We’re looking at new cars. Totally brand new. We know about the depreciation etc. but with our situation and the way we’re paying for it it makes the most sense.

We’re looking at the Citroen C1 and Skoda Citigo. We’ve looked at a few others but this is what we’ve narrowed it down to.

The Skoda is much nicer, but £800 more (albeit with £500 of free servicing included). Is there any haggling room on a new car, especially a new model like this? If we could get £300 off they’d be on a level playing field.

Cheers.

I think there is a very simple rule if you want to angle for a deal and that is to be prepared to walk away if they won’t budge on price.

Are they easy to come by, piled up at the dealers? If not then they have little incentive to strike a deal with you.

How much discount were you expecting? More or less than you’d offer a punter in the shop when they came in to buy a bike?

Druidh- don’t really know the etiquette. I don’t expect people to haggle with bikes because they cost a lot less. Seems to be the done thing to haggle on cars- TV shows and magazines, especially things like Parker’s, make it seem like haggling is accepted.

I’ll be honest, the Skoda is a much nicer car and £300 won’t be a deal breaker, just wondering if it would be too cheeky.

You are spending maybe 7 or 8 grand on those I would think.

3.5% discount wouldn’t be that hard to come by.

Unless there are waiting list for them, in which case, why would they.

Just had a quick look on drivethedeal.co.uk and looks like there may be no discount on the citygo, however Citroen are renowned for discounting cars, buy a copy of whatcar mag and it has the price you should aim for on every new car and if they won’t do at least that price leave.

Look at some Internet net prices and take them to the dealer, go to two dealers and play them off against each other, try to get interest free credit even if you planned on paying cash, and as above be prepared to walk away if the deal doesn’t suit.

They can only say no.

I don’t expect people to haggle with bikes

Eh? What? Anyone would be crazy to pay asking price straight away, without asking for a discount. Or at least something thrown into the deal. Last time I bought a bike, I got an extra £100 off a discounted bike, and around £90 worth of pedals and helmets thrown in. It’s ok to actually pay asking if you want it and are prepared to pay. But at least ask first. You never know.

If you’re prepared to be a bit cheeky, then, let’s say you’re prepared to pay asking, ask for a discount, then if he says no, leave your number with him and walk. If you don’t hear back, return next day and buy the car. He’ll most likely go to his boss and ask what can be done for a deal.

I loves haggling I does.

Just don’t try and get an unfair deal (for either side). You should know what it’s worth to you, the salesman should know what it’s worth to him, there’s a problem if it goes out of that range.

At the end of the day, you can say no and so can they.

Haggle. I’m sure the main dealer did not pay full rrp for any of the materials to build their showroom or for the parts to build their cars. If there’s no discounts you will usally be able to haggle on extras eg wheels, tank of fuel, mud flaps and servicing.

Of course you can haggle………..the worst that can happen is they say no.

1, This is a quiet time for car sales as people are thinking of holidays, not cars

2, You could buy the car anywhere, why should you buy from them?

(I just bought a new car for work with £500 loyalty bonus from BMW and around 3k of deposit contribution from the dealer, I also asked for the service package on top and they said yes!)

No salesman will be upset if you ask, just be prepared for a no!

If they do it, it’s worth it for them.

Hope this helps!

Al.

I expect you will struggle to get anything off the skoda as it is a brand new model. The waiting lists for the VW up are growing by the week. My dealer has sold its allocation for the year by the end of May.

The VW up is a fab little car, I love mine. So the skoda should be fun to.

Of course you can haggle! why wouldn’t you? My brothers a car salesman and he says theres different tiers of price reduction. For example, (made up numbers) the first £500 might come off the manufacturers’ profit, the next £500 off the dealers profit, the next £250 off the salesman commission. And if the customer is still pushing hard he can reduce the price further but may need to speak to manufacturer for approval as the bonus system they have can be complex. And then after youve had your discounts push for a full tank of fuel, mats, service etc.

Slight threadjack. I’m looking at a 2 year old car (Mazda 3) at a main dealers, just wondered what might be an acceptable offer on the ticket price based on paying cash. 10%?

You should definitely haggle! There is usually around 7-9% margin in the car, there may be a bit more but that’s for hitting standards targets and that kinda crap so dealers won’t usually trade on that.

If the car’s are already at a manufacturer price point, i.e. advertised by the manufacturer at a lower than normal RRP then the dealer is probably just getting a handling fee of somewhere around £500 so you might not get much/anything.

You should consider that within that percentage the car must be pdi’d by workshop, valeted and the salesman’s commission paid, ask for a bit, don’t expect it all.

If you’re comparing prices on the net, compare against other MAIN dealers, not cheapnewcarsonline.com cos their prices are a)often bulls#!t, b)often not in stock, c)often don’t state extra charges at the point of sale and d)are not a sensible comparison anyway.

If 0% is available from the manufacturer then it will say so on their website, dealer’s won’t offer 0% on a new car. If it’s a dealer offer on a used car then in almost every case, you’re being ripped off on the car.

Sales are not traditionally slow at this time of year, they are slow now cos the economy’s screwed.

plop_pants – Member

Slight threadjack. I’m looking at a 2 year old car (Mazda 3) at a main dealers, just wondered what might be an acceptable offer on the ticket price based on paying cash. 10%?

Find the cheapest main dealer car of the same spec and similar miles on autotrader and use that as your benchmark for price.

Don’t be put off if that car on autotrader is 200 miles way, main dealers will often deliver for up to 150 quid.

go on http://www.drivethedeal.com, get a price and ask your dealer to price match it 😉

Munrobiker, the C1 is the same as a Toyota Aygo. My Misses works for Toyota and can do a good deal if you want a Toyota badged Citreon.

The key issue when haggling is been prepared to walk, and understanding the value/cost of everything – from a years’ servicing through to the charge to pay on a credit card. Also been able to work out percentages/discounts in your head, ie before the Salesman has plugged the numbers into a calculator, is always useful 🙂

For example: I looked at a s/h car today, listed at £6950. I suggested that £6000 was a better price using (amongst other things) that I hadn’t realised that the VED would be £450, rather than £200 (which a year older one would be). He wasn’t happy and said he’d other viewers. No probs, give me a call next week if its still available, says I – and walks.

Really like the car, and even at full price its a good price – hopefully he’ll call.

I make sure the sales bloke makes at least 4 trips to see his boss with my offer before i decide, then I seem interested and walk but leave my number and you can garantee they’ll call

Do your homework and haggle. I normally look at pre-registered to get an idea of the price / availability / demand for the vehicle and aim for similar price or slightly higher.

Be prepared to walk away.

A few months ago I bought a 2nd hand car from a dealership, I managed to get a service , an extended 3 more years warranty , the road fund thrown in worth 400+ and a tank of fuel worth 100 , Oh and 500 quid of the windscreen ,

All over the phone , all I did was register interest and engage the salesman, I had a second car option at another dealership for almost the same vehicle but a little cheaper and just asked if he could do something to make it a but more attractive against the alternative, don’t seem needy or be aggressive just take your time,
Take ownership of any thing he offers you and try to add to it by asking with a reduction in price ,

My guy just kept offing things like tax, fuel , warranty etc every time I tried get him to drop the price , I cottoned on real quick and spent a day taking all the extras and then right at the end when he’d given all the extras he had I asked him to try and do something with the price as that wools close the deal,

Good salesman , he was happy I was happy he made money and I spent less.

Just talk .

Take ownership of any thing he offers you and try to add to it by asking with a reduction in price ,

How do you do this? What exactly does it mean?

We got what we could from the York main dealer, walked outside and rang the Leeds main dealer and asked them to beat it. Then took that back into the showroom and got the York dealer to beat it. Thought about the Harrogate and Scunthorpe dealers but we were a bit time constrained due to the loss of a company car.

Taking ownership is just taking about the warranty or whatever , ask how much it’s worth ?,talk about it , tell him you would prefer cash , let him wriggle and make the same offer then say ok with the warranty is there any more he could offer , mention what he has just added to the deal and then keep going like that,

I’m no salesman !

So, taking ownership is when the salesman gives you something that lets you think you, as the customer, has the upper hand? Have I got that right?

just wondering if it would be too cheeky.

It ain’t cheeky, it’s a requirement. Call up every dealer within 200 miles, get their best price for immediate deposit payment over the phone (you don’t need to see it if you’ve driven it and like it – they’re all the same). Then call around and see if they will match the cheapest offer you’ve had. Then keep going…

Just haggle to the price you think you are happy. 🙂

You don’t ask you don’t know.

Went to all the local dealers, found out which were easy to deal with and who gave us the hard sell.

Got prices from them all, went online to our version of Autotrader (all the dealers list stock on there and will want to compete on price) went to the one easiest to deal with, got him to match/beat the best price then added on options.

We ended up paying around $2000 off the OTR price which was about 8%, then had other bits thrown in, tinted windows, mats, boot liner etc.

I’ve got three quotes for a vehicle I’m interestested in and some prices off the Net, all around 20% below list price with little or no haggling. One of the dealers has the vehicle in stock. Given the date of manufacture and number of times he’s phoned me about it, he can’t shift it. I’m tempted to go in next week with a written offer 3000e below his best quote so far – take it or no deal. We’ll see.

THe wife bought a new Fiesta on Thurs. Price started at £13,185 for the model she wanted.

Ended up getting it at £10,985 with lower finance rate than first advertised. BAsically told the dealer “if you want the sale, i’ll buy it today…make it happen”