Do you haggle when buying a used car?

[Birdster]

Just a quick question. I've always haggled when buying a used car. Come in low and let them come down and meet you. I'd rather it not be like this and only once have I had a simple buy where a local trader showed me the paperwork that he traded something in for. (Was trade price to be fair and maybe he did get it for less? I'll never know, but the deal was good for me). I said I wanted it for a runabout. Lets not mess about and I took it off of his hands for trade price. He wanted it gone. I wanted the car.

Had an interesting one today. Went to get an MX5. Girlfriend wanted one and to be honest I fancied one. Cheap and fun and I had a drive and liked it. Had a drive with roof up etc as well to make sure that I felt comfortable. I even moved money into my account for a deposit as I was pretty sure that I wanted it before I left. Offered 10K for an 11.5K car and not even interested. Dealer ended the meeting. Which made me smile.

Shame really as I'll end up travelling up from London as there are similar spec cars a lot cheaper. Also had mixed brand of tyres on the front and back. So I asked about these being changed. Got the not unless below 3mm. Asked about Tax and where we go from there? Nothing.

So what examples have people got of how much they have got off. I was expecting to pay £10500 to be fair and I'd want matching tyres.

Car in question

http://www.mazdausedcarlocator.co.uk/used-mazda/22...

Other example. This is even a Sport Tech for £10000. Not fussed about the warranty as I can buy one.

http://www.mazdausedcarlocator.co.uk/used-mazda/27...

Similar car. Newer with less miles for the same price.

http://www.mazdausedcarlocator.co.uk/used-mazda/25...

Another with 8000 less miles. So I don't feel that I'm expecting that much in way of movement.

Or are MX5's selling because it's summer and people impulse buy and don't worry. Or do dealers want people who don't notice the mixed tyres etc.

These are all MK3.5's. Can get MK3's a lot cheaper. Going to have a look at some others the weekend.

Edited by Birdster on Friday 13th July 15:54

[All that jazz]

Personally I won't even entertain anyone who writes in their ad "no offers" or similar. One could argue that if it's already cheaper than everything else than you'd be stupid to ignore it, but in my experience cheaply priced cars with "no offers" stated always have something catastrophic wrong with them.

For everything else I'd haggle but how much I'd want off would depend on what I find wrong with it that hasn't already been disclosed, the rareness of the spec/colour, how many others are for sale within x radius and how desperately I need some wheels.

I've a lot of experience of buying privately and have always managed to get a good wedge off the asking price without too much effort but you've got to be able to justify your offer if you're gonna go in low. The other thing that really works is to catch them off guard and casually slip into the discussion "have you had much interest/how long has it been for sale for?" when viewing it or on the test drive. If you get your timing right here they'll shoot themselves in the foot and openly tell you that you're the first person to view it in the 4 weeks it's been advertised! That is sweet music to any car buyer's ears as you know they'll be getting desperate to get shut of it.

The 330Cd I bought was up for £8350 (slightly cheaper than others for sale privately in the same spec and roughly same miles) but he hadn't mentioned that it was due a major insp2 service so I offered him £7000 and he laughed at me. Unbeknownst to him I knew it had been for sale in the 'trader for the past 6 weeks too which was why I made such a low offer. I told him that my offer was fair considering it needed an expensive inspection 2 service. After some pondering he asked if I'd go to £7100 . I was tempted to say £7050 but I thought I'd taken the piss enough on the price already so just agreed with what he wanted . I made a few hundred profit on it when I flogged it 6 months later. I must admit I was gobsmacked he let it go for that money - I was expecting to pay more than £8k for it.

Similar story with my Puma too. Puma was 28k miles and up for £2000 but had been for sale for yonks. Found it very difficult to find fault with it apart from the tax was out and there was some surface rust starting on the sills. I offered him £1400 and he started getting out of the car. Must've argued the toss with him for 15 mins with him saying it's worth more than that as it's only got 28k on it and me saying it doesn't matter it's still a 12yr old car that's been stood for half of its life so all the bushes need replacing (they didn't but he didn't know that!). I made my final offer of £1500 and told him so, not moving any further, take it or leave it. He said no, needs to be £1600, so I said no, too much, needs tax etc . Okay well split the difference with me he says, £1550. Nope, got to be £1500 or not at all, sorry! He obviously weighed up the lack of interest since he'd first advertised it and realised mine was the only offer on the table so decided to take it in the end! Sold that one for a profit too.

Always always haggle and get some £££ off. If you meet someone that won't, walk away, it's their loss. There's always someone that will. When I was buying a new Astravan I went to Pentagon at Sheffield as they had one in the spec I wanted. Decided I wanted it so sat down with the sales guy to begin negotiations. That lasted all of 5 seconds when he told me that the price on the screen is the price I pay, they don't "do" discounts. The "best" he could do was put 6 months rent on it. When I started to walk he shouted after me "you'll be back, I guarantee you won't find one cheaper!". Arrogant . So I found one in the same spec from Marshall's priced £500 less (£11495 vs £10995). Made him a couple of lowish offers which he turned down but did eventually go for £300 off and threw in some mats and a load-liner which I wanted as well as stick 6 months rent on it. I wonder if the Pentagon guy is still waiting...

[Krikkit]

I think that if the car is exactly as advertised, for a fair price, there's no point haggling. Pay a fair price and walk away happy.

If it's an advert for a car with problems not mentioned, and with an optimistic price, barter them down to something fair and pay it.

If the seller won't entertain adjustments based on faults they're deluded, walk away!

[TheLordJohn]

Everyone expects to be haggled down....!

[Matt UK]

There are no rules: pay it, offer or walk.

[Durzel]

Expecting to get £1500 off a £11,500 car seems a little far beyond haggling to me. Some people react badly to that level of lowballing, others might be inclined to think straight away that they've got a timewaster on their hands and modify their attitude accordingly. You'd have to be fairly lucky I think to get someone who isn't offended by an offer like that.

That being said I've never really understood "No Offers" much either. Irrespective of what something is worth there seems to be a prevailing attitude in used car markets where the buyer isn't happy unless they get something off, even if it's entirely tokenistic or offset elsewhere. Seems easier simply to price something a little higher than you're actually happy to take and expect to get knocked down to that level anyway.

[ajh38]

As a dealer I have to say that I only usually go £250 off the screen price. Even then it's only if it is a car that's been around for a while. I think people are unreasonable when they expect the job to be done propperly (full service, years warranty, years MOT, maybe a cambelt or whatever else the car needs) and then money off too. As long as it's priced keenly against the competiton why try to chip on price? you've got to let the other guy live.

[6fire]

I've paid 1/3 of the asking price before. Bought a ropey looking Audi A3 for £400 which was advertised for £1200. It served me for 18 months with no work done to it at all and which I then traded in with no MOT or tax for £200.

I seem to be quite good at negotiating for shed money cars. I always make low offers and am absolutely prepared to walk away. Other deals have been a £1200 omega bought for £700. Same with a passat. A £1000 Saab 9-3 bought for £600 and a £1200 Toyota corolla bought for £500.

It helps I think that I'm always absolutely polite when making an offer, have cash on me and love bargaining. As has been mentioned though, the key is to find a car that has either had no interest, or no one has made an offer on.

[POORCARDEALER]

All that jazz said:

Personally I won't even entertain anyone who writes in their ad "no offers" or similar. One could argue that if it's already cheaper than everything else than you'd be stupid to ignore it, but in my experience cheaply priced cars with "no offers" stated always have something catastrophic wrong with them.

For everything else I'd haggle but how much I'd want off would depend on what I find wrong with it that hasn't already been disclosed, the rareness of the spec/colour, how many others are for sale within x radius and how desperately I need some wheels.

I've a lot of experience of buying privately and have always managed to get a good wedge off the asking price without too much effort but you've got to be able to justify your offer if you're gonna go in low. The other thing that really works is to catch them off guard and casually slip into the discussion "have you had much interest/how long has it been for sale for?" when viewing it or on the test drive. If you get your timing right here they'll shoot themselves in the foot and openly tell you that you're the first person to view it in the 4 weeks it's been advertised! That is sweet music to any car buyer's ears as you know they'll be getting desperate to get shut of it.

The 330Cd I bought was up for £8350 (slightly cheaper than others for sale privately in the same spec and roughly same miles) but he hadn't mentioned that it was due a major insp2 service so I offered him £7000 and he laughed at me. Unbeknownst to him I knew it had been for sale in the 'trader for the past 6 weeks too which was why I made such a low offer. I told him that my offer was fair considering it needed an expensive inspection 2 service. After some pondering he asked if I'd go to £7100 . I was tempted to say £7050 but I thought I'd taken the piss enough on the price already so just agreed with what he wanted . I made a few hundred profit on it when I flogged it 6 months later. I must admit I was gobsmacked he let it go for that money - I was expecting to pay more than £8k for it.

Similar story with my Puma too. Puma was 28k miles and up for £2000 but had been for sale for yonks. Found it very difficult to find fault with it apart from the tax was out and there was some surface rust starting on the sills. I offered him £1400 and he started getting out of the car. Must've argued the toss with him for 15 mins with him saying it's worth more than that as it's only got 28k on it and me saying it doesn't matter it's still a 12yr old car that's been stood for half of its life so all the bushes need replacing (they didn't but he didn't know that!). I made my final offer of £1500 and told him so, not moving any further, take it or leave it. He said no, needs to be £1600, so I said no, too much, needs tax etc . Okay well split the difference with me he says, £1550. Nope, got to be £1500 or not at all, sorry! He obviously weighed up the lack of interest since he'd first advertised it and realised mine was the only offer on the table so decided to take it in the end! Sold that one for a profit too.

Always always haggle and get some £££ off. If you meet someone that won't, walk away, it's their loss. There's always someone that will. When I was buying a new Astravan I went to Pentagon at Sheffield as they had one in the spec I wanted. Decided I wanted it so sat down with the sales guy to begin negotiations. That lasted all of 5 seconds when he told me that the price on the screen is the price I pay, they don't "do" discounts. The "best" he could do was put 6 months rent on it. When I started to walk he shouted after me "you'll be back, I guarantee you won't find one cheaper!". Arrogant . So I found one in the same spec from Marshall's priced £500 less (£11495 vs £10995). Made him a couple of lowish offers which he turned down but did eventually go for £300 off and threw in some mats and a load-liner which I wanted as well as stick 6 months rent on it. I wonder if the Pentagon guy is still waiting...

You spout some garbage.

[MGJohn]

Since buying my first car back in the 1960s when I did not, have always haggled buying used or new ever since. Never part exchange either. Haggle on the used/new car purchase and sell the old car privately. My new cars are one owner, well maintained and thus sell themselves. Even get folks knocking on the door asking if the car is for sale....when it is not.

Be patient and do it right and you can win on both swings and roundabouts. Something few private buyers ever do when buying cars I've gathered over the years when chatting to others.

[All that jazz]

POORCARDEALER said:

You spout some garbage.

Still bitter from the last thread I see. In fact you could learn some lessons from me in how to make profit trading cars . I'm feeling generous today so I'll give you 1 tip for free :

Tip 1 : don't expect to make any money trading cars by pricing everything a grand above your competitors and then expecting to sell them solely based on "a better customer experience" because it won't work, especially when you are unable to tell your potential customers what exactly this "better customer experience" actually entails...

[Garvin]

"No, no ....... you've got to haggle" - Life of Brian.

[Alucidnation]

POORCARDEALER said:

All that jazz said:

Personally I won't even entertain anyone who writes in their ad "no offers" or similar. One could argue that if it's already cheaper than everything else than you'd be stupid to ignore it, but in my experience cheaply priced cars with "no offers" stated always have something catastrophic wrong with them.

For everything else I'd haggle but how much I'd want off would depend on what I find wrong with it that hasn't already been disclosed, the rareness of the spec/colour, how many others are for sale within x radius and how desperately I need some wheels.

I've a lot of experience of buying privately and have always managed to get a good wedge off the asking price without too much effort but you've got to be able to justify your offer if you're gonna go in low. The other thing that really works is to catch them off guard and casually slip into the discussion "have you had much interest/how long has it been for sale for?" when viewing it or on the test drive. If you get your timing right here they'll shoot themselves in the foot and openly tell you that you're the first person to view it in the 4 weeks it's been advertised! That is sweet music to any car buyer's ears as you know they'll be getting desperate to get shut of it.

The 330Cd I bought was up for £8350 (slightly cheaper than others for sale privately in the same spec and roughly same miles) but he hadn't mentioned that it was due a major insp2 service so I offered him £7000 and he laughed at me. Unbeknownst to him I knew it had been for sale in the 'trader for the past 6 weeks too which was why I made such a low offer. I told him that my offer was fair considering it needed an expensive inspection 2 service. After some pondering he asked if I'd go to £7100 . I was tempted to say £7050 but I thought I'd taken the piss enough on the price already so just agreed with what he wanted . I made a few hundred profit on it when I flogged it 6 months later. I must admit I was gobsmacked he let it go for that money - I was expecting to pay more than £8k for it.

Similar story with my Puma too. Puma was 28k miles and up for £2000 but had been for sale for yonks. Found it very difficult to find fault with it apart from the tax was out and there was some surface rust starting on the sills. I offered him £1400 and he started getting out of the car. Must've argued the toss with him for 15 mins with him saying it's worth more than that as it's only got 28k on it and me saying it doesn't matter it's still a 12yr old car that's been stood for half of its life so all the bushes need replacing (they didn't but he didn't know that!). I made my final offer of £1500 and told him so, not moving any further, take it or leave it. He said no, needs to be £1600, so I said no, too much, needs tax etc . Okay well split the difference with me he says, £1550. Nope, got to be £1500 or not at all, sorry! He obviously weighed up the lack of interest since he'd first advertised it and realised mine was the only offer on the table so decided to take it in the end! Sold that one for a profit too.

Always always haggle and get some £££ off. If you meet someone that won't, walk away, it's their loss. There's always someone that will. When I was buying a new Astravan I went to Pentagon at Sheffield as they had one in the spec I wanted. Decided I wanted it so sat down with the sales guy to begin negotiations. That lasted all of 5 seconds when he told me that the price on the screen is the price I pay, they don't "do" discounts. The "best" he could do was put 6 months rent on it. When I started to walk he shouted after me "you'll be back, I guarantee you won't find one cheaper!". Arrogant . So I found one in the same spec from Marshall's priced £500 less (£11495 vs £10995). Made him a couple of lowish offers which he turned down but did eventually go for £300 off and threw in some mats and a load-liner which I wanted as well as stick 6 months rent on it. I wonder if the Pentagon guy is still waiting...

You spout some garbage.

[POORCARDEALER]

All that jazz said:

POORCARDEALER said:

You spout some garbage.

Still bitter from the last thread I see. In fact you could learn some lessons from me in how to make profit trading cars . I'm feeling generous today so I'll give you 1 tip for free :

Tip 1 : don't expect to make any money trading cars by pricing everything a grand above your competitors and then expecting to sell them solely based on "a better customer experience" because it won't work, especially when you are unable to tell your potential customers what exactly this "better customer experience" actually entails...

I will remember that as I am choosing which car to go to work in in the morning, thanks for the advice

[Flying machine]

I don't usually bother - if it's the car that I want with the right extra's and a good price and is exactly as described I'm happy to pay the asking. If I'm looking to bargain money off or walk it's presumably because I'm not that bothered if I buy the car or not. I've already decided that before I go and see it, otherwise you've potentially got a total waste of time on your hands and I just can't be bothered with that and all the grubby bargaining over £50 or whatever. I find the whole process of buying and selling cars unpleasant most of the time without leaving the transaction feeling cheap and would prefer that both parties were happy. I bought an impreza once and the guy I bought it from was so nice that he insisted on filling the tank with fuel before I left - that small thing felt much nicer tbh.

[TheLordJohn]

All that jazz said:

Still bitter from the last thread I see. In fact you could learn some lessons from me in how to make profit trading cars . I'm feeling generous today so I'll give you 1 tip for free :

Tip 1 : don't expect to make any money trading cars by pricing everything a grand above your competitors and then expecting to sell them solely based on "a better customer experience" because it won't work, especially when you are unable to tell your potential customers what exactly this "better customer experience" actually entails...

Round two!

[Birdster]

I wasn't expecting to pay 10K. That was the offer. Great if they accepted, although it's unlikely. I'm aware of that. However I was expecting some movement since I've linked to other cars that on first glance are better value. I had already done my homework on price online so knew that these other cars were available. If they need the same work such as two new tyres and tax then they are cheaper. If they don't, then that's a bonus. Only problem is that the other cars are further away and I wanted one this weekend. So I will travel for them if the saving is sufficent and I have to go up North next week anyway.


I don't expect perfection. Had some slight marks, as you would expect on a three year old car. Nothing obvious, just upon closer inspection you'd notice swirl marks and two tiny stone chips. I didn't even mention these.

When was told no on price I moved onto Tax and tyres and it wasn't even discussed. I hardly think I'm expecting much asking what they'll do about tyres and tax. It was pretty much left as that's our price as is take it an leave it which I have.

When I went to look at the car before hand and booked the test drive I had given it a good going over. I expect they want people to come in who don't notice the tyres etc and ask when it is due a service. I think the no trade in and a cash purchase is just not attractive to them.

Appears that I am off the mark on this one then. Will travel to view the cheaper one me thinks and maybe find that I'm better off, or not.

Edited by Birdster on Friday 13th July 17:39

[falkster]

Two opinions, one for selling and one for buying. I will always try to get the car as cheap as possible, not bothered about the value of the car but more about how much the seller needs to sell. I've not really done that for a while because I buy most of my cars no reserve auctions on eBay.
When it comes to selling cars I sell them as near to mint as I can get and price them exactly what I think they're worth (using classifieds, eBay auctions and price guides) and haven't actually been knocked down in the last 5 cars I've sold.
The people I dislike are the ones that try the old 'it's seen paint mate' or 'I've seen better ones to be honest' - they usually get shown the door.
If there is a genuine reason to haggle such as gaps in the history, maintenance work looming or the condition needs to be taken into account then I'm fine with it but when you get people that just don't want to pay the advertised price whether it's well priced of not (like me) then we can do without it.

[Flying machine]

There's an interesting potential conflict between the opinions people express regarding their ability and enjoyment in offering very low prices (which I imagine must be combined with sucking of teeth and tutting for some reason) and how they go about selling - I wonder if they are the same people who post up threads regarding time wasters and get all cross when others do the same to them? Just a thought

[POORCARDEALER]

Birdster said:

I wasn't expecting to pay 10K. That was the offer. Great if they accepted, although it's unlikely. However I was expecting some movement since I've linked to other cars that on first glance are better value. I had already done my homework on price online so knew that these other cars were available. If they need the same work such as two new tyres and tax then they are cheaper. If they don't, then that's a bonus. Only problem is that the other cars are further away and I wanted one this weekend. So I will travel for them if the saving is sufficent and I have to go North next week anyway.


I don't expect perfection. Had some slight marks, as you would expect on a three year old car. Nothing obvious, just upon closer inspection you'd notice swirl marks and two tiny stone chips. I didn't even mention these.

When was told no on price I moved onto Tax and tyres and it wasn't even discussed. I hardly think I'm expecting much asking what they'll do about tyres and tax. It was pretty much left as that's our price as is take it an leave it which I have.

When I went to look at the car before hand and booked the test drive I had given it a good going over. I expect they want people to come in who don't notice the tyres etc. I think the no trade in and a cash purchase is just not attractive to them.

You will find many dealers (Evans Halshaw in particular for one) advertise cars at odd exact prices, they 99/100 wont move on those prices which they claim to be cheapest in the area etc etc.....they will try and get you to pay more with add ons etc....So if a car is cheap to start with, then its cheap, there is nothing macho about missing a cheap car that you want becuase you cant get £200 off...