Advice on haggling

dellas1979

Hi guys.
Before I ask for your advice, just to note - I am not looking for citicism on the car am buying nor the way (cash) I am buying it - just pure simple good advice on haggling for a car (as have no experience).

I am looking to buy a new car - I qualify for the scrappage scheme. I went to look at a new car - a fiat - last saturday. Now 11-11500K is my max I could stretch (thats in cash BTW-no finance deals etc. Ive been saving for this for 1.5 years). At the moment the dealer is at 12900 (the car is a fiat 500 sport. Leather seats, alloys etc). The dealer says that this price is minus 1500 scrappage plus an additional minus 1500 scheme (3000 in total) in a promotion that fiat are running. I spoke to him on the phone this evening and he said no, would definitley not be going any lower - not a budge.

I dont know what to do - he is the only dealer I have approached so far. Am fairly inexperienced with this and dont know how far I can push. Would love the car, but have to be realistic. Am I being unreasonable?

Any advice please?

oregano

As a former new car salesman during the last scrappage scheme and the good times, my opinion is that the specific dealer you spoke to gave you his best price. Try another 2 Fiat dealers - cartels are a thing of the past and all these guys need deals so a) you will get a great price but b) you may already be getting it!

But dont do it by phone - car sales folk never give the best deal they can until they have met the customer face to face...

dellas1979

Thanks Oregano.
That is exactly the thing...I dont want to cut off me nose despite my face...as you said, I may be already getting the best price.
Yes, the best way would be to go to other fiat dealers, but the next nearest one is over an hour away. Cant phone either during work hours (9-5). Am wondering if initial contact though email would be ok. i.e. I am looking for X,Y,Z, what your best price.

oregano

The trouble with emails and phone calls is that for all the dealer knows you could be RTE, Fiat Ireland, the local competitor, a looper, or anyone else who isnt a normal punter. Dealers hate other dealers knowing what their "best price" is, because it can be used against them in the future! Or on boards.ie etc...

Send an email to the hour away dealer, describe the spec of the new car and tell him you want to change for X price. Ask him to phone you after 5pm. If he doesnt ring then theres no money in it for him. If he does, then there is!

EPM

Make a plan of the dealers you want to visit and do it on a Saturday. Putting the leg work in is the best way. Email ahead though if you can and arrange a call back. Play them off against each other then really. Nice car choice BTW

unkel

List price is €16,300 without any options. I suspect you won't do much better than the current offer, but as the others said, go to every dealer and explain your situation and that you have the money ready and that you will buy the car but you will go for the best deal.

Does it have to be the Sport BTW? The base model with the same engine is over €2k cheaper so you definitely would get it for less than your €11k budget - again without any options.


Make sure you'll let us know how you're getting on. We do like the feedback

dellas1979

Thanks for the replies guys. I will indeed let ye know what happens.
Id have the deposit down tomorrow if they would budge a tiny little more (car has to be ordered in).

Saab Ed

oregano wrote: »

Try another 2 Fiat dealers - cartels are a thing of the past and all these guys need deals so a) you will get a great price but b) you may already be getting it!

All I'll say is Cartels are NOT a thing of the past, far from it infact. All of the above advice is spot on IMO......thats all I have to say

bazz26

dellas1979 wrote: »

Thanks Oregano.
That is exactly the thing...I dont want to cut off me nose despite my face...as you said, I may be already getting the best price.
Yes, the best way would be to go to other fiat dealers, but the next nearest one is over an hour away. Cant phone either during work hours (9-5). Am wondering if initial contact though email would be ok. i.e. I am looking for X,Y,Z, what your best price.

Unfortunately if you want to get the best deal then your going to have to invest the time and energy into it. Emails and phone calls will not get you the best deal, they are only really good for inititial enquiries. Sitting in front of the sales person is where the negotiations are done.

unkel

bazz26 wrote: »

Unfortunately if you want to get the best deal then your going to have to invest the time and energy into it. Emails and phone calls will not get you the best deal, they are only really good for inititial enquiries. Sitting in front of the sales person is where the negotiations are done.

I've always been of that opinion (still pretty much am) but a semi-regular poster on here (donjose?) proved me wrong in that he emailed all Ford dealers in the country with a straight forward proposition to quote him the lowest price for a straight deal on an MPV and iirc he did get a good deal this way. (I believe he couldn't have got a better deal in person - It might have been before the recession began to really sting though...)

bazz26

I'd say that is the exception rather than the rule though.

I'm sure dealers up and down the country receive lots of emails and phone calls everyday asking for their best price from people who have nothing better planned for their day. I would image from a sales person's point of view someone serious about buying and looking for the best deal will actually make an effort to come in and conduct the deal face to face.
Personally myself I never talk money over the phone, I generally ask about the car, spec, etc. Ask for the name of the sales person I am talking to and then agree a time with them to come in and discuss business.

The lads here who are in the trade may be able to give us an idea of how many of those phone calls/emails actually end up as sales. My guess is that it is very low.

unkel

It probably was the exception to the rule alright. As you said, any lads in the business, feel free to comment!

Voodoomelon

Here's the way to do it right.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZ9EJIvi8PU

brendansmith

Saab Ed wrote: »

All I'll say is Cartels are NOT a thing of the past, far from it infact. All of the above advice is spot on IMO......thats all I have to say

So basically what you are saying is the second poster is wrong but absolutely right also.

Saab Ed

brendansmith wrote: »

So basically what you are saying is the second poster is wrong but absolutely right also.

Oh figure it out will ya......Next :cool:

corktina

tell him you are buying a renault instead as you can get an extra grand off....tell him you really like the Fiat (doesnt matter if thats true either:cool:)/ Ask him for his best rock-bottom price and be prepared to walk away if its not low enouigh...chances are he'll chase you out to the car park. It s a buyers market..hang tough...

dellas1979

Hi guys,
thanks for the helpful advice. Just want to update the situation (as I said I would ).

Ok, so the garage I approached initially never got back to me...they were not interested. What he basically did was name his price and would not move from there.

So I approached another dealer in a different part of the country. He said he could do it for €600 less than the other dealer. I haggled another little bit off and was happy with the deal (down about 4,500 on last years' price). So I said Id put a deposit on the car but that had 1 query on the car (half leather seats - hey I aint driving a car with yellow seats!). He said he would get onto supplier and ring me back - that was last wednesday at 14.30 (wednesday before christmas) and havent heard a dickie bird since! Ok I know its the holidays and all but would have like to close the deal.

So, I still have no car and I dont know if indeed that dealer will ring back (I asked him wednesday as a matter of interest when they would reopen and he said next wednesday). Youd swear I am trying to steal money off them rather than give it to them.

EPM

Give the guy a break for not calling in fairness. The distributor probably wasn't working

dellas1979

I am just pointing out that he may or may not ring on wednesday when they reopen. Judging by the form I have seen out of these sales people, he very well may not! It was wednesday at 14:30 - not thursday christmas eve.

I have to organise money from bank and credit union, all I said was that it would have been better to close the deal wednesday as I had planned to start the money motion this tuesday when banks and that reopen rather than waiting till wednesday.

unkel

EPM wrote: »

Give the guy a break for not calling in fairness. The distributor probably wasn't working

The salesman would have known if the distributor would be closed. Unlikely it was closed the day before Christmas eve. I for one am gobsmacked that the salesman did not manage to close this deal before Christmas. Does he wish to be made redundant :eek:

Even in the unlikely event that the salesman could not get the information needed, he could have called the OP explaining just that, couldn't he? Common courtesy. And it wasn't that he was very busy with work, was it?

EPM

In fairness, the only thing on most peoples mind last week was getting out the gap...the quicker the better:D Give him until Wed...and if price is right call him if he doesn't. Sometimes they need a push...

Out of interest...what is it that has yellow seats?!? Sounds delightful...in a tweety bird sense:eek:

dellas1979

Hahaha I aint driving around with yellow seats!!!

Ok, so its wednesday and still not a word from him. He said he'd ring me back and I am pretty sure he has my number.

See now he is kind of after fecking up in a way - last wednesday I was willing to pay the deposit. Now im not.

On the fiat site, it says that fiat 500, 1.2 sport is 11,995 (on scrappage excluding delivery etc). When I checked a few weeks ago, I was sure the colour I want (New orleans blue) seemed to be extra - when I checked again yesterday it seemed to be standard with the car (i.e. no extra charge for the metallic). Their prices are not updated so am now beyond confused what excatly I am paying for. Salesman said that 12,300 was including metallic paint and not delivery (i.e. he wouldnt charge delivery). In this case then wouldnt car still be 11,995? Not sure where to go from here. Am back in work monday - car NCT up end of Jan - and need to oganise credit union/bank but not sure what to do.

Should I contact main supplier of Fiat and if so how? Am seriously about to change mind on this one and go for a Ka or something.

Mailman

dellas1979 wrote: »

Hi guys.
Before I ask for your advice, just to note - I am not looking for citicism on the car am buying nor the way (cash) I am buying it - just pure simple good advice on haggling for a car (as have no experience).

I am looking to buy a new car - I qualify for the scrappage scheme. I went to look at a new car - a fiat - last saturday. Now 11-11500K is my max I could stretch (thats in cash BTW-no finance deals etc. Ive been saving for this for 1.5 years). At the moment the dealer is at 12900 (the car is a fiat 500 sport. Leather seats, alloys etc). The dealer says that this price is minus 1500 scrappage plus an additional minus 1500 scheme (3000 in total) in a promotion that fiat are running. I spoke to him on the phone this evening and he said no, would definitley not be going any lower - not a budge.

I dont know what to do - he is the only dealer I have approached so far. Am fairly inexperienced with this and dont know how far I can push. Would love the car, but have to be realistic. Am I being unreasonable?

Any advice please?

Every RHD 500 could be sold 5 times over in the UK. There is no reason to expect a big discount on the 500. You'll get a better deal on a Panda 100HP or Grande Punto but don't expect anything on the 500.

I wouldn't buy the 500 before the new engine comes in toward the end of the year anyhow. They'll be getting the twin cylinder engine which will probably do between 70 and 80mpg and they'll be getting an anti-roll bar to improve handling considerably.

dellas1979

Well, I got it to a price I liked. But cant get any closure.
Is there a central place I can contact? Fiat Ireland? Its not very clear on their site.
Lads, come on, am trying to give them my money...there is no doubt prices have fallen in cars- my wage has dropped considerably also.
I only intend to hold onto the car for a year or so and keep trading up.

bigjohnny80

The bad dealers are getting what they deserve.

Mine lied to me that the spare key from the car was in his brothers house. 6 months later (because I kept chasing) he eventually admitted that he never had it in the first place.

dellas1979

Delighted to report that I have now bought the car that I wanted at the price that I wanted! Am delira. Paid deposit today and car, please God will be here end of January.

I ended up going way up the country (bout 2 hours). The sales guy - I liked his mentality i.e. he returned calls/emails etc. He got the car in on price with all the specs that I wanted. What I liked was that he always had an alternative if the price went way over. For example, in the end I got 15' Alloys instead of 16' Alloys to bring down the cost. Including the extras on the Pop, from last years price I saved about e3500. This includes 3 year warranty, 3 year AA, tank of petrol and 500 car mats (I know haha but it all counts).

I didnt want to have to go that far up the country. All sales people are conpeople - thats their job - am under no illusion the guy above was an exception, but he listened to me and what I wanted - he wasnt dismissive no matter how crazy or silly I sounded.

This experience was a little shocking and I have to say I was very naive. But I am not surprised dealers are going under every week with the attitudes some of them have.

So, as I said, its due the end of Jan please God...at least I have it ordered and off my mind.

hedgeh0g

How to haggle
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n3LL338aGA

dellas1979

The car is apparently on its way. Woo hoo!
How long do ye think it would take to ship from Italy to Ireland - or is it as simple as that?

Padraig Mor

Yet another sale lost by a salesman who couldn't be bothered returning calls. No doubt he'll be blaming the VRT changes when he loses his job.....