How do you Barter with a car dealership? (Used Car)

I was very impressed with the Mark V Polo I rented whilst on holiday a couple years back, I thought at the time that it'd make a great second hand purchase in a few years time.

At 11k though it seems a crazy.
 
Bear said:
I'm not so sure on that, we couldn't get a VW dealer to knock anything off a Golf my wife wanted to buy. They said they price competitively and check nationally to make sure they are competitive and to be fair the car was below book price.

The same happened when I bought the XF, I phoned 4 dealers and none of them would offer any money off the cars at all (Stratstone). Not even a come down and we will see what we can do to tempt me in. They just wasn't interested.
Click to expand...

That's nothing to do with what he was saying. He was just saying that it's not necessarily always just the managers that can decide discounts, like there's some universal dealership discount code of practice or something.

Ps I'm not in the greatest position to judge, but 11k on a 2 yr old 1.2 Polo sounds awful.
 
billysielu said:
go a couple of years older and spend half that
Click to expand...
That'll be the older Mark IV though?

Although the Ibiza "is the same car" the interior build/material quality is totally different to the Polo. I've hired an Ibiza in the past too. Unsure of price difference between comparable models.
 
The best time to get the best price on a car is?

When you are able to buy there and then!

"If we able to get to a deal I am comfortable with I will place and order today" is music to a sales persons ears. Then, ensure you have a view of the market, don't simply expect a fixed amount off because that is foolish. If you are going for an £11K Polo then find out what £10K- £11K ones at other dealers offer. Find out what the private sales are looking like and do your homework.

So many people fail because:

1) They aren't REALLY ready to buy
2) They have zero idea of what the market price is
3) They have false impressions of what they can expect
4) They are stupid

I can't help with 4, but the others are all about research and preparation.
 
£11k on a 2 year old POLO :eek:

also at 24 that would be the last thing I would have bought, seriously go change your panty liner or something, with £11K get a real car not just a "cheap to run Polo"


/me waits for the but its only a couple of quid for road tax reply
 
Housey said:
The best time to get the best price on a car is?

When you are able to buy there and then!

"If we able to get to a deal I am comfortable with I will place and order today" is music to a sales persons ears. Then, ensure you have a view of the market, don't simply expect a fixed amount off because that is foolish. If you are going for an £11K Polo then find out what £10K- £11K ones at other dealers offer. Find out what the private sales are looking like and do your homework.

So many people fail because:

1) They aren't REALLY ready to buy
2) They have zero idea of what the market price is
3) They have false impressions of what they can expect
4) They are stupid

I can't help with 4, but the others are all about research and preparation.
Click to expand...

Completely agree with this. I always go in, knowing exactly what I want to buy and how much I am prepared to pay for it (usually aiming for drivethedeal price). One of the first things I say to the salesman is I am ready to pay a deposit here and now if you offer me the car for the right price. This usually gets them more than interested.

If they then decide not to make it a price I would like to buy it at, I walk away, letting them know when they change their mind they can call me. Mostly this works, sometimes they will call back and continue to offer you a rubbish deal, in which case I move on to the next closest dealership. I have had a Mercedes salesperson tell me that asking for a £4k discount on a E350 (£38k with options) was 'ridiculous and could not be entertained' - following which I walked out fairly promptly - only to be called 3 weeks later by the same salesperson begging to sell me the car for that price (obviously I bought it from someone a little more accommodating somewhere else!).
 
Fox - Yea, I see what you're saying but any discount on sticker price will be authorised by the manager. It's not a case of a the sticker saying £10k and the salesman has range to go to £9k. Every vehicle will be different and they'll be told by their manager what they can do.
 
Last edited:
If the dealers can't give you the price you can afford walk away with their names, and contact the regional sales manager.

If they can't offer anything better then you've got the best price they're offering.
 
Ahleckz said:
Fox - Yea, I see what you're saying but any discount on sticker price will be authorised by the manager. It's not a case of a the sticker saying £10k and the salesman has range to go to £9k. Every vehicle will be different and they'll be told by their manager what they can do.
Click to expand...

This will differ between each individual firm. Some might well have a policy which matches what you say. Others won't have and salesmen will have a level they can discount too without needing to go off and ask for permission unless they are quite junior.

An experienced, respected salesmen in a dealership will not have to go running to his manager every time a customer wants to talk money. He'll already know whats in the car and where he can go with it.
 
reilly said:
had that for 7 years so it's not like I change cars regularly, and I think I will get my monies worth!
Click to expand...

Really, don't do this.
I also hate changing cars but I wouldn't buy a poverty line car and then still want to sit in it for 7 years. Any niggles you have now will still be niggling you for years to come, and that massive depreciation isn't going to net you anything.

Buy an old random 2-3K car, run it for a few years, repeat.
Plus you will find a 2 litre car far nicer to drive than thrashing a 1.2 ecobox, I've just downgraded to a 1.6 and I'm not loving it.
 
As much as I agree that £11k is rather a lot of money for a 2 year old Polo I think its unrealistic to expect somebody looking at £11k cars to be at all interested in the £2k end of the market. He has no need to buy a £2k car so I cannot imagine he wants to.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom