UK Dealers and Discounts

Road-Hog

I've heard its very hard to 'beat down' any uk car dealer from the advertised price, I've a car picked out from a mail dealer, have yet to make contact directly other than email. What are other peoples experiences when dealing with UK car sales people, can anyone advise me of a strategy. I'd be happy to get the cost of the transportation off as in €300-400 / 250 to 300 UK pounds

bazz26

Unlike dealers over here, UK dealers usually price their cars very close to what they actually will accept for them. You might negotiate a few hundred pounds off. The advantage you have though is that you are boarding a ferry so any dealer warranty may not be any good to you so emphasis this with the dealer as a bargaining chip.

Also have more than one car lined up to view in the area as a dealer might play hard ball on the price knowing that an Irish buyer going to the trouble of flying over is very unlikely to travel home empty handed.

fmcg_scribe

bazz26 wrote: »

Unlike dealers over here, UK dealers usually price their cars very close to what they actually will accept for them. You might negotiate a few hundred pounds off. The advantage you have though is that you are boarding a ferry so any dealer warranty may not be any good to you so emphasis this with the dealer as a bargaining chip.

Also have more than one car lined up to view in the area as a dealer might play hard ball on the price knowing that an Irish buyer going to the trouble of flying over is very unlikely to travel home empty handed.

Agreed.

If you can pay cash, not trade in, and negotiate stuff like third party warranties out of the deal, you should be able to shave several hundred pounds off the sticker price. That said, you need to be careful about what a trader puts into the invoice if you bargain away his margin and refuse a warranty - you really don't want comments like "trade sale" or "sold for spares or repairs" going into the invoice if you're not in the trade and the car is in good condition.

Two caveats:

• A lot will hinge on the the margin that dealer has built into the sticker price and whether the dealer has a clear and realistic idea about the car's current open market value - and whether trader is keen to off load the car quickly or has had difficulty finding a buyer for the car.
• You need to have done your research about specs and current used prices for that model - and while examining the car you need to collate a list of things that can be used to chip price.

A major thing on your side is that the UK car used car market is weak because of all the new card being bought.

gaillimh

fmcg_scribe wrote: »

Agreed.

If you can pay cash, not trade in, and negotiate stuff like third party warranties out of the deal, you should be able to shave several hundred pounds off the sticker price. That said, you need to be careful about what a trader puts into the invoice if you bargain away his margin and refuse a warranty - you really don't want comments like "trade sale" or "sold for spares or repairs" going into the invoice if you're not in the trade and the car is in good condition.

Two caveats:

• A lot will hinge on the the margin that dealer has built into the sticker price and whether the dealer has a clear and realistic idea about the car's current open market value - and whether trader is keen to off load the car quickly or has had difficulty finding a buyer for the car.
• You need to have done your research about specs and current used prices for that model - and while examining the car you need to collate a list of things that can be used to chip price.

A major thing on your side is that the UK car used car market is weak because of all the new card being bought.

Dragging up an old post here but don't want to create a new one for the same topic...


What are people's thoughts on ringing a UK dealer to haggle on price a bit before going to the bother of travelling over to view.
Or are you better off to go over without having done that to see if you still like it & try and do a deal then whilst there?
Been looking at a car for £12990 sterling but really do not want to spend more than £12000 max.
Have never done this before so trying to figure out the best way of doing this.
Cheers for any advice

colm_mcm

How is the car priced in comparison to other identical models?

oldsmokey

colm_mcm wrote: »

How is the car priced in comparison to other identical models?

My experience lof the uk sellers is the discount will be tiny..200, 300 or thereabouts

colm_mcm

Same here, but it's something anyone looking for a discount needs to know.

Offaly Exile

colm_mcm wrote: »

Same here, but it's something anyone looking for a discount needs to know.

Colm, when buying in Northern Ireland from a dealer is there any thing in particular I should look out for other than the usual standard mileage/outstanding finance checks ?

Thanks.

colm_mcm

Nothing other than that that you wouldn't check on an Irish car. I'd double check the co2 to make the vrt is what you think it is.
Check what actual exchange rate you'll get rather than going on what the likes of xe.com says

Henry Ford III

Never ever negotiate on the phone or via email.

dubrov

Henry Ford III wrote: »

Never ever negotiate on the phone or via email.

Why not?

Surely that is better than negotiating over there when they know you will probably leave buying something after having made the effort to travel.

I would've thought the process would be

1) Find preferred model in UK dealer.
2) Ring dealer to negotiate price. Tell him you will be getting in checked professionally so to let you know up front of any problems.
3) Get it checked by an independent professional to make sure car matches description.
4) Fly over to collect

Henry Ford III

dubrov wrote: »

Why not?

Surely that is better than negotiating over there when they know you will probably leave buying something after having made the effort to travel.

I would've thought the process would be

1) Find preferred model in UK dealer.
2) Ring dealer to negotiate price. Tell him you will be getting in checked professionally so to let you know up front of any problems.
3) Get it checked by an independent professional to make sure car matches description.
4) Fly over to collect

You'll limit your potential. They'll know the car is all but sold so they won't need to be keen. It's easy sell when they know your committed to their car only.

I'd make budget and flexible return travel arrangements to view maybe 3 or 4 shortlisted cars.

Let the dealers know that you are coming but won't necessarily be buying their car. Insist on the service history, MOT, and a HPI report all being available for inspection.

If none of your shortlisted cars are 100% fly home again.

dubrov

But a call is in no way a commitment to buy.
They should be still very keen to get your business as it is easy to hang up and ring another dealer.
It is not so easy to fly home and book more flights.

An independent professional inspection should take care of the other risks.

Henry Ford III

dubrov wrote: »

But a call is in no way a commitment to buy.
They should be still very keen to get your business as it is easy to hang up and ring another dealer.
It is not so easy to fly home and book more flights.

An independent professional inspection should take care of the other risks.

Agreeing a deal over the phone is.

Offaly Exile

colm_mcm wrote: »

Nothing other than that that you wouldn't check on an Irish car. I'd double check the co2 to make the vrt is what you think it is.
Check what actual exchange rate you'll get rather than going on what the likes of xe.com says

Just reading your reply now Colm.

Thanks for the advice