Ok so if your see a second hand car in a main dealer and backstreet sales.

 

For between 10000-15000.

 

How much profit do you recon there is?

 

And how much do you recon you can get knocked off?

 

Only asking as I'm looking about at the moment.

 

Thx

 

Compare the car like for like on Autotrader within a 100 mile radius and see where it sits. If the car has immaculate history, is well prepped, fresh service / MOT is included, the px deal isn't poo etc, then buy it. If you must feel you've had a deal tell them the truth that there is one on the net a grand cheaper (in reality there will be a reason or two as to why) and this will often make the dealer cut into his profit to buy the deal.

 

The profit on a £10k car after all the expenses are deducted is less than most of us would want for a weeks work. My plumber is on £200 a day and I practically had to beg to find him.

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Correct - we went to the main dealers around 8 years ago and the salesman as nice and polite as he was simply wasn't interested or in a position to talk deals because the order books were 3-6 months behind, good position to be in and if I'm honest better for all of us in the long run if all industry worked that way. There should be no need to begrudge anyone/business a slice of profit. When I buy guns I invariably don't haggle, particularly if I can see the price is OK, so what if they make money out of me, at least they'll be there when I go to buy other stuff, rather that than see their premises taken over by a coffee shop.

Very similar to my take on things too. Profit is not a bad or ugly thing, people are in business to make money after all.

 

Artificial mark up just so you can be haggled down is a waste of time, just offer a fair price for a fair product and be done with it.

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Look around a similar makes in the market that you are wanting. I bought a new Audi on finance last September after comparing against similar Mercs and BMs. I told them what I wanted to pay monthly, and after agreeing to put an extra £500 deposit down got £25 per month off the cost over 4 years (£1200 saving). On top Audi gave £5k off the list price as deposit contribution. Guessing they needed to make sales!

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Having driven thousands of miles in both Discovery2+3+4 and Shoguns I know which one I would prefer to own.

 

We have Discovery's and Shoguns at work, the shoguns are the elegance spec, the Discovery's are middle of the range.

The Disco is a smoother ride, better build quality, better off road, quicker more responsive engine, more fuel efficient, better ergonomics and overall quieter to drive.

 

The shogun has a few more toys, reversing camera, large screen sat nav, heated seats and the sound system is better. Oh and I think it might be cheaper.

 

I'm afraid the discovery wins hands down every time by a long way.

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Your opening of wanting money of a new Discovery made me chuckle.

 

As others have said no chance, but please try and report back how the salesman looked at you like you just trampled dog muck in, and asked can I sleep with your wife.

 

Never met a bunch like them, only time a deal is on the cards is second hand or on models they can't sell.

 

You should get a good deal on a Shogun as not as desirable.

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Get a couple if prices from car brokers such as carfile to see how basc price compares

Get a trade in price from we buy any car and you then have your net cost to change

Then set what the dealer will do

Month ends are always good times to get a discount as they all have targets to hit

Go on the websites to see what offers are available as sometimes the manufacturers offer incentives etc in different models

There is always a discount to be had

I have used car file a couple of times with no bother at all

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Be prepared to walk away

This is the best initial advice. Recently bought my wife a quashqai, and as we drove to the garage for a butchers, we had a conversation along the lines of for gods sake even if the car is the best thing since sliced bread don't tell the salesman that!!

 

If you have a trade in, use webuyanycar.com to work out what they are likely to offer you trade in (my experience is it's pretty accurate).

 

When talking money, I always discuss a change over figure that I have in mind and tell them I'm not too bothered about what they offer for trade in, as it the overall deal I'm interested in. In my experience, this then encourages them to look at both the new car price and trade in value they are offering to try and get near to what you want to pay.

 

And if the deal ain't right, walk away as there will usually by many other similar cars about somewhere.

 

Stu

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Your opening of wanting money of a new Discovery made me chuckle.

 

As others have said no chance, but please try and report back how the salesman looked at you like you just trampled dog muck in, and asked can I sleep with your wife.

 

 

Interesting as I am finding that there are discounts to be had! From a few brokers sites you can get up to 7% off a new Disco and the BASC deal is very, very good. On top of that I am waiting a call back from my union's preferred motoring partner who is a fairly large group in the car industry.

 

From what I have found Land Rover sales fell in February by 8% year on year and the Disco is being trounced by the BMW X5 in sales volume, that said if you order one now you won't receive it until July or August so there is a healthy order book there. Also 2016 should see the Discovery 5 released. Perhaps Disco sales have slipped due to the new Discovery Sport?

 

Thanks all for your top tips, all noted and we'll see how we go. I shall check webuyanycar.com for a rough price, top tip.

 

As for the Shogun I agree it is horrible, a throwback to the 90's but then it is 2/3rds the price, but I don't think I could ever buy one. Discovery or bust :lol:

Edited by Laird Lugton
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Also take what salesmen say with a pinch of salt,they will lie through their back teeth to get a sale.When the Vauxhall Calibra came to I went to see one and the guy who took me out in the demonstrator was giving me all the sales bull walking out to the car.He said he'd been driving one for weeks and loved it,it was quite funny when we got in and he couldn't find reverse for love nor money.

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