Can you haggle like the professionals?

[Milkyway]

With so many TV car programmes at our disposal, can you haggle a deal with the best of them.
It could have been for a car, new or used, or even spares.

( Not quite sure if the Tim Shaw style of Challenges works...but you never know)

Edited by Milkyway on Friday 31st December 10:40

[Cold]

Depends. Who is writing the script and are they on my side?

[230TE]

Seller: Price is £1500.

Me (timidly): Would you take £1450, cash now?

Seller: No.

Me: OK then. (Hands over £1500)

There's a reason why I don't deal in vehicles as part of my business.

[Milkyway]

Cold said:

Depends. Who is writing the script and are they on my side?

I did buy a brand new Calibra, & I did say “ And that does include a full tank of petrol”
The salesman replied, begrudgingly.... “I’ll see what I can do”.
Success...

I got a free set of floor mats for my new 205...
Thats was only because they didn’t get my car ready in time.

Edited by Milkyway on Friday 31st December 10:58

[donkmeister]

Me: ah've got a big pile o'reddies ere, old aht yer'and
Dealer: erm... Any chance you could pay by card? Otherwise I'll have to add the cost of banking charges onto the price and the car will cost more.
Me: ...


That was only a cheap runabout a good 10 years ago, but boy did I feel sheepish driving my new car to the bank to pay in thousands of pounds of cash.

[Stuart70]

On cars:

Offer between 10 and 20% below asking price, giving reasons.

Buying from garage
- I’m interested, but at price xxx
- service, additional bits to be included in the price

Retail
- any chance of a discount or “throw in” other elements
Eg hi fi kit - throw in decent quality leads or a pair of headphones

If you don’t ask you don’t get and most times, I can always buy elsewhere (supply and demand allowing!)

[Bill]

"'Old yer 'and out!"

I don't actually buy cars that often but have had occasional deals. Generally though it's been within the £200 haggle room I assume everyone prices in.

ETA I did once offer someone full asking and he knocked off £200 anyway!

Edited by Bill on Friday 31st December 10:53

[vikingaero]

I used to regularly buy cars for my wider family and would purchase around 20 cars a year. They would tell me what they wanted, I'd find a good deal whether that was secondhand, dealer, broadspeed, drive the deal etc. The amount of times I'd order from a broker and it was the same local salesman doing the handover that i'd previously made an enquiry from as a private customer. Most of the local dealers got to know me when I turned up - that I wanted to deal that day if the price was right.

Sometimes, I'd pitch another dealers price at a 2nd dealer and they would say that there's no way they could match as they were using the manufacturers bonus to support the sale.

There were lots of time I'd walk away from deals and 99.5% of the time there would be the follow up calls...

[James_33]

I recently bought a BMW 1 series (new to me) car was in very good condition but there was a couple of things that could have been better.

When we walked back into the dealers office we talked more about the car and then to finally agreeing on price, as soon as i mentioned getting anything off it, he took one look at his computer and within no time it was pretty much not a chance.

I suppose from a dealers point of view if you've got margins to make from the sale of a car then no amount of haggling is going to make a difference unless you desperately want shut of something.

In my experience it's more people selling privately that are willing to move more on price.

[sherman]

Best deal I ever got was a volvo c30 for £1400 less than the inital advert price. (£7500)
I liked the car but it was just out of price range and it didnt sell. 2 weeks later I saw the advert again reduced by £1000 (£6500). So I arranged to meet and a test drive. I withdrew £6000 in £100 notes from the bank (yes rbs do £100 notes) and had another couple of hundred in my wallet and went to see the car.
All was good and when I laid the money (£6000) on the coffee table it did make the old owner seriously think. He asked for another £100 though and I wasnt losing thd deal for that so very quickly shook his hand and scarpered off with my new to me car

[Chubbyross]

230TE said:

Seller: Price is £1500.

Me (timidly): Would you take £1450, cash now?

Seller: No.

Me: OK then. (Hands over £1500)

There's a reason why I don't deal in vehicles as part of my business.

Exactly the same here. I just don’t tend to bother. I usually buy from good independents and in my experience they don’t haggle. I can’t be bothered to go through the excruciating process just to get a set of mats or an air freshener thrown in.

Likewise, whenever I’ve sold a car privately, I’ll price it competitively, make sure it’s as close to perfect as I can make it and then refuse to deal with anyone who tries to knock down the price. It’s a stupid game I won’t play.

Years ago, when I was in my teens, I worked in a guitar shop in central London. A very nice, polite chap from overseas wanted a brand new guitar, played a few and decided on one he liked. Brought it up to the counter and started to ask what the best price we could do. The label said £1k. I said £1k. He offered £800. I said £1k. He adamantly refused to believe we wouldn’t take lower. In the end he left. Afterwards the shop owner said that in some cultures the label price was simply a starting point. It seems to be like that in the motor trade at times.

I find it weird. Why do some people haggle over cars but not in John Lewis?

[MrGTI6]

As a buyer, I'll only view a car if I'm happy with the asking price. If the car is as-described then I'm more than willing to pay the asking price for it. If it's not as-described, I'd sooner walk away than start haggling.

When selling a car, I'll describe the condition honestly, and I'll put in the ad "no offers". This doesn't stop the usual messages coming in with low-ball offers (which get ignored).

Once someone has come out to see or test drive the car, they always pay the asking price as they don't want to go back empty-handed. If they try haggling, I politely make it clear that the asking price is the absolute minimum and I won't go any lower.

I made an exception for the lad who came all the way from Northern Ireland to Kent to buy a Peugeot 306 off me a few years ago. As he was counting out the money he stopped £20 short and asked if I would accept £20 less than the asking price. I asked him if he was prepared to take the next flight back empty-handed for the sake of £20. As he went to hand me the last £20 I thought I'd show a little generosity and let him hold onto it! After all, he had a 500-mile drive ahead of him including a trip on the ferry!

The other exception I made was last year when selling a SEAT Arosa. The guy came from Devon to buy it and was very happy with the car. He paid me the full asking price via bank transfer before even seeing the car which I thought was very brave! I collected him from the station and he was having issues taxing the car on his phone. Since it was only £30 for the year and he had already paid the full asking price up-front, I used my phone to tax the car off the new keeper's slip. I suppose it wasn't really haggling at all, as he tried handing me £30 in cash, but it was a price worth paying for a nice easy sale.

[ZX10R NIN]

It all depends on the car if there's nothing to haggle on (there's normally something) then there are times when you pay the asking price.

[Milkyway]

Reminds me of Only Fools & Horses....Classic sales pitch.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Waufl6RWsOg

Edited by Milkyway on Friday 31st December 11:39

[James_33]

Chubbyross said:

230TE said:

Seller: Price is £1500.

Me (timidly): Would you take £1450, cash now?

Seller: No.

Me: OK then. (Hands over £1500)

There's a reason why I don't deal in vehicles as part of my business.

Exactly the same here. I just don’t tend to bother. I usually buy from good independents and in my experience they don’t haggle. I can’t be bothered to go through the excruciating process just to get a set of mats or an air freshener thrown in.

Likewise, whenever I’ve sold a car privately, I’ll price it competitively, make sure it’s as close to perfect as I can make it and then refuse to deal with anyone who tries to knock down the price. It’s a stupid game I won’t play.

Years ago, when I was in my teens, I worked in a guitar shop in central London. A very nice, polite chap from overseas wanted a brand new guitar, played a few and decided on one he liked. Brought it up to the counter and started to ask what the best price we could do. The label said £1k. I said £1k. He offered £800. I said £1k. He adamantly refused to believe we wouldn’t take lower. In the end he left. Afterwards the shop owner said that in some cultures the label price was simply a starting point. It seems to be like that in the motor trade at times.

I find it weird. Why do some people haggle over cars but not in John Lewis?

I don't think there's anything wrong with asking if there's any movement on price, particularly when cars are involved, the old saying of "if you don't ask you don't get" but i think it's when some take it to a complete other level and start getting abusive or start criticising how you've priced something.

[fflump]

ZX10R NIN said:

It all depends on the car if there's nothing to haggle on (there's normally something) then there are times when you pay the asking price.

Agreed. More than happy to pay asking price from a dealer if there's nothing wrong as if you've done your research a) they will have a good reputation and b) it will already be a very competitive price (and they'll know it).

I managed £500 off a £22k 330d after a test drive once due to it being listed as having LED lights (or xenon-I forget) whereas it had halogens. That was a main dealer, but it was already after hours and I was ready to walk.

Privately there's always a bit of wiggle room if you're friendly, polite and are enthusiastic about the car, and offer an easy transaction (i.e. are different to 90% of private buyers in my experience)

[vikingaero]

Chubbyross said:

I find it weird. Why do some people haggle over cars but not in John Lewis?

I used to find it strange that my Dad would be in Currys, Dixons, Laskys etc and would haggle with the salesperson who had relatively little leeway and end up with the manager giving him discounts.

I think the weirdest was in Laskys where he asked if they would give him part-exchange for his old hifi system and they gave him £400 as a part ex allowance. They must have had a decent profit margin or were keen to meet some target.

[Fonzo]

It seems a lot easier when you're talking finance on a new car. I got about £3,000 off of a new F Pace on top of the £7,000 off that Jag were doing. I'm far too sheepish to be any good at haggling, I'd be amazed if anyone pays full retail for a new car (excepting things in short supply.)

[CrippsCorner]

Last coupe of cars I've just said... £100 off? Always been met positively, and instantly. So it's easy, no stress, I get a bit off, seller still happy.

My last two car sales were completely different though.

Clio: Bloke turns up in the dark, doesn't even test drive it. Says here you are, and hands me full asking price and away he went!

MINI: 3 phone calls before he even comes down telling me I need to reduce price for him to come (he 'won' it on eBay) and I replied you've won it on eBay mate, for the price that it sold for. Begrudgingly he comes down anyway with entire family. Long test drive. Tries to haggle... I'm not budging. Asks for another test drive! Nope. Says he needs to go away and think about it comes back 4 hours later and tries to haggle! Even using my £100 off tactic. Sorry, nope. Few minutes of complete silence. Then he buckles and pays and leaves. Idiot!

[georgeyboy12345]

I'm useless, the excitement always gets the better of me when I find a car I like. I think the most discount I have ever had is like £100 off a £4000 car.