Advice on how to haggle?

[FnG]magnolia;14167072 said:
snippy snip
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Some good stuff in there, take note.

Also, your low offer isn't low enough unless you feel really guilty about it (but never show that emotion). Remember he is a salesman, not a friend or someone who wants to help you. He wants as much of your money as possible, and you need to remember that in this economic climate YOU are the one with the upper hand.

Now get your haggling hat on :D
 
A) Don't be ridiculous with your price
B) There is no such as "sorry, i can't do that for you"
C) Be FIRM, but FAIR.
D) Go in with the attitude that you wouldn't care if you left the dealership without the car.
E) If you're getting close to a deal, try and get every. little. thing. thrown in. Ie. New matts, if there is a scratch on the car, get that repaired, if the alloys are kerbed, ask to have them refurbed. Ask them to throw in tax (a lot of dealerships will say "sorry, we can't tax cars" but THIS IS RUBBISH). Push for things, but don't overstretch.

Lots of good lines include "Right, we're getting close to a deal, you're not going to let it fall through over 6 months tax are you??" and holding out your hand to shake when you think you're close enough to a deal.

Obviously you can't go in there and say "I'll offer 6k" and hold out your hand because they'll throw you out :p, but if you've got down to the little extras like mats and tax it's an awesome way of getting what you want.
 
I received a call for an offer of £5400 for my Zetec-S, I want nearer 6k as I said in my OP so he's gone back to talk to someone.

He did mention on the phone that all used cars do include an 'Openroad' package which is worth about £600 although this shouldn't really affect anything.

* Comprehensive Warranty
* A least 12 months Roadside Assistance
* 30 day 'no quibble' exchange
* 'Experian' vehicle history and mileage check
* Accident Management Cover
* Quality Assured
* 7 days free insurance
 
It doesn't make it more difficult, but it generally means (from my experience in the trade) sales managers are more inclined to do a deal when there is no px as if they are a franchised dealer and will be selling the car onto a trader it leaves no way of getting burned/knocked down on the px come collection time from the trader, I have seen numerous times when I worked at toyota cars being knocked down by £300-£400.

Also if your doing a deal close to the end of the month, the next month might see a drop in price of the car you are trading in, so they will offer you less for the car.

Don't be fooled by the 'package' this will be an option and will be built into the cost of the car (they called it delivery pack in Toyota and was £495) but built into the cost of the quote for the car, possibly the same thing with the warranty as well, these goods are not usually free.

I trust you are not negotiating on the phone? This does not get you the best deal, everytime someone asked this, the sales manager said "get them in the showroom, then we will deal them."
 
im at work, so cant look

but is there any of Dominic Littlewoods "dont get done get dom" on Iplayer ?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/showsandtours/beonashow/get_dom.shtml

If you're a little but unsure on how to word asking for a discount, his cheeky chappy style is an easy one to copy, and should hopefully avoid any embarassing confrontations as its so cheeky in nature, you couldnt get offended by it.
 
I've always gone with:
If your opening offer doesn't make the salesman make a face like he's found you in bed with his wife, you didn't start low enough.
 
anticonscience said:
I trust you are not negotiating on the phone? This does not get you the best deal, everytime someone asked this, the sales manager said "get them in the showroom, then we will deal them."
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I'm not negotiating on phone no, they're trying to though.

They phoned again saying my car is only worth £5400 but he'll knock £600 off the price of the new car instead. Tried to talk me into putting a refundable deposit down on the car too so it didn't get sold before I viewed it, I said no and that if I lost the car then there would always be others. I don't know if getting you to put a deposit down is a tactic of theirs or not?

So, only another £800 to go then I'm happy with the price.
 
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Rilot said:
I've always gone with:
If your opening offer doesn't make the salesman make a face like he's found you in bed with his wife and kids, you didn't start low enough.
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/edited for extra impact and moneysaving.


Ignore that package deal as said before, it will be another trick to try to think it's a great deal at current price, but will be built into the cost of the car, and tbh doesn't offer that much at all.

Definately try to get mats, tax, etc, then a full to the brim tank of fuel. Keep pestering them even for the fuel :D I remember the used car roadshow and big chunky Jason on there with his haggling, he was truly great and even argued over getting 1/2 a tank of fuel thrown in after the dealer point blank refused a full tank. Legend :D

So, only another £800 to go then I'm happy with the price.
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Read Rilots quote. He has already dropped the price so WILL be able to go lower down to the mark you want. But that's not what your really want, you want another £500 at least of that with 12months tax, mats, and a full tank of fuel !!!!!!!!!!!!
 
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again with dominic littlewood

the did a TV series called wrong car right car

think it still repeats on Discovery Home and leisure or whatever. THey were incessant with the bargaining. Not happy until he had mats and flaps and a full tank of petrol.
 
Oh and I forgot to say, supposedly another trader is interested in it at full price hence asking me for deposit... So why doesn't he just sell it to him? Or is he drooling over the extra 1500 they're going to make on reselling my car?

If I push him too hard aren't I risking him saying, fine, I'll sell it to the trader then ( if they exist ).
 
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PiKe said:
I received a call for an offer of £5400 for my Zetec-S, I want nearer 6k as I said in my OP so he's gone back to talk to someone.

He did mention on the phone that all used cars do include an 'Openroad' package which is worth about £600 although this shouldn't really affect anything.

* Comprehensive Warranty
* A least 12 months Roadside Assistance
* 30 day 'no quibble' exchange
* 'Experian' vehicle history and mileage check
* Accident Management Cover
* Quality Assured
* 7 days free insurance
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I got all that for nowt with my car and most of that is low cast if not free bar the insurance and warranty. The roadside is full AA though. The mark up at Honda is usually quite low believe it or not, i doubt you'd get over 1k less than the asking. The deal clincher is getting the most for your current car which is the route you're heading.
 
Dup said:
I got all that for nowt with my car and most of that is low cast if not free bar the insurance and warranty. The roadside is full AA though. The mark up at Honda is usually quite low believe it or not, i doubt you'd get over 1k less than the asking. The deal clincher is getting the most for your current car which is the route you're heading.
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Will depend if they want his car or not, can swindle their figures which way they want to.

All that really matters is the total price paid not how its made up.
 
They are going to fix a couple of scratches and refurbish the alloys, not sure how much that adds to the cost really, but as you said it's part of the openroad package that comes with every Benfield used car anyway.

I need to go see the car really, might go on Sunday.
 
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dont let them pull the wool over your eyes

the material "costs" of these things are much much lower than they are making out

This is a great way for them to give you "£600" off the cost of the car, when in actual fact the cost for them is much much lower.

You want stuff that they dont make a profit on - tax, petrol, and cold hard discount

Dont be afriad to walk away if its not a particularly rare car. Give the salesman your details and tell him that if he changes his mind and wants the sale, to give you a call.

If he's hunting targets and wants that extra sale to get the salesman of the month, he may just call you.

I know my local vauxhall dealer even had a spreadsheet in the corner keeping track of what everybody had sold. All it takes is him to need 1 sale to get his stats ...
 
Why the hell would another trader be interested at full price? He is talking ********. If they were to trade the car, they would sell it at trade value + any recon (depending on how the sale to the dealer was agreed) not RRP. And all the sales managers I spoke to in my time in the industry would not trade a car unless:

a) It's over age (which begs it's own questions).
b) There is something majorly wrong with the car (see point a).
 
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Wait, you've not seen the car yet?

Before you do any sort of haggling, you should go see the car. It might have niggles with the way it drivers for example.

Go see the car and speak to the sales people face to face.
 
hilly said:
Wait, you've not seen the car yet?

Before you do any sort of haggling, you should go see the car. It might have niggles with the way it drivers for example.

Go see the car and speak to the sales people face to face.
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I'm going to, it's not just down the road though it's a 75 mile drive to the east.
 
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