What sort of deal can I expect?

[KroganQuads]

So I've recently paid off my 2011 Ford Fiesta and I'm in need of a bigger car after the birth of my daughter in March. I have my eyes on a 2015 Skoda Octavia VRS priced at £17.5k.

My questions are, what sort of trade in price could I expect for my Fiesta? I've used online evaluations but the quotes I get are seriously low, around the 4-5k mark, especially as my car has a bunch of extras as follows;

Factory fitted full ST body kit
Heated leather seats
17inch alloys
Bluetooth/voice commands
Other bits of trim not on standard Fiestas

My car also has just over 35000 miles on it and is pretty much spotless inside and out. Mechanically sound and has a FSH at the dealership I intend to buy the Skoda from (I bought my Fiesta from the same dealership).
I'm waiting on my bonus to land before I go to the dealers and ask in person but I'd like to go in with some knowledge of what to expect.

Some more details of my car;

It's a 1.6 Titanium model, though some insurance companies list it as a Metal, not quite sure why. It hasn't needed any serious repairs, just new brake pads, new air filter etc...

I would ideally like at least £6000 from my car to go towards the Skoda and I'm also planning on putting £4000 deposit, would these numbers put me in a position to get a deal from my dealership?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Edited by KroganQuads on Saturday 3rd June 20:03

[Butter Face]

Optional bits aren't going to add 1000-1500 on your car. Budget that they may give you £5000 and go from there.

Send me your registration and mileage and I'll happily look at the CAP values for it if you want to have a proper trade view.

[KroganQuads]

Hi, my reg is DRZ 4469 and it's mileage is 35,056.

[daemon]

KroganQuads said:

So I've recently paid off my 2011 Ford Fiesta and I'm in need of a bigger car after the birth of my daughter in March. I have my eyes on a 2015 Skoda Octavia VRS priced at £17.5k.

My questions are, what sort of trade in price could I expect for my Fiesta? I've used online evaluations but the quotes I get are seriously low, around the 4-5k mark, especially as my car has a bunch of extras as follows;

Factory fitted full ST body kit
Heated leather seats
17inch alloys
Bluetooth/voice commands
Other bits of trim not on standard Fiestas

My car also has just over 35000 miles on it and is pretty much spotless inside and out. Mechanically sound and has a FSH at the dealership I intend to buy the Skoda from (I bought my Fiesta from the same dealership).
I'm waiting on my bonus to land before I go to the dealers and ask in person but I'd like to go in with some knowledge of what to expect.

Some more details of my car;

It's a 1.6 Titanium model, though some insurance companies list it as a Metal, not quite sure why. It hasn't needed any serious repairs, just new brake pads, new air filter etc...

I would ideally like at least £6000 from my car to go towards the Skoda and I'm also planning on putting £4000 deposit, would these numbers put me in a position to get a deal from my dealership?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Edited by KroganQuads on Saturday 3rd June 20:03

The dealer will just plug the details in and come back with a figure on a standard car. £4,500 - £5,000ish sounds about right as dealers are advertising them around £6,000 upwards.

To get more than the trade price you're going to need to sell it privately yourself...

[Butter Face]

KroganQuads said:

Hi, my reg is DRZ 4469 and it's mileage is 35,056.

Book figures are:

Clean - £5700
Average - £5275
Below - £4875

So £5500 isn't unreasonable maybe top book if it is clean and nice spec.

[Dimebars]

Can I make a suggestion?

Haggle hard on the price of the VRS before talking PX or finance. The waters will become very cloudy very quickly if you don't. Keep your price to change in your head at all times.

It may also be beneficial to take the dealers finance to secure a larger discount and then pay that off after a few days if you weren't intending using their facilities originally

[Wilmslowboy]

KroganQuads said:

So I've recently paid off my 2011 Ford Fiesta ...

My questions are, what sort of trade in price could I expect for my Fiesta? I've used online evaluations but the quotes I get are seriously low, around the 4-5k mark, especially as my car has a bunch of extras as follows;

have you tried www.tootle.co.uk/

[Butter Face]

Dimebars said:

Haggle hard on the price of the VRS before talking PX or finance. The waters will become very cloudy very quickly if you don't. Keep your price to change in your head at all times.

Eh? Just go in with the px, ask for the best price to change and focus purely on that. Haggling on a price then adding a PX and Finance is an easy way to confuse a deal and annoy a dealer IMO.

[daemon]

Butter Face said:

Dimebars said:

Haggle hard on the price of the VRS before talking PX or finance. The waters will become very cloudy very quickly if you don't. Keep your price to change in your head at all times.

Eh? Just go in with the px, ask for the best price to change and focus purely on that. Haggling on a price then adding a PX and Finance is an easy way to confuse a deal and annoy a dealer IMO.

Personally - and from the customers perspective - i disagree.

For talks sake if the dealer has a car at £15K and wants to stock that car @ £5K. He might have £1,000 discount up his sleeve on the forecourt car so pitches a "price to change" of £9,000. Sounds ok on paper.

BUT if you negotiate on the price of the car first - and you get your £1,000 discount, THEN get his bid of £5,000 for your trade in, you know you've only to find someone who will break the £5K mark - either another dealer / online valuation / private sale - and you're quids in.

THEN negotiate on the finance.

Far far too easy for a dealer to say "well you're paying £200 a month for your current car and we can put you in to this one for just £220 a month" and you've no idea at all how much discount you got, how much you got for your trade in and what the finance deal looks like.

And frankly i dont give a monkeys if i upset the dealer.

[Deerfoot]

When I've been buying the dealer has always established if there's a swapper involved within the first few minutes...

[daemon]

Deerfoot said:

When I've been buying the dealer has always established if there's a swapper involved within the first few minutes...

Yes, because its in his interests to establish that and control the negotiations.

Its easy to side step with i'm "i'm not trading it in" or "i've a buyer for it".

Bottom out the price of the car you're buying, then negotiate on the trade in.

Its easy to loop it back in when you're ready with "well what would you be offering me for my car if it got the deal done today?"

[Butter Face]

Deerfoot said:

When I've been buying the dealer has always established if there's a swapper involved within the first few minutes...

That was my point. Dealer will ask if there's a Px and how they're paying and then offer a deal.

The suggestion to lie, then start throwing in a PX for a deal and then start asking about finance will sour any conversations IMO and will result in a cash deal being offered a st PX and a st APR deal. Great if the op just wants a cash deal.

Best thing to do is be honest. Ask for their best and final and if it's not good enough, walk away. Simple.

[daemon]

Butter Face said:

being offered a st PX and a st APR deal. Great if the op just wants a cash deal.

Yes because its in the dealers interests to do that

Butter Face said:

Best thing to do is be honest. Ask for their best and final and if it's not good enough, walk away. Simple.

And dealers are honest all the time??

And if you just look at the price to change then how do you know you've got the best price for your car or whether the perceived value of your trade in is actually made up of a naff trade in price plus a hefty discount on the other car?

And you know as well as i do the dealer just wont simply give their "best and final" up front just because you ask nicely.

Its in the dealers interest to roll it all up in to a "price to change" and ideally a monthly payment.

It is not in the customers interest.

[Butter Face]

Does it matter what price you pay for the car or what the PX is? the amount of money you actually have to spend is the single and only important part of the entire transaction.

All this bks about negotiating on the car, then changing your mind saying there is a PX, then changing your mind for finance etc will get you no further than just asking for the deal you want and walking if you don't get it.

[Deerfoot]

daemon said:

Yes, because its in his interests to establish that and control the negotiations.

Its easy to side step with i'm "i'm not trading it in" or "i've a buyer for it".

Bottom out the price of the car you're buying, then negotiate on the trade in.

You think that blatantly lying to them is a good way to build up a rapport with them?

[daemon]

Butter Face said:

Does it matter what price you pay for the car or what the PX is? the amount of money you actually have to spend is the single and only important part of the entire transaction.

Uh huh.

However you dont HAVE to buy the car, sell your car and finance the car all from the one establishment. What would the odds be of the dealer you just happen to walk in to being the best for all three? Fairly slim i'd expect.

And whats your negotiating tactic - ask him for his "best price"

Yeah thats going to work.

Your best "price to change" might be getting a good discount on the car your buying, selling your car to another trader / on line buyer / private seller, and sorting out your finance online.

Butter Face said:

All this bks about negotiating on the car, then changing your mind saying there is a PX, then changing your mind for finance etc will get you no further than just asking for the deal you want and walking if you don't get it.

Its not a matter of "changing your mind". Its a matter of negotiating each separately. Bring them to the table one at a time. Do whatever you have to to control that.

Asking for your "best price" and "whats the monthlies going to be pal" is a sure fire way to get ass raped.

And gee, if the poor salesman gets a bit uncomfortable and off his patter, well thats just an added bonus.

Edited by daemon on Sunday 4th June 18:13

[daemon]

Deerfoot said:

daemon said:

Yes, because its in his interests to establish that and control the negotiations.

Its easy to side step with i'm "i'm not trading it in" or "i've a buyer for it".

Bottom out the price of the car you're buying, then negotiate on the trade in.

You think that blatantly lying to them is a good way to build up a rapport with them?

In whos interest - other than the salesmans - is there in getting a good rapport?

Its in THEIR interest to be your best mate. Its not in yours.

You can be firm, polite, hey you can be their bezy mate if you want but they are not your friend.

A good rapport wont get you a good deal. Knowing your facts, knowing what you can buy their car for, knowing what your car is worth and knowing what the best APR is will get you a good deal.

Their sales professionals trained to extract the best deal FOR THEM out of you.

Granted, you dont have to LIE, but even "i'm not thinking of trading it in at this stage" or "lets talk about the discount on your car first".

CONTROL the situation.

[Butter Face]

We'll have to disagree on this one Daemon, but didn't you actually sell cars once? I'm astounded you think that's the best course of action to negotiate a deal by lying, moving the goalposts and basically being hostile in the whole situation. It's very odd.

[MorganP104]

daemon said:

CONTROL the situation.

If the dealership is split-level, make sure you dominate the stairs, too.

Joking apart, as others have said, the cost to change is the only important figure here.

The new car's up for £17.5k. The buyer reckons his Fiesta is worth £5.5k. Realistically, getting a grand off the new car would be a result, so let's say £16.5k minus the £5.5k for the trade-in.

He therefore has a cost to change price of £11k. It may get written up on the paperwork as £2k discount and £4.5k trade-in, but that's not his concern.

How the dealer cuts it up is entirely up to him - as long as the buyer keeps the magic number (£11k) in mind, he won't go far wrong.

[Sheepshanks]

daemon said:

"whats the monthlies going to be pal" is a sure fire way to get ass raped.

Having always bought cars cash in the past, to the extent that I've twice in the last few years had 'the business manager' storm off in a huff, on the last new one I did the "whats the monthlies going to be pal" thing.

Of course all the time I was working on getting the amount financed down - I didn't give a toss what the monthly or the APR was. The thing that amazes me is salespeople don't see through this - I reckon the guy we dealt with would have turned himself inside out to get me to sign up.