How to get best discount from a dealer

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ive never bought from a dealer but im thinking of something that the dealer has taken in px. I don't have a px to offer. id be looking to get about 10% off the car its up for about 15k at the moment its only been up for about a week

what's the best way to improve my haggle dance - ive seen some of the following raised on previous threads

1. buy it through their finance package and settle finance. do I incur early settlement charges? id want to settle the finance asap

2. wave him my debit card (better for them the merchant service charge is nil compared to cc)

3. wave him my credit card (better for me I get points and some protection)

4. offer to take it without their gtee ie sold as seen (not sure they do that?!)

anything else?

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come on good old folk from PH surely we can do better.... nothing cast in stone yet and whilst 10% would be nice ive got no idea whether it is or is not achievable only the dealer knows that

back on point... what should I do

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sandman77 said:

If you want to buy a car for £13500 why are you going to look at one that costs £15000? Unless there is something very wrong with the car that you can haggle over then I guess getting a £1500 discount is not going to happen.

Anyway, they would obviously rather you took their finance then paid by bank funds or credit card.

you've assumed that 15k is a fair price haven't you

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IanCress said:

How come people are so anti-haggling all of a sudden? There's no harm in going down there and having a word with the dealer. The worst that can happen is they'll laugh in your face and tell you you're dreaming.

I think 10% is within the realms of possibilty but as with any used car, you don't know how much money the dealer has tied up in the car.

this is what im thinking too...

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rob.e said:

best discounts are to be had at the end of the month usually, especially if the salesperson has a target to hit.

if not, then start of the month (dealer writes down all used stock each month by a depreciation percentage, so the stand-in value will be lower).

as above though, you won't get a good discount if its only just come into stock. something they've had for 60+ days though they'd take your arm off for the right offer.

leave it to christmas - if its still there when the weather is cold and nasty make a cheeky bid on christmas eve - they'll be desparate to sell

I wasn't sure if it was end of each month or end of each quarter

I know the fact its been up for just a few days is against me but im not sure if I can play a long game as they don't come up very often and production volumes for this particular variant are v low... the last one that came up privately went within hours...

so bottom line is pay up right but does taking finance mean ill get hit with early settlement fees which may offset any reduction of the ticket price?

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ok chaps all advice heeded and ill keep you posted on the outcome!

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all academic now... another salesman sold the car

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thanks to everyone that offered genuine insight and advice and ill be armed and deadly should I need to buy through a dealer but moral of the story is move quick

I really thought in this case that the car would move slow as the marque is not usually held by the dealer that took it in px but I was wrong and by the looks of it the car im looking for seems to be wanted by more people than me who are happy to pay up

they had already discounted a similar model albeit a newer diesel one by over 1k so I thought I might have a chance

I am quite surprised to learn that net margins can be as low as whats been mentioned above but I guess all dealers are different

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HTP99 said:

Also if the dealer is anything like us and they have a non franchise car for sale, it will be priced cheaper than an equivalent car at a dealer that is the correct franchise.

That was my thinking privately the same car sold for about 13k not too long ago

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LA167 said:

They would have had that car in stock for quite a while.

When the next one comes up, just ring the dealer before asking the PH masses, be honest and be prepared to pay the asking price. It's obviously in demand and you'll just get laughed at if you mention 10%. Do you want to buy a car or do you want to buy a deal!? Someone already mentioned this, but if you snooze, you lose! Better luck next time and hopefully you'll get the car you want.

as it turned out the car hadn't even completed all the checks and no pics on website and some guy saw it in the flesh and just offered the asking price and the rest as they say is history...

I know im a bit of a geek ie I called the manufacturers help line to corroborate the service history and get the factory options etc so id be armed and ready for a good old haggle on Thursday as couldn't have gotten down any sooner....

out of interest... in this situation would I have been able to secure the car with a deposit over the phone subject to a viewing and agreement on price?