Hey,  just wondering if anyone has had any experience with haggling with dealers. I'm interested to know what kind of discount I can realistically achieve by haggling.

For reference, an example of an 2016 ST-2 for sale locally by one of the local ford dealers is £12,295.
I am likely to consider part-exchanging my Fiesta Ecoboost Zetec S. The part exchange value on my car according to Auto Trader is £6380, and Parkers claims a value of £6980 including the 17" alloy upgrade which the dealer installed for me when I bought mine (I bought used).

To me, it seems like there should be some healthy profit to be made by the dealers given the above prices, so a discount should certainly be possible. What kind of discount should I be aiming for!? If I take the plunge then I'll want to go into the dealer having done my homework :)

I should add that I will be not be opting for finance, and will be paying in cash - assisted by an interest free credit card if needs be. 

Any thoughts and experiences are welcome and appreciated! Thanks.

I can't advise on level of discount but to the dealer cash is not the most desirable, they like to sell a finance deal as they get commission on it. 

And if you use a credit card, it costs them a small percentage so they will probably charge you extra or at least try to, like the travel companies etc do 

Sometimes you are often cheaper getting new because there are bigger discounts to be had on new cars. Lots of dealers have cash contributions for taking out their finance, most finance deals have no early settlement charges so all you have to do is make the first payment and then pay it off in full and therefore swiping the dealers £1000.
When it comes to your own car most optional extras on the car don’t make a huge difference in the price they offer you, it is the first owner that takes the hit for them. depending on what you are going for also has an impact on your part ex value.
Don’t tell them what you want for your car, let them give you a price first. They will ask how much you want, just tell them to give you a price and you will tell them if they are close. That way you may get more than you hoped for. Garages are usually one step ahead though, whatever you gain on your part ex you will lose on the discount for the new car. It’s a numbers game to them and they play about with figures all the time.
Occasionally there is just nothing in the car for them and they won’t haggle, in that case get some freebies from the garage. Be cheeky and ask for a free service, carpet mats or a full tank of fuel etc.
And always remember that once you buy it you will inevitably get some people that say you paid too much etc etc, all that really matters is that you are happy with the price you paid. Don’t be afraid to walk away, if you are close to your target but not quite there then tell them, if they can’t do it then go home and you will be surprised when they call you in a day or two with another offer. Keep quiet at the right places, allow them to break the silence after they make an offer that you have told them you’re not happy with. Try and have a few cars lined up, tell them you are going to see a Type R civic or Clio Cup, if they think they might be losing you then you might get that deal.

Do some research on prices for the used ST2 like you have with your on Car. Get a figure in your head of what you want to pay and have fun. My favourite part of getting a new car is the search and the haggle. If I feel I have done well then it makes it so sweet.

Good luck!


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8 minutes ago, Jonro2009 said:

Sometimes you are often cheaper getting new because there are bigger discounts to be had on new cars. Lots of dealers have cash contributions for taking out their finance, most finance deals have no early settlement charges so all you have to do is make the first payment and then pay it off in full and therefore swiping the dealers £1000.
When it comes to your own car most optional extras on the car don’t make a huge difference in the price they offer you, it is the first owner that takes the hit for them. depending on what you are going for also has an impact on your part ex value.
Don’t tell them what you want for your car, let them give you a price first. They will ask how much you want, just tell them to give you a price and you will tell them if they are close. That way you may get more than you hoped for. Garages are usually one step ahead though, whatever you gain on your part ex you will lose on the discount for the new car. It’s a numbers game to them and they play about with figures all the time.
Occasionally there is just nothing in the car for them and they won’t haggle, in that case get some freebies from the garage. Be cheeky and ask for a free service, carpet mats or a full tank of fuel etc.
And always remember that once you buy it you will inevitably get some people that say you paid too much etc etc, all that really matters is that you are happy with the price you paid. Don’t be afraid to walk away, if you are close to your target but not quite there then tell them, if they can’t do it then go home and you will be surprised when they call you in a day or two with another offer. Keep quiet at the right places, allow them to break the silence after they make an offer that you have told them you’re not happy with. Try and have a few cars lined up, tell them you are going to see a Type R civic or Clio Cup, if they think they might be losing you then you might get that deal.

Do some research on prices for the used ST2 like you have with your on Car. Get a figure in your head of what you want to pay and have fun. My favourite part of getting a new car is the search and the haggle. If I feel I have done well then it makes it so sweet.

Good luck!


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Great stuff, thanks!

Keep us posted on how you get on. Loads of people say that you shouldn’t show any excitement or enthusiasm for the Car and you should be really poe faced. I tend to disagree, I tell them if I really like the car but make it very clear that without the right deal I will walk away.


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quit haggling go to car wow. 

 

Jamie

plus one for carwow got bigger discounts than trying to haggle in person 2 years ago I got a total of £3800 off my fiesta.

it was cheaper for me to take out there finance which i did for 2 weeks then paid it off the total cost of finance was around £22 so was quids in taking out the finance.

if you visit carwow go via www.topcashback.co.uk for currently £50.50 cashback not much in the grand scheme of things but every little help.

the only aspect I had to haggle on was the part ex. if you not happy with any part of the deal you can walk away. this is what I did as I wasn't happy with the part ex offer. a few days later the garage rang back with the part-ex offer I wanted and i then went ahead with the purchase and placed a deposit on the phone. 

 

Also it cuts out the humility caused by asking for more off. as its done for you.

Add options that you woudnt normally go for as it increases the discount sometimes :-)

 

Jamie

Carwow is brilliant, so is drive the deal. I do kinda like haggling myself and I have no problem asking for more off @james_60 it’s not coming out of their pocket and I’m sure the salesman knows how much profit is still left in it. And as my dad always says ‘for every one person like me there are 10 idiots that pay sticker price’ and he’s right. I genuinely thought everyone haggled but I’ve actually met people who don’t 🤷‍♀️


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I made the idiotic mistake of paying the sticker price for my used mk6.5 and later found out that it wasn't worth the value I paid. I do regret it but it's best to learn on a £1.3k deal rather than a £10k deal.

"I made the idiotic mistake of paying the sticker price for my used mk6.5 and later found out that it wasn't worth the value I paid"

How you define what something is worth? Isn't something worth whatever someone is prepared to pay for it. 

"I made the idiotic mistake of paying the sticker price for my used mk6.5 and later found out that it wasn't worth the value I paid"
How you define what something is worth? Isn't something worth whatever someone is prepared to pay for it. 

It is yes in the overall sense, but taken on an average of what a particular car of a particular year, age and condition is then you get a sense of what is a fair price. So maybe ‘worth’ isn’t the best word?


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I do agree, it was a kind of provocative statement from me. With newer cars it is easier to tell as the condition should not vary too much. 

Newblet mentions a £1,300 deal. With cars at that kind of price level the condition will be varying hugely and it is common to see older cars where the same model/year might cost double or half but it could easily merit the difference on condition which can not be ascertained unless you visit and inspect.  

I do like a bit of friendly provocation, makes the day pass quicker [emoji846] to be fair my dad always says the exact same thing, ‘something is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it’ and everybody values things differently,


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Thanks all for the tips.

I put a deposit down on the ST I wanted. The balance to pay from the part-exchange was £3990 and I'm going to pay £3600. (So close enough to 10% discount)

In short, I told the salesman that I wouldn't be paying full price so he brought the manager over who gave a whole pitch about the great price they gave me for my part-ex and how they price their cars fairly. Obviously that wasn't going to work :) so I let them know that I would be willing to put the deposit down now if they would reduce the balance to £3600 (saving £390). I explained that I had some hesitation because the interior of the ST2 wasn't as well looked after as my own (I pointed out that there some scratches on the lower left door panel for example), that I never have paid full price for a car and never will, and that I know they could offer me the discount I wanted. He went away and came back with a yes, so he didn't put up much of a fight. I had also told them that I looked at another ST recently, so it probably made sense for them to avoid the risk of me leaving and buying the other one!

I could be wrong, but I have a feeling that if I pushed for more they would have said no, then probably rang me in a few days to change their mind. I guess it's also worth considering that the car was only listed online for 1 day before I went to see it. I know that the dealers will reduce the prices after they have been listed for a while too (I've been keeping an eye on the used car classifieds and I see this happen all the time!). So chances are I could have potentially paid less, but overall I'm happy enough and it was a relatively painless experience.
 

Maybe they would have gone lower but maybe they would have told you to jog on, perhaps they would have reduced the price in a fortnight, maybe they would have called you in a few days to accept your offer or maybe somebody else would have come in and bought it in the meantime. The fact you got the car for the price you had in your head is good but most importantly you are happy with the deal you got and that’s all that matters. Congratulations on the Car, happy motoring [emoji16]


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