Car dealer question.
Discussion
I haven't bought a car from a dealer in some years but it used to be a given that it would be acceptable to haggle over the price a little.
Yesterday I went to look at at a car from a dealer & although the car wasn't brilliant I thought if I pointed out a few minor problems with it I could get the price down a little. He refused to budge & said he prices his cars to sell so there was no leeway & then informed me there was a £60 administration cost on top of the advertised price, so I'm trying to knock the price down while he was putting it up. I left without buying anything.
Is this normal, am I out of touch? I'm going to look at a couple more cars tomorrow & would like to know if haggling is now not the norm. Any advice appreciated.
Yesterday I went to look at at a car from a dealer & although the car wasn't brilliant I thought if I pointed out a few minor problems with it I could get the price down a little. He refused to budge & said he prices his cars to sell so there was no leeway & then informed me there was a £60 administration cost on top of the advertised price, so I'm trying to knock the price down while he was putting it up. I left without buying anything.
Is this normal, am I out of touch? I'm going to look at a couple more cars tomorrow & would like to know if haggling is now not the norm. Any advice appreciated.
talksthetorque said:
Is the price with the admin fee still a good price?
Or are you NOT cutting your nose off to spite your face.
Or tell them you have to do admin - like change your insurance - and that you'll charge them £60 for doing it yourself if you're feeling peeved.
No, the price wasn't good but a bit cheaper it would have been acceptable. I'm only talking about approx £3000 so I wouldn't expect them to drop a lot but would have hoped for a little. Or are you NOT cutting your nose off to spite your face.
Or tell them you have to do admin - like change your insurance - and that you'll charge them £60 for doing it yourself if you're feeling peeved.
mygoldfishbowl said:
So basically this isn't normal & I should still be haggling & not be paying an extra admin charge. Sounds good 
You only pay what you think its worth or your willing to pay - if he doesn't like your best offer then no worries look for another. Admin fee.... Were you looking at finance or trying to pay for it on your credit card?
I think when haggling, it depends how you approach it.
If you come across all bombastic, you will get the vendors back up, but most car dealers are reasonable and would not wish to miss a sale for a couple of hundred pounds, unless that was all their margin was.
If you ask them to knock £1000 off a £4000 car, you probably will be shown the door, they have a living to make like everybody else.
If you come across all bombastic, you will get the vendors back up, but most car dealers are reasonable and would not wish to miss a sale for a couple of hundred pounds, unless that was all their margin was.
If you ask them to knock £1000 off a £4000 car, you probably will be shown the door, they have a living to make like everybody else.
Cupramax said:
I wouldn't touch anywhere with an admin fee, you're there to sell cars, I'm not paying you to do it, if you cant build a profit into your price your no dealer.
The Insight I just bought had a £60 admin fee.I got the car for £2,400 less than the sticker price. The admin fee is there for some sort of tax reason apparently. I was happy to pay it, considering the deal...
HereBeMonsters said:
The Insight I just bought had a £60 admin fee.
I got the car for £2,400 less than the sticker price. The admin fee is there for some sort of tax reason apparently. I was happy to pay it, considering the deal...
Tax reason?I got the car for £2,400 less than the sticker price. The admin fee is there for some sort of tax reason apparently. I was happy to pay it, considering the deal...
As in your paying them more so they will have to pay more corporation tax?
I bought a motorbike from one of these admin fee places. I negotiated a price I was happy with then informed the salesman as I was about to pay that he'd need to subtract it from the price or I'd walk. He didn't seem too bothered about it and said it was a bit of a running joke in the place because almost nobody actually paid it (except mugs I presume).
Thousands of used cars out there, move on and buy one from someone else- at that price point I wouldn't be buying from a dealer either unless the deal was exceptionally good.
Thousands of used cars out there, move on and buy one from someone else- at that price point I wouldn't be buying from a dealer either unless the deal was exceptionally good.
Surely there is no correct answer here - it just depends. Not only depends on the dealer but the car in question etc etc
Admin fee sounds like a car supermarket - and those do not move on price generally as if I understand it correctly the sales person is not authorised to do so? Besides its their model... cars are bought and sold on book prices...
Incidentally a 'few hundred' pounds on a 3k car is not insignificant in my view.
Let me ask you a question though: are you really saying the dealer lost a sale here for the sake of or did he quickly suss out that you were not interested at a price that would work for him (and if the only price that worked for him is £3k then the answer is obvious)?
That all said - I don;t think it ever hurts to ask for a deal and some (though not all) will price their cars with a bit of fat to give away.
Ultimately we could flip that question to you. Did you walk away from the car for the sake of a 'few hundred' but by the sounds of your follow on posts you were not that convinced?
Plenty of other cars and £3k buys a lot these days - so I reckon you and the dealer have both won! He may (or may not) sell at £3k and you will most likely find a car you prefer !
Admin fee sounds like a car supermarket - and those do not move on price generally as if I understand it correctly the sales person is not authorised to do so? Besides its their model... cars are bought and sold on book prices...
Incidentally a 'few hundred' pounds on a 3k car is not insignificant in my view.
Let me ask you a question though: are you really saying the dealer lost a sale here for the sake of or did he quickly suss out that you were not interested at a price that would work for him (and if the only price that worked for him is £3k then the answer is obvious)?
That all said - I don;t think it ever hurts to ask for a deal and some (though not all) will price their cars with a bit of fat to give away.
Ultimately we could flip that question to you. Did you walk away from the car for the sake of a 'few hundred' but by the sounds of your follow on posts you were not that convinced?
Plenty of other cars and £3k buys a lot these days - so I reckon you and the dealer have both won! He may (or may not) sell at £3k and you will most likely find a car you prefer !
Welshbeef said:
Tax reason?
As in your paying them more so they will have to pay more corporation tax?
Apparently, one of the biggest dealers in the country charges an admin fee (someone mentioned it in a recent conversation).As in your paying them more so they will have to pay more corporation tax?
I wonder if they are using it to NOT pay VAT on that part of the profit?
Yes that must be it... its all an elaborate mechanism to save £12 on VAT per car ... (or more if the admin fee is higher).
TBH - Im not sure how VAT works on car sales - my understanding is that its payable on the difference of the car price sold vs bought.
If I read this correctly - it implies the admin fee would be included in the 'sale' price for determining the margin price.
"Your selling price is everything which you are to receive for the vehicle, whether from the buyer or a third party.
"
From:
http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/ch...
Personally I think admin fees are a bit like a standard charge to assist with the costs of running businesses that most people would not consider until after they have mentally bought the car.
Car supermarkets have done it for as long a I remember and they're just set out to make fixed profits and quick turnarounds.
If you ask someone what they paid for a car which they bought from a car super market 9 times out of 10 I would wager its without the admin fee. Is it that different to having to pay road tax. Do most people consider how much road tax they get with a car (I say most as I know people on herre would).
So its clever and works on some people but not all. But like the whole £2999 thing.
TBH - Im not sure how VAT works on car sales - my understanding is that its payable on the difference of the car price sold vs bought.
If I read this correctly - it implies the admin fee would be included in the 'sale' price for determining the margin price.
"Your selling price is everything which you are to receive for the vehicle, whether from the buyer or a third party.
"
From:
http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/ch...
Personally I think admin fees are a bit like a standard charge to assist with the costs of running businesses that most people would not consider until after they have mentally bought the car.
Car supermarkets have done it for as long a I remember and they're just set out to make fixed profits and quick turnarounds.
If you ask someone what they paid for a car which they bought from a car super market 9 times out of 10 I would wager its without the admin fee. Is it that different to having to pay road tax. Do most people consider how much road tax they get with a car (I say most as I know people on herre would).
So its clever and works on some people but not all. But like the whole £2999 thing.
750turbo said:
Apparently, one of the biggest dealers in the country charges an admin fee (someone mentioned it in a recent conversation).
I wonder if they are using it to NOT pay VAT on that part of the profit?
I wonder if they are using it to NOT pay VAT on that part of the profit?
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