Current situation is that I have written off our Kangoo after someone pulled out right in front of me.
20 days later we have a settlement figure from the insurance company and we can go car shopping. Looking £2500 - £3000 range.
What reductions do you feel are out there for a cash purchase, given recent trading conditions I would hope the dealers are open to negotiation, any personal examples from the last month or so ?
not that recent but traded in an 01 Y reg clio for a 55 plate clio 182 in feb this year. stealer wanted 7950, i got it for 6050 + the old clio. there was no way the old clio was worth 1900, more like 1000-1200. if you know what you want and use the tips online you can get a good deal. remember, its always possible to walk away so no matter how much you want the car if you dont get them down to your price then just walk.
google car haggling and you'll find loads of tips - i tried it and I do think they make a difference.
hth
ps. you're more likely to get bigger discounts on models that are freely available than something niche. fleet car models such as ford focus seem to get huge discounts on 1 year old cars.
Haggling tips are great for getting the dealer to throw in extras. To really drive the price down its easiest to find 2 or preferably 3 similar cars from different dealers, then play them off against each other.
OK
When you've found the one you fancy you need to start working on the salesman's greed
Play it a bit thick & ask how much a week it will cost
Tell him you don't like the screen price because you can't afford that much a week
Keep pushing the weekly cost thing until he reduces it to where you want
He'll be happy at this stage as he thinks he'll stitch you up with finance
Now ask him to put it all down on paper, when you've got that, pay cash
job's a good 'un 
have you tried that uplink?
Used to always do it in the days before I got company cars
the salesmen were so greedy, they couldn't help themselves
PeterStarkiss - shop around and I'd go for 10% off screen price as a nice minimum. Beware alot of indies now have stopped offering a years warranty with their cars but try to sell you a aftermarket one instead. Yet they still ask a dealers book-price.
Beware they'll tell you all the stories in the book as well. They are wylly, more so now that they have to survive. The car in question is in high-demand, they have had two telephone enquires already today on the car in question and someone is coming in with a deposit this afternoon.
Ps. Car dealers can be like some bikeshops. If they start a conversation with you/as soon as you walk in- they expect you to buy at least something. Don't fall for this psychological-tactic.
Naturally, I'm also a PAIN in the ass with car dealers. 
Naturally, I'm also a PAIN in the ass with car dealers.
Who'd have thunk that? 
without a car to trade in and buying a fairly common car in the several thousand pound price range you should be asking for over 10-20% discount. New cars can generally be discounted by around 15% (this can be taken off the price of the new car or given as an inflated price for your trade in).
Ps. Some will say 'thats the price/take it or leave it' (leave it and patience/shop around)
There is no standard discount - depends on how long the dealer has had the car in stock, what they bought it for etc. Knowledge is your friend.
1) Put the details of the car at the dealer's into the Autotrader price calculator and note the PX value. This will give you roughly what they paid for it - they will expect to make minimum 10%
2) Find out how long they have had the car in stock - after 1 month they will potentially offload it for almost no margin
3) As Shandy said, make sure you are negotiating with at least two dealers, and that they all know that
I don't really buy the finance point. There is so much regulation now I'm not sure they make that much money on it
Thanks everyone, confirms what I was thinking that 10% ish would be achievable especially as we are not trading in.
Over to Autotrader then.............
captainmainwaring, dealers still get a financial incentive from the finance company for selling the finance package, even at 0% the finance company makes money on the people who dont stick to the terms. There's no such thing as "discount for cash" anymore hence Uplink's ploy of haggling on the basis of getting finance.
There's loads of cod psychology used by dealers staff. Getting into a conversation, giving you a coffee so you feel indebted, and having to phone someone else as they are not authorised to negotiate all pretty standard.
Dealers have to offer a warranty on used cars, from memory I think its 3 months but EU ruled a couple of years ago.
Bikeshops selling the 0% Black Horse finance receive a £50 commission?
Most indies source their secondhand cars from auctions.
Most big dealers source their secondhand stock from ex-fleet and auctions.
Auctions mean the 10% margin is tosh. I.e. an indie would buy in what they think would make them a good profit. The bad part (for them) is they'll also be carrying stock that isnt selling no matter what, THAT can pull down their overall margin though. But I imagine they stick these hummers back into the auction loop.
Dealers certainly still make money on fiannce.
Example on new Golf GTi I got quoted recently.
£26300 new. Trade in £6300 (obviously infalted to include some discount, but try getting a dealer to admit that). Leaves £20000. Some cash towards deposit (although only 30% of total allowed).
So about £17600 to finance.
But the final payment is £10120.
Monthly payments are ~£360.
In my eyes, the amount financed in 17600-10120 = £7480 at £360 for 42 months.
That works out at 45% APR!!! Dealers are still making money on finance.
Bikeshops selling the 0% Black Horse finance receive a £50 commission?
we wish ........no incentive for me to use finance -you loose a percetage of the sale. its probably one area where you would get a discount for cash ....
Kenny your calculation is flawed. It should read
Car Price £26,300
Trade In £6,300
Balance £20,000
Deposit £2400
Balance to borrow £17,600
Final Payment £10,120
Monthly payment £360x48
You do realise that the £10,120 is not FREE money dont you. It is in effect a balloon payment and they are usually charged at DOUBLE the interest of the £7480 you are really paying back. So i bet if you check you are paying a realistic interest on the £7480 and double that for the £10,120.
Or do you really believe that you can get £10,120 over 4yrs for nothing?
trail_rat I bought a frame and I asked how the mechanics worked. They said for every sale they receive a £50 commission from Blackhorse (showed me the sliding scale- the higher the debt sold the higher the commission). Blackhorse sells a debt (and then works on you- trying to increase it with further postal offers)- or thats what I thought.
Your Buyer needs to renegotiate a deal if Blackhorse are chargin you to use their 0%.
TheLittlestHobo, I am frankly disgusted. This is STW. Why are you considering a Golf GTI when Skoda makes the fantastic Octavia VRS? Disgusted.
After doing price research, I usually have a price that I am willing to pay in my head. I don't bother with all the b$ sales patter but go in and say "I will give you blah amount for that car right now" as I tend to pay the full amount in cash for my cars. If they don't want it it's their loss and i'm off to the next dealer
I agree with hora get a vRS Golfs are wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy overpriced.
There is no standard discount you can get from dealers. It depends on what the car is and how they price it. Some dealers have low screen prices and very little room to manouver on them other start much higher to get beaten down.
The key to it is not how much discount you get but the price you pay. If a car is up at 2.5k and they won't budge it's better than the same car up at 3.5k but haggled down to 2.6k. Figure out some models you're interested in and then do a load of research into prices so that when you go to view cars you know what they're worth and work to that figure regardless of how much or little discount you need to get to it.
Trade news is that second hand values have just peaked but have been rising steeadily for best part of a year now.
i agree I offer a fair price dont haggle leave give them my number tell them I am off to look at other cars. Buyers have th epower as it is easy top find cars for sale and MUCH MUCH harder to find buyers.
Personally I think all the best deals come from private sellers as most trade are just random cars from PX, Auctions , private sellers anyway.
hora - was it a large chain you went to ?
i got a 53 zafira diesel up for 3500 for 2700 about six months ago and i got a mondeo zetec 53 two months back up at 3300 and paid 1800
up at 3300 and paid 1800
Jeesus 
what did you do? Threaten him with menaces?
trail_rat YGM
Personally I think all the best deals come from private sellers as most trade are just random cars from PX, Auctions , private sellers anyway.
EXACTLY.
no with sensible pricing it was overpriced i think anyway he had it up at diesel prices when it was a petrol
hora, 10% margin is not tosh. Wherever they source their vehicles they will be looking to make that as a minimum. My actual point if you read it was that getting the Autotrader PX price for the car you are buying and adding 10% is a good guide as to their likely walk away price.
Oh, and Golf's being overpriced is, like most things about cars, purely personal perception. The manufacturer with the biggest growth in the UK in the last year is Audi (overpriced Volkswagens?), and the most profitable car company in the world is Porsche. A lot of people obviously think they not overpriced
[quote=TheLittlestHobo]So i bet if you check you are paying a realistic interest on the £7480 and double that for the £10,120.
[/qoute]
Just my way of thinking it's a rip-off. I did ask for APR, got a load of waffle back, at this stage sales person and finance person were together. I told them Subaru were doing a finance deal at 7.9% APR (actually 5.6%APR on Impreza WRX STi Type UK or whatever it's called), the 2 of them looked at each other in amazement.
Total amount of money handed over to own car
Trade in: -£6300
42 Payments: -£15120
Final Payment: -£10120
Total: -£31540!!!
I remember why I said I wasn't buying a new car again.
CaptainMainwaring - Customers see 'Teutonic engineering' and 'you pay for what you get' here in the UK. I think punters see it as reassuringly expensive.
What made me laugh last year was the 'AFFORDABLE' and 'reassuringly affordable' banners on VW main dealer windscreens when in reality alot I clocked were actually over main dealer book value. WHY!
hora, I think that's the point about doing the research and negotiating. Do it right and you get a reasonable deal. Do it wrong and you get ripped off. Case in point, I bought a new R32 last September. The local dealer had a couple on the forecourt, not quite the spec/colour I wanted, at £22.5k, 12 months old with around 8k miles. Eventually ended up buying brand new, to my (higher) spec for £21k from an another dealer.
R32? Nice. I drove a mkIV 2.8 4motion for 6weeks (on loan)- I managed to get a 4 wheel drift going
Anywaayyy...still...shame on you! STW demands you should have bought a Octavia
Guy at work just got a motor went shopping round was offered finance got the price down quite a bit. Buyer took his time, ended up scraping the money together from somewhere and paying cash. Salesman looked pretty P'ed off apparently.
On the Octavia. Took the GF to the garage, sat her in a top spec newshape VRS. Leather- full satnav the lot....she wrinkled her nose and said 'not a Skoda. Sorry'. She actually prefers my farmers dirty old car to a flash VRS 
hora, take her to sit in a Golf GTi, then you will get the thumbs up. It's more expensive, but very strong residuals, so net cost over the lifetime about the same. Even better, try a Scirocco if you don't need 4 seats.
Sorry, but I'm a Golfist - now on my 5th one - just love 'em. Skoda's are good but don't have the same quality cabin or understated looks
CaptainMainwaring Golfs in general leave me cold. I had a mkV GT TDI- and the paint flaked off the roof, door fabric pilled etc. Its only the extra-special ones that set me alight. I drove GF's dads mkVI Golf TDI to London and back couple of weekends ago. This weekend I'm taking my Subaru instead- its slower, noisy and agricultural but I prefer it.
The 2.84motion (swap the silly soft suspension out) and the R32 do do it for me though. The R32 may not be the quickest out there but its special enough for me
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