Negotiating with a dealer

ultra55ound

What's a reasonable % discount to expect off the list price when negotiating with a dealer?

I'm kind of thinking at least 10% but I've got one dealer down 20% (list price was quite high anyway).

I know it depends on all sorts of things but what is a good guide?

Anan1

I presume you mean secondhand? If so, forget about sticker prices, discounts and trade-in values - the only figure that matters is the amount you pay the dealer.

mickdw

Off list on a new car there would be something over 5% I guess on normal stuff that is selling. If you were buying something out of stock and something hard to sell, there could literally be thousands knocked off.

On used cars, its impossible to say as it depends on the sticker price the dealer has up. Some would have massive room for movement, others not so much

kmick

Posted this before - it is still valid to some extent although I understand margins on new cars are tougher than they were.

Assuming its a new car it depends on the brand. Luxury brands less, standard brands more. Those guys are making around 9-10% margin so if you are a really good bargainer you could get 7% of the list price. It will take a LOT of bargaining to get this discount. Be prepared to walk out.

20% seems like a lot - what model car we talking about?

ultra55ound

Sorry, should have said. I'm looking at Nissan X-Trails (commercials) in the 07-08 range. Preferably the newer model but the late 07s have more toys than the early versions of the new Mark.

R.O.R

New cars, anything between 3 % and 18.5% off the ex. works retail price (possibly higher % on some Nissan legacy stock).

Used cars?????????????????

L-M

I hate this perecentage talk when people are talking about used cars.

It completely varies from car to car, one couldn't possibly implement a percentage system because it'll never work.

Show us the car you want, we'll look at it and it's price in comparison with others, and then tell you want you should aim to get off.

jamesk_irl

Limerick man wrote: »

I hate this perecentage talk when people are talking about used cars.

It completely varies from car to car, one couldn't possibly implement a percentage system because it'll never work.

Show us the car you want, we'll look at it and it's price in comparison with others, and then tell you want you should aim to get off.

Very timely for me.
How about this one please

http://www.carzone.ie/search/BMW/3-Series/320-D-SE/201107201301453/advert?channel=CARS

bladespin

Got near 20% off list on a new landcruiser 3 years back, full accessory pack thrown in too, I was buying two though

Eric Cartman

ultra55ound wrote: »

Sorry, should have said. I'm looking at Nissan X-Trails (commercials) in the 07-08 range. Preferably the newer model but the late 07s have more toys than the early versions of the new Mark.

sellign commercials is a hard bit at the moment, especially 4x4s , keep busting his balls

Drummerboy08

Eric Cartman wrote: »

sellign commercials is a hard bit at the moment, especially 4x4s , keep busting his balls

Not as hard as you think, still a good market out there for it. I was ate alive by the trade for 2 X Trail Commercials recently. Still making good money

L-M

jamesk_irl wrote: »

Very timely for me.
How about this one please

http://www.carzone.ie/search/BMW/3-Series/320-D-SE/201107201301453/advert?channel=CARS

It is with a dealer and it seems to be low enough mileage. Being an English import etc. I'd expect it to come for under 20k anyway!

Neilw

I got close to 30% of the sticker price just after Christmas, the car in question wouldn't be the most popular at that time of year.

Henry Ford III

Limerick man wrote: »

It is with a dealer and it seems to be low enough mileage. Being an English import etc. I'd expect it to come for under 20k anyway!

How do you know it's a UK import?

L-M

Henry Ford III wrote: »

How do you know it's a UK import?

It's entered as 36,000 miles even rather than even kilometers... That coupled with the fact it's a diesel 3 series with high spec alloys leads me to believe it's English.

clocks are in miles so defo from the UK

Victor Meldrew

ultra55ound wrote: »

What's a reasonable % discount to expect off the list price when negotiating with a dealer?

I'm kind of thinking at least 10% but I've got one dealer down 20% (list price was quite high anyway).

I know it depends on all sorts of things but what is a good guide?

As with any negotiation, be prepared to walk away if you feel you could do better or if the car is more than you can afford.

Leave them your number and go look at something else. They will call if they want to sell. Take ALL emotion out of this.

L-M

Victor Meldrew wrote: »

As with any negotiation, be prepared to walk away if you feel you could do better or if the car is more than you can afford.

Leave them your number and go look at something else. They will call if they want to sell. Take ALL emotion out of this.

I don't agree. That can work against you if you actually want the car and if you have to ring back you have to pay what ever the dealer want. It's nice to be nice

coylemj

If you 'actually want the car' and are not prepared to walk then you will get screwed, salespeople are trained to watch for buying signals and the one they like best is the guy who's rooted to the floor and is not leaving without that car, he is the guy who has no leverage and he will get screwed, plain and simple.

Being 'nice' has nothing to do with it, you're not meeting the girlfriend's parents, you're dealing with someone who's sole objective is to extract as much money from you as possible. Nothing personal you understand, it's just business!

L-M

I dealt with a fella before in your exact circumstances. We were about 200 quid out and he "walked away" as stern as could be and left me his number. I knew he wanted it even behind his actions, but he didn't ring back and I didn't either. The car sold and I was talking to him a few months later, he said he didn't want to let me win but has regretted not buyin the car.

Acting the hardass only puts you in a worse position. I wouldn't deal with you if I knew you were only acting.

coylemj

Limerick man wrote: »

I dealt with a fella before in your exact circumstances. We were about 200 quid out and he "walked away" as stern as could be and left me his number. I knew he wanted it even behind his actions, but he didn't ring back and I didn't either. The car sold and I was talking to him a few months later, he said he didn't want to let me win but has regretted not buyin the car.

Acting the hardass only puts you in a worse position. I wouldn't deal with you if I knew you were only acting.

Fair point, if I really wanted a car I would not walk away when I was within 200 scoobies of the asking price - I was thinking of a gap of 500 or more. That guy was obviously a stubborn, tight-fisted prat.

L-M

coylemj wrote: »

Fair point, if I really wanted a car I would not walk away when I was within 200 scoobies of the asking price - I was thinking of a gap of 500 or more. That guy was obviously a stubborn, tight-fisted prat.

I don't think I'd ever come to fighting with someone over 500 quid either, I'd just leave it! No point even talking if ye're that far out after the normal bargaining has been done.

MidlandsM

Limerick man wrote: »

I don't think I'd ever come to fighting with someone over 500 quid either, I'd just leave it!

good sales people don't "leave it" - they get the deal done;) In fairness,Nobody wins by just leaving it, that not a proactive ethos to car sales.
But you're right about not fighting about it, i'll give you that. It's just business.

coylemj

But let's not forget that if the punter and the salesman are 500 apart and the punter walks, it's not necessarily anyone's fault. The punter has his max. spend in his head, the salesman knows the floor price, sometimes the gap is too wide and it's a 'no sale' situation, life goes on.....

L-M

MidlandsM wrote: »

good sales people don't "leave it" - they get the deal done;) In fairness,Nobody wins by just leaving it, that not a proactive ethos to car sales.
But you're right about not fighting about it, i'll give you that. It's just business.

I'd leave it in the sense of 13,000 is my absolute lowest, and he's offering 12.5k. I'm not going to 12750 or anywhere near it so there's not point wasting time if the punter isnt' going to come up to 12750. As I've said before it all depends on the customer and it's very hard to generalize.

Edit: Sorry, basically what coylemj said.

MidlandsM

MidlandsM wrote: »

good sales people don't "leave it" - they get the deal done;) In fairness,Nobody wins by just leaving it, that not a proactive ethos to car sales.
But you're right about not fighting about it, i'll give you that. It's just business.

With that attitude they'd give the cars away

firefly08

OP, don't get sidetracked thinking too much about the discount as a percentage. Is it better to buy a 10K car with 20% off, than to just pay the asking price on an 8K car? Not necessarily, but it sounds better. It seems like you're getting 10K worth of car for 8K, right? That's how they get you. A lot of sellers will add the 'discount' on and list the car for that price. Keep looking and you'll find someone who has advertised close to their bottom line, maybe with a very small percentage added on for wiggle room. They're few and far between, but those are the people you want to deal with.

For that reason my approach is not to worry about "how much can I get away with" but rather, decide what you'd like, and what you're prepared to spend on it. Do some research and talk with a lot of people to make sure you're not being too generous with your budget. Then once you have that figured out, find that deal and go for it! It doesn't matter whether it was a discounted price or not, if you got what you came for. The more determined you are to have a genuine discount, the more leg work you're going to have to do - there's no free lunch. If you want to make a quick, easy deal, then be prepared to pay your full budget.

MidlandsM

RoverJames wrote: »

With that attitude they'd give the cars away

there's other ways to extract margin from a deal, to conclude a sale. Going the extra mile in this sense can aid washout scenarios,improve stock rotations and turnover. We all know this.