Room to haggle buying used from main dealer
Room to haggle buying used from main dealer
Author
Discussion

James_B

Original Poster:

12,642 posts

275 months

Sunday 24th September 2017
quotequote all
I quite like the look of a car I tried this week, two year-old BMW, listed at a main dealer at £45k. I’d like to deal at the right price but also not waste time and effort pushing for something that’s just not going to happen.

Can anyone suggest a ball park that it’d make sense to aim for as a discount from the advertised price, for a cash purchase with no trade-in?

I know that each case will differ, but information about what others have achieved in similar circumstances would be useful, thanks.

SantaBarbara

3,244 posts

126 months

Sunday 24th September 2017
quotequote all
How many owners has it had?

James_B

Original Poster:

12,642 posts

275 months

Sunday 24th September 2017
quotequote all
SantaBarbara said:
How many owners has it had?
Two.

cuprabob

17,124 posts

232 months

Sunday 24th September 2017
quotequote all
For a straight cash purchase, I doubt they will move much on the displayed price. More chance of a "discount" if you take finance and then pay it off shortly after.

SantaBarbara

3,244 posts

126 months

Sunday 24th September 2017
quotequote all
Don't make it obvious that you are focuses on that one car

Look at lower priced cars and say your budget is about 35k and let him try to upswell you the other car perhaps

Wilmslowboy

4,573 posts

224 months

Sunday 24th September 2017
quotequote all
Most large franchised dealerships will have 10% margin in a car at that level (after prep costs etc).

Not a great time in the trade at the moment (not catastrophic but equally sales down on last year). So with it being near month / quarter end (as well as most dealers wanting to show a good September), I would try your luck.

The only potential issue is if they have recently discounted it and therefore could have little margin left in it.

I'd start at £40k and be prepared to leave asking them to call you back.

Whatever they say, makes sure your offer is passed on to the sales / business manager and not just refused out of hand by the salesperson.

Good luck.

Wilmslowboy

4,573 posts

224 months

Sunday 24th September 2017
quotequote all
If they plead poverty or no profit left etc......ask they to tell you want it stands them at - on the computer screen biggrin

Edited by Wilmslowboy on Sunday 24th September 15:52

HTP99

24,232 posts

158 months

Sunday 24th September 2017
quotequote all
So many variables; spec, model, how long they have had it, price vs what else is out there etc.

The UK is a much smaller place now due to the internet, car dealers can't over price cars to build in a big haggling amount, they have to be competitively priced to start with.

Invariably if you get a rather large chunk off, it is either an undesirable or a very overpriced car to start off with.

Thankyou4calling

10,808 posts

191 months

Sunday 24th September 2017
quotequote all
Wilmslowboy said:
Most large franchised dealerships will have 10% margin in a car at that level (after prep costs etc).

Not a great time in the trade at the moment (not catastrophic but equally sales down on last year). So with it being near month / quarter end (as well as most dealers wanting to show a good September), I would try your luck.

The only potential issue is if they have recently discounted it and therefore could have little margin left in it.

I'd start at £40k and be prepared to leave asking them to call you back.

Whatever they say, makes sure your offer is passed on to the sales / business manager and not just refused out of hand by the salesperson.

Good luck.
10% AFTER prep costs etc. Blimey, i'd be surprised if that were the case. Seems a lot to me.

James_B

Original Poster:

12,642 posts

275 months

Sunday 24th September 2017
quotequote all
Wilmslowboy said:
Most large franchised dealerships will have 10% margin in a car at that level (after prep costs etc).

Not a great time in the trade at the moment (not catastrophic but equally sales down on last year). So with it being near month / quarter end (as well as most dealers wanting to show a good September), I would try your luck.

The only potential issue is if they have recently discounted it and therefore could have little margin left in it.

I'd start at £40k and be prepared to leave asking them to call you back.

Whatever they say, makes sure your offer is passed on to the sales / business manager and not just refused out of hand by the salesperson.

Good luck.
Thanks, that’s exactly the sort of thing that I was looking for.

James_B

Original Poster:

12,642 posts

275 months

Sunday 24th September 2017
quotequote all
HTP99 said:
So many variables; spec, model, how long they have had it, price vs what else is out there etc.

The UK is a much smaller place now due to the internet, car dealers can't over price cars to build in a big haggling amount, they have to be competitively priced to start with.

Invariably if you get a rather large chunk off, it is either an undesirable or a very overpriced car to start off with.
Yes, hence my question, as I’ve no idea whether I’ll have zero chance of £100 off, or a decent shot at £2k

SantaBarbara

3,244 posts

126 months

Sunday 24th September 2017
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Ask to examine the V5 to see who were the first two registered keepers

ZX10R NIN

29,508 posts

143 months

Sunday 24th September 2017
quotequote all
Go on autotrader/pistonheads look for the model see how many are for sale & how much they're selling for go in armed with that information & start haggling from there, you might find the dealer has the lowest price.

Wilmslowboy

4,573 posts

224 months

Sunday 24th September 2017
quotequote all
Thankyou4calling said:
Wilmslowboy said:
Most large franchised dealerships will have 10% margin in a car at that level (after prep costs etc).

Not a great time in the trade at the moment (not catastrophic but equally sales down on last year). So with it being near month / quarter end (as well as most dealers wanting to show a good September), I would try your luck.

The only potential issue is if they have recently discounted it and therefore could have little margin left in it.

I'd start at £40k and be prepared to leave asking them to call you back.

Whatever they say, makes sure your offer is passed on to the sales / business manager and not just refused out of hand by the salesperson.

Good luck.
10% AFTER prep costs etc. Blimey, i'd be surprised if that were the case. Seems a lot to me.
Yep on average ...VAT drops it to 8%...then dealership property costs, head office cost, salesperson salary and commission etc down to between 2% and 3% net (all in the public accounts of the large PLC groups)


Some cars needless to say get sold at loss...but then again some cars get sold with tasty finance deals and add on products etc ...







James_B

Original Poster:

12,642 posts

275 months

Sunday 24th September 2017
quotequote all
ZX10R NIN said:
Go on autotrader/pistonheads look for the model see how many are for sale & how much they're selling for go in armed with that information & start haggling from there, you might find the dealer has the lowest price.
Unfortunately neither of those sites list selling prices, so that’s not going to work.

HTP99

24,232 posts

158 months

Sunday 24th September 2017
quotequote all
James_B said:
ZX10R NIN said:
Go on autotrader/pistonheads look for the model see how many are for sale & how much they're selling for go in armed with that information & start haggling from there, you might find the dealer has the lowest price.
Unfortunately neither of those sites list selling prices, so that’s not going to work.
No they won't list the actual selling price but they will list the for sale price this will give you an idea of what the market looks like.

Welshbeef

49,633 posts

216 months

Sunday 24th September 2017
quotequote all
You say the car you really like is up at £45k - what exactly do you want to pay for it? If it's £20k your likely not to get that off

It could be perfectly priced as is so you'd be happy to pay the price it is one.

sicourt

79 posts

129 months

Sunday 24th September 2017
quotequote all
I bought a car (5 series BMW) from BMW Wakefield - the salesman had about 3% in hand that he offered straight off and a bit of , 'umming and arring' (away from the dealership but on same day,) a phone call from them later doubled that. I was happy with this and doubt there is much more in terms of 'meat on the bones' if they need a bit of profit too.

James_B

Original Poster:

12,642 posts

275 months

Sunday 24th September 2017
quotequote all
Welshbeef said:
You say the car you really like is up at £45k - what exactly do you want to pay for it? If it's £20k your likely not to get that off

It could be perfectly priced as is so you'd be happy to pay the price it is one.
That doesn’t really make any sense to me. The idea is to try to find the resistance point, at which the salesman genuinely is about to be happy to see you walk away. Having a bit of knowledge about what others is found is helpful with that.

The offered price is about right, the question is what’s the “walk away” price for the salesman on a car that’s relatively commoditised.

It’s more as you say on the other car I’m looking at, where there are only two or three offered. On that one, I think I’ll just have to pay pretty much what’s being asked, but on this one, both sides are playing a game to find the pressure point.

Pica-Pica

15,426 posts

102 months

Sunday 24th September 2017
quotequote all
The car is £45k, two years old and two owners. I assume it an M5. It depends how much you want it. If you think you can offer £40k or less, do that. There are lots of decent cars for a hell of a lot less than that.