Newish Car - Haggling advice !

Nocturne_sa

Nocturne_sa

Nocturne_sa

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Joined
13 Aug 2006
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480
Hey guys

I went to the BMW garage recently to try out the 1 series...decided it wasn't for me but came across a 58 reg 320D M Sport with 3K miles on the clock (the recent facelift model post Sept 08).

The asking price is around 24K. This is my first experience buying a car in the UK so was wondering if you guys can offer some advice on how to get a better deal in respect of 1) price of the car 2) finance.

I have already done some homework. I got used car quotes from glass's, whatcar, car buyer and parkers. Surprisingly the quote I got from glass's is roughly the same as what is being asking i.e. 24k so not much use to me when it comes to haggling.

In terms of finance options, I have had quotes from drivethedeal.com (although they are for brand new cars but roughly comparable pcp 10.8% apr over 36 months etc) . I have also explored the possibilities of getting a personal loan but have not applied for one give that it may affect my credit rating when BMW do a credit check. I have fairly good credit history and am confident that I should be able to get around 9% apr via A&L, Sainsburys or HSBC. I'm just wondering if I should get an actual quote before going to the dealership so that they know I'm serious.

Moreover, while I was on drivethedeal.com I got a quote for a brand new car with exactly the same specs as the one I'm looking at and it quoted me approx £25.6K! So I'll be taking a copy of the quote with me to further push the price down.

Any comments/ opinions?

Cheers!
 
320dmsportvalu.jpg


Seems to concur with your findings, what condition is it in - I am assuming pretty damn perfect considering 2000 miles but have you had a good look around?

Any kerbing of alloys etc?
 
I have around 8-10K without a loan/finance. The car is almost brand new..was originally owned by BMW head office so has some extras (leather,folding mirrors,auto wipers etc) although I would have preferred the media/Sat nav option which is unfortunately absent.

Any advice on how I should go about haggling?
 
'gizza a decent price'

'you're avin a laaarf'

'cor, you're makin my eyes bleed'


Rinse, repeat.
 
Well, in my experience they will usually ask you what kind of a deal they need to offer you for you to buy the car then and there, if you know that you want it, you can use that to your advantage of course. But really I suppose it ultimately depends how desperate they are to shift said car quickly, if they think it might take a while, they are likely to be more forthcoming with a 'good deal' than if they know they will sell the car no matter what in a fairly short time.

If they do ask you what they need to do to get you to buy the car the same day, come in with a better offer than you expect to get from them, and work from there, as-long as it isn't outrageous they are likely to work with you on it and you can meet somewhere between that and the original price. There really isn't much more to it, just don't make it seem like you want it too badly, or they are likely to hold out on you, under the belief that if you want it enough, you will bite.

It's all about making them believe that if it's at the right price, you will buy it, but if it isn't, you're happy to look around a bit more.
 
buy a vicar's collar, go into the dealership with this on, they'll be extra nice to you

mension how your last car was stolen etc
 
If your prepared to walk out the dealership empty handed offer 22K. If they say no fair enough goodbye.

They want the car off the forecourt and money in their pocket not the other way around. They are not doing you a favour.

I've only ever bought 2 cars from dealers and I find it unpleasant. The first wasn't too bad but the 2nd I wanted them to pay for 6 months tax, they refused. I said no deal and walked out.

I came back a few minutes later and the sales gimp gives this little smirk thinking I'll jsut agree but I'd walked out the showroom with the keys in my pocket. I returned the smirk, plonked the keys in his hand and walked out (again)

They rang about half an hour later and agreed to throw in the tax. If we weren't desperate for a decent car at the time I would have told them to stick it. Wish I had as a MK3 astra is in my top 1 most hated cars :)
 
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Use some NLP techniques. Talk about how great it'll be for you to walk away with a nice new car, them to have made a decent sale and you're sure their boss will be pleased to. All they have to do to make that happen is make you an offer low enough that you'd be silly to refuse. What do they think is a good price to start at?

Then thank them for the offer. Then go in with much cheaper than you want to spend. They'll say another offer. Say they drop £1000, that means that, in all likelyhood they'll be able to drop at least the same again and still make a profit. So call them out on it. Thank them for the offer and say that it's great that they understand that their original price was a bit unrealistic. That you think the current offer is a bit high and that if they want the sale today, which would be fantastic because you really want to buy the car today, all they have to do is drop the price by another X (X being the amount they've already dropped the price by) and you'll shake their hand then and there.

Rinse, repeat.
 
Have you had a look on BMW used cars online to see how much they are at other dealers. Find a comparable cheaper car then that is a starting point.

You should get 1-2k off the screen price.

After investigating BMW site you can get (baring in mind the below are screen prices and you will have room to haggle on that)

2008 320d Msport

http://bmw.co.uk/bmwuk/auc/car_details/0,,1260_159980106__,00.html?currentCh=WBAVG92080A325814 - £22k

http://bmw.co.uk/bmwuk/auc/car_details/0,,1260_159980106__,00.html?currentCh=WBAVG92080A325957 - 23K

http://bmw.co.uk/bmwuk/auc/car_details/0,,1260_159980106__,00.html?currentCh=WBAPN32000VJ47806 - 23.5k (under 2k miles)

or 2008 330D M Sport

http://bmw.co.uk/bmwuk/auc/car_details/0,,1260_159980106__,00.html?currentCh=WBAVC92090VC99781 - 23.5k under 10k miles (//makes motions to go off and buy this, checks bank account /crys)

Realistically, I think you should be looking to get a 2008/2009 320d M Sport for about 22k with 2-3k miles on the clock.
 
mrk1@1 said:
Have you had a look on BMW used cars online to see how much they are at other dealers. Find a comparable cheaper car then that is a starting point.

You should get 1-2k off the screen price.

After investigating BMW site you can get (baring in mind the below are screen prices and you will have room to haggle on that)

2008 320d Msport

http://bmw.co.uk/bmwuk/auc/car_details/0,,1260_159980106__,00.html?currentCh=WBAVG92080A325814 - £22k

http://bmw.co.uk/bmwuk/auc/car_details/0,,1260_159980106__,00.html?currentCh=WBAVG92080A325957 - 23K

http://bmw.co.uk/bmwuk/auc/car_details/0,,1260_159980106__,00.html?currentCh=WBAPN32000VJ47806 - 23.5k (under 2k miles)

or 2008 330D M Sport

http://bmw.co.uk/bmwuk/auc/car_details/0,,1260_159980106__,00.html?currentCh=WBAVC92090VC99781 - 23.5k under 10k miles (//makes motions to go off and buy this, checks bank account /crys)

Realistically, I think you should be looking to get a 2008/2009 320d M Sport for about 22k with 2-3k miles on the clock.
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Thanks for this. However, my problem is that I'm looking for the post sept 08 facelift model. I didn't like the shape of the older models especially the boot lights. These are all (apart from the last one which does not have leather etc and hence is £550 cheaper) pre facelift models.

Quick update. Spoke to the business manager (whose sorts out the finances) and he quote me an APR of 14.9%. Basically looking to s*rew me £5700 just in interest on £16,000 (24000 less my deposit of £8,000). I quoted him 10.8% from drivethedeal.com and he was quiet for a sec and said that there is no way he would go down to that % but if I'm willing to put down more deposit then I can get a different figure.

Going down to the dealership tomorrow to have a face to face conversation.
 
Lol

That is a stupidly high APR at the moment, is there no way you could get a bank loan?. Lucero had this problem with his 530d M Sport. Our local dealer was quoting him silly rates iirc and very un-helpful etc etc so he went to one that would do the right deal.

Sounds like you have an uphill struggle so it would be worth looking for a facelift at another dealer and asking what they will do on it.

When you are spending this much be prepared to travel although they would flatbed a car to you if not local for this sort of money.
 
mrk1@1 said:
Lol

That is a stupidly high APR at the moment, is there no way you could get a bank loan?. Lucero had this problem with his 530d M Sport. Our local dealer was quoting him silly rates iirc and very un-helpful etc etc so he went to one that would do the right deal.

Sounds like you have an uphill struggle so it would be worth looking for a facelift at another dealer and asking what they will do on it.

When you are spending this much be prepared to travel although they would flatbed a car to you if not local for this sort of money.
Click to expand...

What should be my target apr% so that I can work around that? The problem with the loan is that there wont be an option to just hand the car back once Ive paid 50% in case the value is lower than the payments.
 
Nocturne_sa said:
What should be my target apr% so that I can work around that? The problem with the loan is that there wont be an option to just hand the car back once Ive paid 50% in case the value is lower than the payments.
Click to expand...

Er Bank Loans would be 7.9%-9.9% assuming you can get one ok. What monthly payment can you afford over how long then work it that way? If you can afford £300pm then you are looking at about 16k loan at 7% over 5 years with a 3k charge for interest.

This is good to play around with.

http://www.moneymadeclear.fsa.gov.uk/tools.aspx?Tool=loan_calculator

Have you considered PCP on this car based on 10k miles per year? Assuming an excess mileage charge of 5p (£50 per 1000 miles) per mile it may prove a much more economical option. It usually works out much cheaper to take the lowest mileage on the PCP and pay the excess mileage than a higher mileage PCP which lowers residuals and ups the monthly figure. Also means you won’t need such a big deposit although you won’t own the car at the end, you would have the option to buy it.


edit ## After re-reading this thread.


Forget dealer finance, get a bank loan, use your cash and buy the car outright. They make a lot of commission off finance so they are just being greedy. If you tell them you have a loan agreed in principle at 7.9% apr from wherever and it costs you X per month they will probably match it or risk loosing the commission.

Paying cash and you should get 1-2k off screen price at least.
 
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mrk1@1 said:
Er Bank Loans would be 7.9%-9.9% assuming you can get one ok. What monthly payment can you afford over how long then work it that way? If you can afford £300pm then you are looking at about 16k loan at 7% over 5 years with a 3k charge for interest.

This is good to play around with.

http://www.moneymadeclear.fsa.gov.uk/tools.aspx?Tool=loan_calculator

Have you considered PCP on this car based on 10k miles per year? Assuming an excess mileage charge of 5p (£50 per 1000 miles) per mile it may prove a much more economical option. It usually works out much cheaper to take the lowest mileage on the PCP and pay the excess mileage than a higher mileage PCP which lowers residuals and ups the monthly figure. Also means you won’t need such a big deposit although you won’t own the car at the end, you would have the option to buy it.
Click to expand...

The figures he quoted me were based on 10K miles per year. Residual/guaranteed value after 3 years is £10750.
 
mrk1@1 said:
If you tell them you have a loan agreed in principle at 7.9% apr from wherever and it costs you X per month they will probably match it or risk loosing the commission.

Paying cash and you should get 1-2k off screen price at least.
Click to expand...

But through bank loan I wont have the '50% paid get out of contract' option. I'm just worried I'd struggle to sell the car privately at a decent price and will lose out in the long run.
 
Sounds like a bum deal then as you pay interest on the whole amount even though you only finance part.

I read that you had 8-10k deposit?

The best way would be to borrow the difference from a bank or straight forward hire purchase the balance of the car and pay no more than 10% apr. You may be worried about loosing in residuals but you will pay double what you loose in extra interest and still not have a car at the end.

Work out

1) Deposit you have
2) Monthly payment over x months
3) Total costs of different options then post back.
 
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mrk1@1 said:
Have you had a look on BMW used cars online to see how much they are at other dealers. Find a comparable cheaper car then that is a starting point.

You should get 1-2k off the screen price.
Click to expand...

Sorry, this will never happen on a used BMW screen price of this age car. Not in the present car climate anyway.

Get a cheap bank loan rather than car finance or consider using BMWs lease hire program which offers far better deals for the deposit you have in mind.

What was the montly figure they were quoting you for 10k mileage?
 
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Lucero said:
Sorry, this will never happen on a used BMW screen price of this age car. Not in the present car climate anyway.

Get a cheap bank loan rather than car finance or consider using BMWs lease hire program which offers far better deals for the deposit you have in mind.

What was the montly figure they were quoting you for 10k mileage?
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They quoted me £305/month for 36 months (based on £8K deposit).

I will definitely try for 22K since I got a quote from drivethedeal.com for a brand new exact spec car (with the same extras) for £25500. Why shouldn't I just pay £1500 extra and get a brand new 59 reg car rather that 58 with approx 3k miles on the clock.
 
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