How to negotiate when buying a brand new car

jams100 · 22-12-2021 3:47am #1

Has anyone any experience negotiating for a brand new car?

Any tips for negotiating?

In my case I'm looking to trade in my current car and I don't plan on buying with finance (I know this is where many dealerships make much of their money, so I don't plan on mentioning that).

I'm thinking, should I be negotiating on warranties or upgrades etc. or the base price or both? (What sort of mark up do dealerships make on new cars? I know the dealership has to make a profit...I just want to get a good deal on my end).

Should I compare Car A with Car B and say that a similar model from another manufacturer comes with heated seats and this one doesn't (as an example)?

Will they make an offer on the trade in and then try negotiate from there? I don't want to specify a price first as they'll presumably just take that as a base price and work from there.

I think the offer one of the dealerships have made on the trade in is a reasonable price i.e they certainly wouldn't make a loss at that price but they will not make massive profit on the second hand car either. (The trade in value for the car itself will be quite low as its an old car). So they will make most of their margin on the new car i.e a lot of cash would be going down for the new car.

Any tips are appreciated!

Atlantic Dawn · 22-12-2021 4:14am

Problem at the moment is with manufacturing delays some cars have big waiting lists so the dealer will pretty much give you a take it or leave it price, they don't care as there will be a q of people behind you looking for it. I'm not sure if you have bought a new car before but it generally falls in to 2 categories.

You place an order for a car with the dealer, this will mean you spec what the colour, interior colour, spec etc, your car then arrives after being built in the factory a few months later.
You buy a new car already in the country from the dealer either unregistered or registered to the dealear as the first owner, advantage of this is it's in stock with no waiting and dealer knows price they want for it. Disadvantage is you are limited to spec and colour.

Do you have a particular car in mind that you want? Here's a good starting point with RRP on cars currently on sale, https://www.simi.ie/en/motorstats/recommended-price-guide

All new cars come with 2 years warranty as standard, a lot would come with 3, some others with 5 and 7. I wouldn't think the dealer will give anything extra as regards this, perhaps a free service might be thrown in. For extra's like heated seats etc, it's better to go for the spec that this is included in rather than want it to be added, get the brochure for the car and you will see the differences in each level of spec and what extra's they offer. I'd before you visit any dealer view the brochures (usually on manufacturers Irish websites) and decide the spec you want, you can then use this as start point for negotiating with dealer instead of starting at base model and looking for them to add extras. Most cars will have 3-5 trim levels, very basic model might have manual windows in the back for non premium brands.

jams100 · 22-12-2021 4:37am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118359383#Comment_118359383

Cheers for the advise, good link that.

Yep, I have noticed the manufacturing delays, I'm not in a rush anyway so I can wait if I think that will offer me some flexibility in negotiation.

So a little more context I guess. I know what make and model I want (There are multiple trims which I have narrowed down to 2). (5 year warranty would be included).

The RRP on that guide only gives a guide for the model I'm looking for (Hyundai Ioniq electric) but not the trims of which there are 8 for that model. (But that is a decent starting point I guess).

Atlantic Dawn · 22-12-2021 4:58am

There can be variations in pricing between dealers, some people will head outside Dublin to dealers will give a better deal, some will get a better deal in Dublin, all depends on brand and availability. I would firstly try to establish a baseline on pricing and then work dealers off each other. Over the phone the deal may not be as good as visiting in person as they may assume you are not serious. Think about exactly what you want, bring €500 in cash or cards that you are willing to put down there and then when presented with the deal you want there and then. I don't really know nowadays what margin there would be, in years gone by you might be talking €500-€1000 difference between dealers on your average €25k car, this was at a time though when they could order a car with delivery certainty in minutes.

bazz26 · 22-12-2021 10:47am

There is no fast or hard rule to negotiating, the same as there is no fast or hard rule to playing poker. In the current car market the hand is firmly stacked in the dealer's favour because demand far outstrips supply. The only exception maybe where the car in question is something not very popular or a spec/colour nobody wants. With very long or undetermined delivery dates of most new cars due to chip shortages and supply chain issues, dealers are playing hard ball on prices with very little if any discount irrespective of how you are paying for it. And it seems if you don't want to pay it then someone else will. The best you may be able to do is shop around every dealer in the country and see which one offers the best price but I'd expect the price difference to be very small the way things are. It's a different playing field to before.

youngblood · 22-12-2021 11:05am

Little or no negotiating with a brand new car- Air freshener/Keyring if your lucky!

R.O.R · 22-12-2021 2:59pm

Dealers usually have targets to hit each year, and if they hit those targets there's a big bonus involved from the manufacturer. This drives discounts so the dealer can hit their registration target to qualify for the bonus, even if they make a lower margin on each car sold. Pre-reg's at the end of month/quarter go towards target as well.

Next year, the majority of dealers (that I deal with anyway) have a target for 2022 that matches their allocation - i.e. the number of vehicles they have to sell is the target for next year, so no one will be exceeding target in 2022. The number of vehicles the dealers have been allocated is less than they would expect to sell in a normal year.

Getting discount off vehicles next year is going to be nigh on impossible for the retail punter. We've already seen our discounts slashed by manufacturers and dealers, and had orders rejected because the allocation for that model is full already.

Towards the end of next year, if there any unpopular models that still haven't been sold, there may be discount available on the stuff no one wants. I think that's highly unlikely though - people are already taking what they can get rather than what they want.

vandriver · 22-12-2021 3:11pm

....'Towards the end of next year, if there any unpopular models that still haven't been sold, there may be discount available on the stuff no one wants'...

That won't be any trim level of Ioniq

22-12-2021 3:24pm

With consolidation in the Retail channel for all Manufacturers operating in Ireland and the possibility of import of nearly new cars from the UK closed off you will be lucky to get any meaningful discounts these days.

elperello · 22-12-2021 3:24pm

OP How old is your trade in?

You may do better by selling it privately and doing a straight deal for the new one.

Over a certain age main dealers won't even try to market trade ins they just sell them on to second hand dealers.

jams100 · 22-12-2021 3:39pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118361261#Comment_118361261

10 years old in 2022

elperello · 22-12-2021 3:50pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118361343#Comment_118361343

Getting on so. It depends on the make/model/mileage/condition.

Have a look at what similar models are making and the dealers stock and you can judge for yourself if it's worth the bother of selling privately.

mickdw · 22-12-2021 3:57pm

I wouldn't buy anything for the foreseeable.

It's just nuts at the minute. No stock, no deals, high prices.

ec_pc · 22-12-2021 9:19pm

We typically upgrade one of our cars every 3 years. Before we start talking prices, we know exactly what model and spec we want and then get prices from 3/4 dealers. I typically cut to the chase - there will be a trade in, no finance owed on current car, no finance needed for new car, not concerned about delivery times, I don't want any extras like gap insurance or paint treatment etc. Give me your best price to trade up. I typically give them one shot and go with the best so long as it is within my budget. I always mention repeat business, we are with the same dealer for the last 10 years. Works for us.

In my recent experience, some dealers are just taking the biscuit with trade in prices. Got a price from one which was basically an insult, looked at their website later to see they were selling a model a year older for 12k more. Shop around is the motto!

Mad_maxx · 23-12-2021 11:08pm

You're better sell privately, even you appear to be giving it away, probably still do better than trading up

Not always I appreciate

elperello · 23-12-2021 11:15pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118361451#Comment_118361451

That's really the answer if the car you have is good for a few more years.

Mind you it's hard to predict how things will be in a few more years but you will have a bit more cash in the pot and the car you have won't owe you much.

AndrewJRenko · 24-12-2021 11:34am

Will a cash buyer get a lower price than a PCP or HP buyer?

How to negotiate when buying a brand new car

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