Need some help from Pro car price hagglers out there

AshleyC

AshleyC

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Ok i was looking at getting a new Honda Civic today, found one i loved, speccd out to the eyeballs. I want the car :) Now the price advertised as £12995, i was going to put a 5k deposit down and pay the rest off on finance. Now try as i might they were totally immovable on the price. Im sure there are ways out there to get them to lower it, its historical fact that the ticket price has been and always be negotiable. But i need to know now to get the price down. If it comes to it i assume you can still get 2 year interest free credit cards from somewhere and pay it off over that, at least i would save on the finance APR. But how can i get him to lower the ticket price. This is a main Honda dealer rather than some backstreet Arfur Daily type.
 
I don't know but I suspect it depends on the car and how desirable it is.

I know one chap who, a few years ago now, wanted to buy a new BMW. I don't remember which model it was.

When he tried to negotiate a discount the dealer invited him to leave the premises.
 
Have a wee Google around the big dealers if you can't get them down, especially with no trade-in!
 
Leave it a month, if it's still there make an offer. If you think it might go meantime decide how much you want it/are willing to let it go.
 
The car may have already been discounted some, so they may not be prepared to move any further.

Could be its only just come up for sale as well and so they're wanting to allow others to look at / buy a their price for now ?

Don't forget, as the new ref has just come out, if they've done very well for new sales, they may not be in a rush / need to sell (to meet targets) at present - could never understand this mentality personally.

Have you looked at other Civics of the same age / model etc and how do they compare price wise ? Is the one your looking at competitively priced compared to these ???

And I suppose, how much do you want the car !!!
 
Is this a new car? if it is just try other local Honda dealers for their best price or wait till the end of the second quarter to see if they'll discount to hit target, if not new the car may be priced to sell with no margin in it so there will be profit to allow discount, i.e., some cars are priced at trade in cost to turn them over quickly and allow the dealer to realise the profit from the new car and move stock to clear the forecourt. There are many more reasons that we don't discount, e.g. this could be a very desirable car that the dealer knows will sell as there will be someone willing to pay sticker price and are willing to wait out for that punter to come along.
HTH and good luck.
 
hi, thanks all. No its not new, 2 years old. After looking round autotrader it actually looks about 1k under the price of similar specc'd cars which surprised me a little. So, while i dont think the dealership is ripping me off i still assumed the sticker price is always negotiable. I think i will pass on it and save up a bigger deposit to lower the finance side as much as possible as i cant see him coming back and dropping it by a huge amount now even if he was inclined.
 
Did you come across too keen. Sales people are good at sniffing out desperation. Maybe go back in and look again, say that there's another you are looking at with a similar spec. Be a bit indecisive and say you will go back to the other and look at that as its 800 less. If they start trying to sell say that you will sign and put deposit down but only at x price.
 
Ask the person you have been dealing with, are they authorised to give discount. If they say no, ask who is (they may say nobody, if they go down that road, ask who is the used sales manager for the dealership). This will get you in touch with somebody you can deal with. Make them an offer, say that’s all you are willing / able to pay ( be friendly, people don’t tend to give discounts to people they dislike...) . Say you will come in and sign that day if he accepts. If he says no, leave the offer on the table, make sure he as your number.
 
I found it was quite difficult to get money off the sticker price when I bought our last car. I think the salesman's commission must be linked to it somehow. Where you can get more for your money is by asking for extras. I managed to get 12 months road tax and a full tank of fuel out of the salesman. Always worth a try to get a servicing package or extra warranty thrown in too.
To be honest if it's the car you want and the price is fair, I'd go for it anyway.
 
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AshleyC said:
hi, thanks all. No its not new, 2 years old. After looking round autotrader it actually looks about 1k under the price of similar specc'd cars which surprised me a little. So, while i dont think the dealership is ripping me off i still assumed the sticker price is always negotiable. I think i will pass on it and save up a bigger deposit to lower the finance side as much as possible as i cant see him coming back and dropping it by a huge amount now even if he was inclined.
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That maybe why the reluctance to discount further is - I had a similar experience with my car last year - couldn't get any further discount at all, wanted the car - right car, right colour and right spec with options I was after and 6 months old with virtually no milage. I managed to get a full tank of fuel and 12 months tax extra which was okay.

The dealer knew the car would sell as it was the right colour for the car and very desirable.

I decided to go for it and have no regrets at all.

I'd go back in and tell them your interested, but presently its that bit too expensive, your already stretching your budget more than you wanted to / could do and you'll have to leave it at the moment. Make them aware of your limit of budget - be realistic and don't insult them - make sure they have your contact numbers and you will happily buy at X price and to contact you if they can do anything for you.

Be nice, be pleasant and be friendly with them and even if this isn't the car you get, enjoy the process and there will be others :).

Good luck
 
Always worth noting, that it's usual for the salesperson to receive commission on the finance. Get him to drop the flat rate and it can be worth a few quid over the term of finance, especially for £8k.
 
Had any more thoughts / got any further / found any other cars yet Ashley ?
 
Swanseajack said:
Always worth noting, that it's usual for the salesperson to receive commission on the finance. Get him to drop the flat rate and it can be worth a few quid over the term of finance, especially for £8k.
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In todays market of low rates it's more likely for sales staff to get a flat payment for each deal they sign up.
 
andyred said:
Had any more thoughts / got any further / found any other cars yet Ashley ?
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Yes , i did get back to him on Monday and got him to drop the APR by about 4% which was probably as good as it was going to get! But then common sense kicked in and ive decided to hang on a couple of months, save up a bit more cash and take things from there. I'm on an IT contract at the moment which is due to end in the middle of may so i dont really want to drop 12k on a car and then work comes to an end. If they extent the contract then i'll probably get one then. Although the Mrs has decided she likes a honda Jazz now and i was looking at the civics. So ive got to sort her out as well, women! ;)
 
AshleyC said:
Yes , i did get back to him on Monday and got him to drop the APR by about 4% which was probably as good as it was going to get! But then common sense kicked in and ive decided to hang on a couple of months, save up a bit more cash and take things from there. I'm on an IT contract at the moment which is due to end in the middle of may so i dont really want to drop 12k on a car and then work comes to an end. If they extent the contract then i'll probably get one then. Although the Mrs has decided she likes a honda Jazz now and i was looking at the civics. So ive got to sort her out as well, women! ;)
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Sounds like a plan - still no harm in looking though [emoji3]
 
AshleyC said:
I'm on an IT contract at the moment which is due to end in the middle of may so i dont really want to drop 12k on a car and then work comes to an end.
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I'm slightly out of touch with the rules, but if you are running a ltd company for your contract you might be able to lease the car (there are firms that specialise in this). Your accountant would need to advise you on the tax position on this but it could work out well.
 
The only advice I can give you is........Don't take me with you.
A while ago I went along with a friend who wanted to buy a new Hyundai from a main dealer (he wanted me to go with him as he said I was better at these things than him):rolleyes: He found the car he wanted and gave me the price he wanted to pay and I started the negotiations which went like this...

Me. Ok we would like to buy this car.
Salesman. Very good, do you have a car to part ex.
Me. Yes, the one over there.
Salesman Great, I'll work out our best deal for you.
Me. Ok, do your best and I'm sure we can do a deal today.
Salesman. The very best we can do is your car plus £7,005.00
Me. £7,005.00???
Salesman. Yes sir £7,005.00
Me. What's the odd £5 for for?
Salesman. It's just the way it works out sir.
Me. Ok, we'll go for that, his car and £7000.00
Salesman. No sir his car and £7,005.00
Me. Surely you are not going to loose a sale over £5? You are not going to let us walk away for the sake of a fiver?
Salesman. I'm afraid so sir.

AND HE DID.:oops: :$
 
Dealers are pricing used cars aggressively now (sorry, make that some dealers). Our used Merc came from a Merc dealer with the brilliant one year approved used package with a local price match gaurentee, that's a major change as previously they were at least £2k more.than local market.
Similarly at 18-24 months with Honda, chances are this is an ex Honda employee car on there employee lease scheme, therefore retail price is extremely competitive but also pretty much dictated by hum. Screen price means nothing at the end of the day, cost to change and finance rate are far more. Important. Finance can always be negotiated and other Percy's can be haggled like service plans. Service plan is a good one as even discounted still benefits both you and the dealer.
With so many pcp deals with low deposit now dealers have to be sharp to sell used.
 
When I bought my last car from a dealer they didn't give any discount so I left, got home, phoned the dealer up and made sure I spoke to someone different then offered the amount I offered in person, they accepted and took deposit over the phone. Saved me a nice chunk.
 
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