The art of haggling
Discussion
Let's see what happens with this one.
Given that we are all PHers we've all bought or are intending to buy a car of some description. What haggling methods have you applied to obtain the price you want? Have you used any tricks to counteract the dealers predictable slick sales pitch?
My trick is to bring Mrs MARA along when buying. The dealers assume if they sell it to her I will buy the car. My trick is that I always get the Mrs to say to me(just loud enough for the dealer to hear)"I prefer the last one we saw and this one costs more". So far it has worked a charm everytime. Usually within 5 minutes of false deliberating and looking disinterested the dealer gives me the famous line......"I'll tell you what, I'll do you a deal" or "If you really want it I'll knock off $$$$".
Given that we are all PHers we've all bought or are intending to buy a car of some description. What haggling methods have you applied to obtain the price you want? Have you used any tricks to counteract the dealers predictable slick sales pitch?
My trick is to bring Mrs MARA along when buying. The dealers assume if they sell it to her I will buy the car. My trick is that I always get the Mrs to say to me(just loud enough for the dealer to hear)"I prefer the last one we saw and this one costs more". So far it has worked a charm everytime. Usually within 5 minutes of false deliberating and looking disinterested the dealer gives me the famous line......"I'll tell you what, I'll do you a deal" or "If you really want it I'll knock off $$$$".
all the vehicles i've bought in the last few years i have used a simple approch.I quite openly say i'm just looking for the least expensive deal and i will shop around.Everytime its cut the usual crap out of the deal,they are not nice about it and just say "this is the best price"
I've done all the research first,driven it and then when you speak to the sales dept other than the polite"its shit weather" all you need to know is what the cheque ammount is.Keep it simple and don't get personal,never fails.
I've done all the research first,driven it and then when you speak to the sales dept other than the polite"its shit weather" all you need to know is what the cheque ammount is.Keep it simple and don't get personal,never fails.
I always know what price I am looking to pay. I have, on the odd occassion, gone into the dealer to see if he will try to rip me off. As they say "let people who like talking talk". I ask them about a certain model and away they go. The "bait" questions are quite funny too. If you say to a shyte dealer "this has good mileage doesn't it" knowing full well it gets 18mpg they'll agree and make up some figures"unless sir like to drive fast, it might dip into the high 20s". Pah!
I'm sure Deres. would make mince meat of any dealer.
>> Edited by maranellouk on Friday 17th January 07:12
I'm sure Deres. would make mince meat of any dealer.
>> Edited by maranellouk on Friday 17th January 07:12
I usually say I’d be willing to pay a much lower price then let them come closer, this works for private sales as well!
Once offered a guy half the asking price of the car (only £1000) expecting him to meet me in between, he didn’t say anything but rang me 2 days later saying I could have it, good result!
Once offered a guy half the asking price of the car (only £1000) expecting him to meet me in between, he didn’t say anything but rang me 2 days later saying I could have it, good result!
Smart dealers really don't budge. Mrs MARA took one for a test and scared the living $h17 out of the salesman. He can back in the showroom looking very pale. I asked him if we could go through options and he'd said he needed to get a coffee and smoke before he did anything. I burst out laughing thinking he was joking. He then sat down and almost burst into tears(seriously) I died with laughter and the other salepeople had their hands covering their faces to try to stop laughing. She told me she stayed well under 30 and the guy was one of those super nervous passengers. Went balistic when the manager came out as the Mrs was very upset. I ranted for a bit but caught sight of the guy shaking at the door, coffee in one hand, cigarette in the other and I burst out with laughter again. Classic.
S2N said: When I brought my Smart the sales guy wouldnt budge an inch on price or extras!
The gobby 16 year old wouldnt even let me have his Roadster mouse mat!
(im blonde with huge knockers and that didnt even help me!!!)
p.s Vauxhall Bridge in the background?
>> Edited by maranellouk on Friday 17th January 10:58
>> Edited by maranellouk on Friday 17th January 10:59
maranellouk said:Smart dealers really don't budge. Mrs MARA took one for a test and scared the living $h17 out of the salesman. He can back in the showroom looking very pale. I asked him if we could go through options and he'd said he needed to get a coffee and smoke before he did anything. I burst out laughing thinking he was joking. He then sat down and almost burst into tears(seriously) I died with laughter and the other salepeople had their hands covering their faces to try to stop laughing. She told me she stayed well under 30 and the guy was one of those super nervous passengers. Went balistic when the manager came out as the Mrs was very upset. I ranted for a bit but caught sight of the guy shaking at the door, coffee in one hand, cigarette in the other and I burst out with laughter again. Classic.
S2N said: When I brought my Smart the sales guy wouldnt budge an inch on price or extras!
The gobby 16 year old wouldnt even let me have his Roadster mouse mat!
(im blonde with huge knockers and that didnt even help me!!!)
p.s Vauxhall Bridge in the background?
>> Edited by maranellouk on Friday 17th January 10:58
>> Edited by maranellouk on Friday 17th January 10:59
S2N - Knew you would be welcome here when I said Hi yesterday..
Completely failed to haggle when buying the TVR. Had looked at a couple, liked the sound of the one I bought and even though it was more than I had ready in the bank I thought I'd take a look as I'd managed to arrange a meeting close to where the car was. (Did that half a dozen times over the last few months - there are times when I like my job). Saw the car, heard her fire up, decided I wanted her.
With the aid of a large, flat field at the back of the house, an shed of a mini and an old Villiers Zip Kart, my mother taught me pretty much most of what I know about driving whe I was younger - in her time she raced karts and did a bit of rallying. Last car she bought, the salesman tried to sell it to me on engine/power type features and Mum on the nice interior. Having pointed out several times I wasn't buying the car and I'd looked up the spec so knew what it was before we got there, I bowed out and suggested Mum took it for a spin.
I think he'd have given the car away just to get out of it that day. He really wasn't expecting a middle aged woman to be able to drive like that.
When I went to buy the Mustang I wanted it at 5% over invoice cost to the dealer and I wasnt prepared to haggle. They knew they would make 5% and that was that, if they wanted anymore I would take the money elsewhere.
They tried and tried and tried to get 7.5% out of it, so I wrote out a cheque there and then for the complete cost of the vehicle at 5%, handed it to him and strangely enough the haggling stopped!
Matt.
They tried and tried and tried to get 7.5% out of it, so I wrote out a cheque there and then for the complete cost of the vehicle at 5%, handed it to him and strangely enough the haggling stopped!
Matt.
For my own part, I must say I find haggling too much hassle.
I want the dealer to treat me like royalty rather than some combatant, mutant Anne Robinson hybrid creation, whom he simply wants to 'process.' Long term, certainly with cars, such an approach, in my humble experience, yields a much better long term rapport with the dealership.
The way I look at it, you can either afford something, or you can't.
With something like a performance car, which invariably requires sporadic amounts of fettling, you have to allow the dealer his cut.
That way, you can demand and expect relatively high standards of service when things go tits up without the type of begrudging semi service that otherwise may prevail.
Then again...
I want the dealer to treat me like royalty rather than some combatant, mutant Anne Robinson hybrid creation, whom he simply wants to 'process.' Long term, certainly with cars, such an approach, in my humble experience, yields a much better long term rapport with the dealership.
The way I look at it, you can either afford something, or you can't.
With something like a performance car, which invariably requires sporadic amounts of fettling, you have to allow the dealer his cut.
That way, you can demand and expect relatively high standards of service when things go tits up without the type of begrudging semi service that otherwise may prevail.
Then again...
Just a thought - but how many times have you guys tried to buy a second-hand car and gone into a showroom, told the salesman your budget and then been shown cars that are "a little more than you wanted to spend, but well worth it madam"? What do you reckon to that? Are they inviting haggling, or just trying to get you to spend a couple of K extra that they just know you have concealed about your person somewhere...
Edited to add: Actually, most of you can forget the "madam" bit.
>> Edited by SGirl on Tuesday 21st January 10:43
Edited to add: Actually, most of you can forget the "madam" bit.
>> Edited by SGirl on Tuesday 21st January 10:43
I hate haggling. im a sucker for cars. If i like it I want it and give in too easily. Although Mrs Superlightr is very good as she is not fussed about cars,
The Porker was good as no haggling allowed.
Im good at negotiation things at work and playing hardball. but useless if I personally want something or it has 4 wheels.
The Porker was good as no haggling allowed.
Im good at negotiation things at work and playing hardball. but useless if I personally want something or it has 4 wheels.
SGirl said:been shown cars that are "a little more than you wanted to spend
Beware cars with no screen stickers! They have an amazing tendency to cost just that little bit more than your budget and (amazingly) allow themselves to be haggled down to exactly your budget. Who'd have thought it?
derestrictor said: For my own part, I must say I find haggling too much hassle.
I want the dealer to treat me like royalty rather than some combatant, mutant Anne Robinson hybrid creation, whom he simply wants to 'process.' Long term, certainly with cars, such an approach, in my humble experience, yields a much better long term rapport with the dealership.
The way I look at it, you can either afford something, or you can't.
With something like a performance car, which invariably requires sporadic amounts of fettling, you have to allow the dealer his cut.
That way, you can demand and expect relatively high standards of service when things go tits up without the type of begrudging semi service that otherwise may prevail.
Then again...
I've gotta say that this is the approach I adopted with the Chim. Paid sticker price and all the other charges that go along with a main dealer service history and it really has given massive long term benefits.
When I ordered the T350 as I had a proper relationship they really did bend over backwards to help etc. Fantastic service on the whole.
The difference being in my mind that the Chim is a proper performance car that requires love and attention and the Mustang, mentioned above, was just transport so I didnt care who worked on it.
Matt.
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