Dealership

[pmlc]

When purchasing from a dealership, is there room for negotiation on the price?
For instance if a 430 is up for £78k and your max budget was £75k would it be rude to make an offer?
If not then what is a reasonable amount to negotiate?

[Mr Purple]

I dont care what dealership it is , negotiating is all part of purchasing to get a deal . Whether that is a cash discount or fixes to the potential purchase who knows. Doesnt cost anything to ask ............
good luck !!

[steelej]

There's always room for negotiation, getting a £78k car for £75k sounds very possible to me. I got nearly £5k off mine.

John.

[birdcage]

If you politely say your max budget is 75k and they know where you are if they want to sell it then they will either call you or not.

You don't have more so what's the worse that can happen

[groak]

The guy who just bought my car saved himself several thousand pounds by buying it from me rather than a dealer.

The process of putting it into top order was also carried out by proper mechanics (rather than a bloke who did his time at Nissan, joined the dealership, did the 3 week course and is now a 'specialist technician'); a proper bodyshop (like the ones they have to outsource to anyway because they think 'bodyshop' is a sub branch of 'topshop'); and a detailer (rather than an in-house carwash jockey in a liveried t-shirt).

It has to be said, though, dealers do great stamps in service books. Can't fault their bookstamping service.

[L33]

My first bid on a car always starts at between 10 - 15% less than the cars advertised price. Don't forget that the seller is trying to sell and can refuse your offer and come back to with what they would accept. You have nothing to loose by starting low and working your way to middle ground. Once you have mentioned a price, you can never come back down. In your situation, I'd say that £78k was over your budget but how would they feel about £70k (expect them to say no) but then they may come back and say £74k. By laying your cards straight on the table and saying £75k is your budget, then you'll never pay less than your budget. All negotiation can ceel a little uncomfortable but do you really want to pay a dealer more than they'd accept for a car?

[sone]

I doubt the dealers have as much as 15% gross margin in these top end cars. Infact having sold one of my Ferrari's to a reputable dealer I can tell you the margin in the car was less than 10% and they had to service and Mot the car within that.
My point is yes theres always room for a few quid off, but these days nobody's getting rich off every deal though so don't expect to get it for nothing.

Just my humble

Steve

[Cipo]

sone said:

I doubt the dealers have as much as 15% gross margin in these top end cars. Infact having sold one of my Ferrari's to a reputable dealer I can tell you the margin in the car was less than 10% and they had to service and Mot the car within that.
My point is yes theres always room for a few quid off, but these days nobody's getting rich off every deal though so don't expect to get it for nothing.

Just my humble

Steve

Yes, and they also they have to pay VAT on the margin. FWIW, I just negociated £3k off my California. Trouble is, if there are a number of cars with the same spec then you can haggle, if one comes along that is a one off then you have less chance of discount

[L33]

Like I said, my first bid is always less 10-15% of the asking price (high enough not to cause offence but low enough to let the seller your serious about doing a deal.). Usually settle somewhere very close to middle ground.

[VMLondon]

groak said:

The process of putting it into top order was also carried out by proper mechanics (rather than a bloke who did his time at Nissan, joined the dealership, did the 3 week course and is now a 'specialist technician')
It has to be said, though, dealers do great stamps in service books. Can't fault their bookstamping service.

So true

[UH-Matt]

Tend to change car every year, really depends on what the car is, what the spec is like, what the market is like, and what sort of week/month the dealer is having, can even differ from one salesman to another at the same dealership.

Have had anything from being told "no discount" and walking from a £100k car, right through to £10k off a £90k car.

Certainly NOT unreasonable to make an offer of £75k (or less) as an initial bid on a £78k car. Personally I would always be going in low £70k's on a £78k car to start things off.... Haggling and bidding on cars is fully expected and all part of the purchase unless you have more money than sense, I enjoy it

Remember the dealer NEEDS to sell cars, and you do not *need* to buy. They want your business.

[MrFreight]

Good Afternoon

You should watch a few re-runs of Wheeler Dealers - Mr Brewer illustrates exactly how to negotiate a deal - a proper pro!! Haa Haa !!

MF

[MartinTorque]

groak said:

The guy who just bought my car saved himself several thousand pounds by buying it from me rather than a dealer.

The process of putting it into top order was also carried out by proper mechanics (rather than a bloke who did his time at Nissan, joined the dealership, did the 3 week course and is now a 'specialist technician'); a proper bodyshop (like the ones they have to outsource to anyway because they think 'bodyshop' is a sub branch of 'topshop'); and a detailer (rather than an in-house carwash jockey in a liveried t-shirt).

It has to be said, though, dealers do great stamps in service books. Can't fault their bookstamping service.

I am not sure what make of car you have sold but the process for becoming a technician in a specialist dealership is around a four year process and you are trained by the people who build the cars.