How overinflated are Carzone prices?

blobert

Hi there,

The prices on Carzone.ie seem very high, I've seen it mentioned countless times here.

My question is this: How much do sellers tend to bump the price up by compared to what it's worth/what they are willing to sell for? 10%? I know it varies greatly but I was just wondering what kind of discount I could try to ask for when buying cars listed on carzone.

I'm currently trying to buy my first car (my previous ones have all been inherited) and so am very naive in the bargaining process. I'm looking at Nissan Micra automatics and there is quite a large selection but the prices seem sky high.

Case in point: This guy wants €8k for an old model Micra!:

http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=590131

I could bring in a new model one with similar mileage from the UK for about the same price.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks

andrew_ireland

Could be because it's an automatic with very small engine size- high demand for low insurance IMO.

\m/_(>_<)_\m/

blobert wrote:

Hi there,

The prices on Carzone.ie seem very high, I've seen it mentioned countless times here.

My question is this: How much do sellers tend to bump the price up by compared to what it's worth/what they are willing to sell for? 10%? I know it varies greatly but I was just wondering what kind of discount I could try to ask for when buying cars listed on carzone.

I'm currently trying to buy my first car (my previous ones have all been inherited) and so am very naive in the bargaining process. I'm looking at Nissan Micra automatics and there is quite a large selection but the prices seem sky high.

Case in point: This guy wants €8k for an old model Micra!:

http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=590131

I could bring in a new model one with similar mileage from the UK for about the same price.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks

don't ever be put off by the price of a car... the seller never determines the selling price of a car, its the buyer who determines the final price of a car.

i have put cars up on car-zone at some ridiculous prices, why? well because sometimes somebody will come along and give the asking price without haggling... i know, mad.
example
I just bought a second hand 03 car, for X amount, I am very happy with it and will keep it for a while...but it is up on carzone for X+€3k.... if somebody wants to buy it for X+€3k, who am i to stop them, its obviously worth X+€3k to them.

in this day and age of second hand car sales, the price of a car is only worth what you are willing to give for it... and if you want to give over the odds, then thats what the car is worth to you.

whippet

When selling the majority of people will inflate the asking price of the car to allow space for haggling.

there are a lot of potential buyers who think that anything they get off the asking price was a bargain !!!

Again it all depends on how the seller sells and the buyer buys. I had a car up for a while and sold it last week. I knew the value of the car and what my bottom line was. I had it advertised just slightly above what I wanted, inorder to attract more viewings and calls.

I was honest with the potential buyers as to what I was willing to accept etc .. I got what I was looking for despite attempted hard balling from buyers.

As a seller you have to be prepared to walk away and likewise as a buyer.

testicle

The prices also don't appear to have dropped from last year to this.

bazz26

At the end of the day a car is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it, rather than what the seller thinks it's worth. We all think our cars are probably worth more than they actually are but I do get amused by some of the prices that are knocking around the likes of carzone, cbg, etc.

In reality that 5 year old Micra auto is not going to fetch anywhere near €8k. It really depends on how long the dealer is willing to let it sit there on his forecourt before reducing the price. The longer the better for a potential buyer.

1st Colt

whippet wrote:

When selling the majority of people will inflate the asking price of the car to allow space for haggling.

there are a lot of potential buyers who think that anything they get off the asking price was a bargain !!!

Again it all depends on how the seller sells and the buyer buys. I had a car up for a while and sold it last week. I knew the value of the car and what my bottom line was. I had it advertised just slightly above what I wanted, inorder to attract more viewings and calls.

I was honest with the potential buyers as to what I was willing to accept etc .. I got what I was looking for despite attempted hard balling from buyers.

As a seller you have to be prepared to walk away and likewise as a buyer.

Whippet, that's some of the best advice I've heard & seen in years - you've got it in a nutshell .. I had a 10 yr old Micra that was in v. good condition (and I'm a laydee you know, for what it's worth!) .. I advertised it for 2200, hoped to sell it for 2000 but my bottom line was 1700 and I stuck to that (though my original bottom line was 1800) and I got it ... it was the older basic 'lite' model and though I was thoroughly sick of it after 5 and a half years, it was and still is a good little car; no problem driving to Cork and back .. what do you think of the final selling price? It was my first time to sell a car, private, and also my first time to change car, the Colt, bought privately.

Sizzler

I decided I wanted to change the car this year and figured it might take a month or so to shift it so off I went and researched what other punters were charging on Carzone & CBG. I shaved a grand off the most expensive car of same quality and didnt have any joy I have since shaved another €550 off it and have only had 3 calls. Two of those calls came straight out and asked "Whats your best price?" And Im like...ehh you havent even seen the car yet mate ! One lad test drove it and said he would come back to me and he never did.
Thankfully I dont owe anything on it and per say I aint desperate to sell it but I'm just now wondering have I still managed to overprice it or is the car market REALLY that bad that Im gonna be stuck with it unless I sell it for a ridiculously low price
I only have the car just over a year and as it is Im standing to lose over 2k on it in depreciation which is pretty stiff for a years driving imo. The car is 03 btw.

louie

This time of the year, it could be dificult to sell anything as many are booking hollidays, or going places.
Also with the new saving scheme (what you call it?) people are buying new or nearly new cars cause they have the money.
Pacients it's a virtue. You will sell it.
My friend just bought a RX8 from somebody that was trying to sell it since before Christmas. He droped the price from 26K to 22.5K and we got it for 22.3K because he was desperate, but I say my friend would have paid up to 24K for that car cause he wanted one.

Is just a matter of getting the right person at the right time, and treat bargain hunters with attitude.
To ask somebody over the phone "waht's your last price?" before seeing the car is a chick, because they will start negotiating with you from there \/.

Stick to your guns I always say, and don't get flustered when you see the cash.
If you think your car is worth that much and it is reasonable priced then that's how much is worth.

jayok

I only have the car just over a year and as it is Im standing to lose over 2k on it in depreciation which is pretty stiff for a years driving imo. The car is 03 btw.

2K in depreciation isn't a whole lot. We've a CR-V we bought for 24k two years ago and a dealer would only give us 14k now for trade in. That's €5k pa. Now the car is fine, but it's just not worth "upgrading" to sometime else for at the loss of 10K plus... I've better things to spend money on that keeping some dealer or car seller in the life style they are accustomed to.

louie

Sell private instead. The car unless has been damaged or high miles/year can not depreciate 5K a year.
My girlfried has been quoted 9.5K for a 03 (with all extras this model can have including leather) car, she paid 18.5K 1 1/2 year ago.
I told the dealer to S**** his offer up his ***.

jayok

louie wrote:

Sell private instead. The car unless has been damaged or high miles/year can not depreciate 5K a year.
My girlfried has been quoted 9.5K for a 03 (with all extras this model can have including leather) car, she paid 18.5K 1 1/2 year ago.
I told the dealer to S**** his offer up his ***.

I agree with some of the offers but you gotta look at the supply and demand. The CR-V two years ago was 24k to buy. Today they are looking for 16-17K for a similar one - there are loads available. The mileage on it is actually quite low (40k on a 02 car) but If on the forecourt they are on sale for 16/17K then it is actually €5K pa. Secret is not to trade your car too often.

Nephew

When I was buying my car I noticed a few garages advertised the same car on carzone, cbg etc at different prices, they were regularly updated ads too. I think the biggest difference I noticed was e2500 for the same hydunai coupe. Anyway, the car I eventually bought was advertised something like e800 cheaper on carzone than the price advertised in the actual garage. I managed to get a discount on the carzone price, but if I had just walked in off the street, unaware of the carzone price, and got a discount on the garage price I probably would have paid more than it was advertised on carzone.

louie

Nicely done. do your homework I always say.
Some of the cars on Carzone, dealers doesn't have them anymore, due to lack of knowledge using computers, or just pure lazyness.

JHMEG

\m/_(>_<)_\m/ wrote:

I just bought a second hand 03 car, for X amount, I am very happy with it and will keep it for a while...but it is up on carzone for X+€3k.... if somebody wants to buy it for X+€3k, who am i to stop them, its obviously worth X+€3k to them.

The huge caveat to this is that the VRT people in the Revenue can only look at asking prices and not selling prices. As a result the VRT is going up on a lot of 2nd hand cars, and not down.

Unfortunately there seem to be plenty of fools out there who will pay more for a car than what it's worth, and therefore plenty of cars in carzone with stupid asking prices... And meanwhile the VRT goes up for the rest of us.

Two examples:
My wife's car, a 2003, which she bought a year ago is now apparently worth €2,500 more than it was when she bought it, according to the Revenue.

Another one, a '00 Civic VTI was worth about €6,000 in late 2005 according to the Reveue, but in Jan 2006 they reckoned the same car was worth just under €10,000.

colly10

There nearly 40 2002 Micras on carzone for under 6k. The secret is not to buy the most expensive one there, and in reality you can expect to get up to 500 euro off the car for 6k so you've got plenty of choice and it's way cheaper than the 8k one you were looking at.

Theres always a few fruitcakes asking for rediculous money but theres asking and theres getting

louie

The reason that's happening JHMEG is cause in the last year, there are probably more private people importing directly then dealers, therefor Revenue can do whatever they like with the prices on VRT.
Sooner or later this will stop (the VRT), but until then they will take the biggest slice from this pie because they can.

I know few guys that impoted cars, not knowing the rest of the charges after it hits the docks, so in the end they got ripped-off, but such is life.

\m/_(>_<)_\m/

JHMEG wrote:

My wife's car, a 2003, which she bought a year ago is now apparently worth €2,500 more than it was when she bought it, according to the Revenue.

well isn't that great news for you, i would put that up online and add another €2k to the price....ya never know.

Seth Brundle

\m/_(>_<)_\m/ wrote:

well isn't that great news for you, i would put that up online and add another €2k to the price....ya never know.

Do you deliberately try to provoke others or does it just come naturally?

JHMEG

\m/_(>_<)_\m/ wrote:

well isn't that great news for you, i would put that up online and add another €2k to the price....ya never know.

Not really. It's like saying our house has gone up by €200,000 since we bought it. We still need somewhere to live tho, so we can't just sell it and cash in.

Same with the car -- the replacement car from the UK will end up costing more because of the Revenue's over valuation, and hence higher VRT.

blobert

Thanks for all the advice guys I appreciate it.

I see it is not recommended to ring people up and ask them roughly how low they are willing to go with the price. I'd be inclined to think that this was not a bad idea as I wouldn't fancy going to inspect/test drive countless vehicles only to find the seller wont budge on the price. Is it really considered a bad idea to ask about the lowest price on the phone?

Thanks

louie

I think it is.Others might have a diferent opinion.
If i ring about a car, I am interested, so I go and see it. If it's worth it then go for negotiation, but without insulting the seller. I thing they a called manners. You know what you want, the seller knows what he has. There is a chance that the car is overpriced, but you can see that from the start before calling.