Negotiating to buy a used car from a dealership

Through finance is the car not financed through a finance company rather than the garage?' they get the money either way like...

 

You normally can, we always used to do this or buy with Visa card and then pay off, but most dealerships won’t let you pay by credit card now due to rights of the consumer.

 

I think I just searched a few companies to see who had the best deal. It was the first I'd done by myself and not through work so maybe I could have got a better deal tbh. But next time...

 

I once put a car in on their website, and it came back as 'we can't buy this car right now'. Baffled.

 

Start low pal, you're going to have the usual ******** wrestle but stick to your guns til the 11th hour, even walk away and sleep on it, it'll still be there the next day. You will know when they really mean no, you can just tell with their body language. It feels brill to get the best deal. And don't forget there's plenty of people that pay the ticket price so you are only evening things up . And finally the sales people really couldn't care less if you go massively low, they get paid on a sale and not a percentage.

 

I imagine they'd get a generous commission.

 

It's actually unbelievable. Because the only thing you could say in reply (and it's indisputable) is, "so you're a bunch of liars then?"

 

Second hand car prices are really distorted at the moment because of the chip shortages affecting the rate at which new cars are being turned around. So you'll struggle to get them to go low on it because if anything, prices are going up.

Rather than go local and haggle, I have always taken the view that somewhere on the country, there will be the same spec same model car with similar mileage cheaper. So I just search for the exact match I want on Autotrader and will happily travel anywhere to get the car I want. I've travelled all over the country picking up cars and only ever bought locally twice. A nice trip out is worth it to save a grand or more.

Had the same happen to me in reverse. Sold a car once privately via Autotrader and the bloke who bought it flew over from Northern Ireland to Leeds Bradford, caught trains and taxis to my place, we did the deal and he then drove up to stranraer to catch the ferry back to NI.

 

If you can't get money off one thing that is worth asking to be thrown in to the deal is a spare wheel ...if the vehicle doesn't have one already that is. The emergency kits that come with vehicles nowadays won't seal every flat and the old fashioned spare, even if it is the spacesaver type will get you out of the s**t when you most need it.
No spare no deal.

 

Carwow is also a decent website to find a car.
The introduction of remote buying (car is delivered to you without you physically seeing) is also worth considering because the warranties/rights are much better.

 

I would never use the tyre gunk. It ruins what is, other than a small repairable puncture, a perfectly good and expensive tyre. Call the breakdown service, get a flat bed home and get it repaired for 5 quid. Or fill it with gunk, and buy a new tyre.

 

I wouldnt rush in to it, go to a few, pick one at each that you like and can afford. Walk away from each one saying its more than you wanted to pay. Im sure theyll take your contact details and be in touch within a few days. Cash or not no one wants to loee a sale and which ever one drops the most pick that one.

If you have time and a selection then the odds are back in your favour.

 

Cash is dead, finance is the new king.

 

I agree with much of what's been said. If you haven't got a specific make, model and age in mind and don't need a car quicksticks because yours isn't roadworthy, have several in mind, negotiate on them and walk away. Dealers won't let you loose on the forecourt without taking contact details to pester you forever. They will get back to you and drop their price.

However, don't expect them to drop more than a few hundred at best. They know you've searched online and, in 90% of cases ordered the results on price. So in order to get near the top of search results, dealers have to price low. This leaves them less wriggle room to cut a deal than before internet sales were a thing.

Also, if not buying local, once they know you've travelled 50 miles plus to talk, they know you must really want the car and weren't put off by the screen price. You'll likely find they won't budge far, if at all.

 

Agree. And to be honest, the fact that the internet search process that most buyers start out with now, which means that they are priced more correctly to get the attention the car needs to get the sale, is a good thing. This is being reinforced by the rise of the remote buying process such as with cazoo. You don't tap a button on screen on the cazoo website that says "ready to haggle?" You pay the price.

As a nation, we don't like haggling and this part of the process puts loads of people off going to buy a car. We don't haggle for other things we buy, there is a price and we pay the price. Cars should be no different and people would feel less exposed when that becomes the norm.

 

This is exactly what we did when we bought our last car. I had the search on for months prior so I knew what a decent price was, then when it was about the right time one popped up in Peterborough. I rang them up, sorted everything over the phone/email then went down to collect. It was actually miles easier than going to the local dealership and haggling over it. Plus like you say, you can make a nice day of it by stopping for dinner etc.

 

Give them an offer that you are willing to pay. Be prepared to walk away.

 

I never haggle, I maybe should but I just pick a used car at a price I'm fine with and accept that that is what I'm paying. I never, ever buy the add ons though, not even tempted as I seem to be immune to people who try to upsell. The last time I bought, I don't know if the salesperson had a bit of wiggle room and was expecting me to haggle or not but after he'd done all his spiel and I'd turned the add ons down, he said he would just include them for free anyway.

My dad, on the other hand, always haggles. I remember as a child sitting in an office at a car dealership with him once for over an hour whilst the salesperson was trying to call his bluff. My dad said he wanted £1000 part exchange for his old car otherwise he couldn't afford the new one. The guy said he could give £500 and then upped it to £750 but my dad said he needed it to be £1000. The guy gave this whole story of how he would need his boss' approval but he wasn't at work that day. After a bit more back and forth he said he'd call his boss at home, and did a call to somebody, but said the wife said he wasn't in and wouldn't be back for 45mins. My dad said he would wait. I was practically begging my dad to just buy the thing at this point as we'd already been there ages but he was determined that they wouldn't lose the sale over £250 and eventually the sales person gave in after just over half an hour with a big thing of 'I'm going to be in so much trouble etc. etc.' My dad told him that he'd probably be in more trouble if he'd lost the sale and the guy laughed and we finally got to go home.

 

You need to be careful if trying this. They are not daft, and there can be all sorts of penalties built into the contract.