Car Sales - Negotiation

[whoknows2017]

Hello

I am trying to buy an ex-demo car from a local dealer. Went to see it today - it is all that I wanted and probably more.

I am sure that I kept a poker face on (but with my wrinkles I guess you couldn't tell the difference) and also asked for a quote for a new similar spec car - so that I could compare..

Decided that the "used - ex demo" version was good and that if they threw in the road tax - £145 - we would have a deal.... They said NO... so I said that "I would think about it"....

My husband is just glowing with satisfaction that my negotiation skills are crap .... No discount - no nothing....

I appreciate that I am a cash buyer so not very appealing to the dealership - but I would have thought that I could have got some kind of discount - perhaps even a box of chocolates on the back seat ??

Apparently the car dealership "would be losing money" on this deal !!!

Anybody any idea how I can proceed - must admit that I am pretty sour about phoning up tomorrow and saying - "Yes OK then " - in a meek you bastards voice ????

p.s It already has floor mats, boot liner etc etc etc

They can't be very desperate for a sale, would be my 1st thought.

We were prepared to walk away when I bought my Mini, but they were on the phone the next day agreeing to what we wanted.

And I can promise you that they wouldn't be losing money on ANY deal!

I can almost guarantee they're playing you and want to see if you'll buckle and/or they're feeling confident that as it's the middle of the month they'll hit their targets without your sale. If the demo hasn't gone by the weekend you'll be in a stronger position if the latter is their position (as you can buy next week and still complete before month end)

Sometimes I find them to be quite judgemental to be honest.

We are looking for a new car. We went to a dealership to enquire about a specific model and no one was approaching us, so we went to find someone. They were quite dismissive and advised us they didn’t have the model used but we could leave an email address and that was it; no further details, no discussion of buying new instead or anything else. The man simply walked off.

The superficial part of me is thinking maybe I just wasn’t dressed up enough for this dealership but the deeper part of me is thinking that’s ridiculous as our joint income is over £100,000/ year and we were cash buyers but they never even asked a single question to find that out (although I had taken dd swimming so was dressed in leggings, T-shirt and trainers).

I also believe if they’ve reached their monthly sales targets they may be “holding” you off and contacting next month to balance their books more. I’m laughing deeper inside beyond my insecurities as we were going to buy two cars, one each, as ours are both now over 10 years old with problems developing but I can certainly take my custom elsewhere. If they do contact next month it’ll be a no thanks as we would prefer to find another dealership

Just pay it. Dealers rarely say no unless to a sale. They must be making very little on it. Is the salespersons time worth so little to you? He's probably making £40 on that deal, with no finance, no add ons. He could be walking away with £20 if he strips another £145 off. If he sells it to someone else with all the bells and whistles tomorrow, it might be more worth his while.

Thanks for your responses...

I did (casually) ask about this - I mentioned that I would be happy to buy in either November or December - not fussed either way as I already have a car which I am not offering in part exchange - but this didn't seem to make any difference to our conversation on the forecourt..

I have never heard of a car sale when you couldn't even get the cost of a cup of coffee off !!!

Where do you buy your coffee, were you not asking for £145 off 😂😂 mats and boot liner would be in excess of £145. I'd pay your tax and take them out. You've done well, by the sounds of things!!

I guess what I am saying is "Who ever walks in a Car Show Room and pay the price on the ticket " ???

I appreciate that the Salesman have their done to do - although in my case - I didn't take test drive - so it was a case of just looking around the car and talking...

I am not under estimating their job/commission - it is a job that I wouldn't do - but I find it hard to believe that there is no "wiggle room" on a £12, 000 car ..

When I bought my next to last car there was no discount at all on the price. The only manoeuvrability was on my part ex, which they gave me a bit more for.

My current car is brand new, and I did a car wow so there was a discount of sorts with that. Dealership wouldn't budge anymore than what car wow had come out at though.

I find it hard to believe that there is no "wiggle room" on a £12, 000 car
A word of warning: the price will probably go up not down. When I bought a S/H car recently it was quoted as £XXX. We tried to haggle but they weren't having it. We left it, as it was quite a keen price anyway. We were just about to sign on the dotted line and they suddenly produced some 'admin charge' of an extra £99! We refused to pay and he did back down, after he had done the obligatory "I'll have to talk to the manager" routine.

I recently bought a car. Cash buyer. They didn’t budge on the price, but did offer me a good deal on my part ex car.

I had to find them to talk to me about the car, then they slipped away again. Eventually had a couple of test drives, and chose the one I wanted, they weren’t terribly interested in letting me buy the car. All so weird. Maybe we didn’t look like we could afford the car.

If he let you walk, there's not any wriggle room. You don't know how it might affect the salespersons pay. At this time of year especially, cars are priced to sell, because dealerships are quiet. Dealerships will sell cars less than cost and make a loss to free up space on site for more profitable deals. How much will you save compared to a new one, and is there anything else out there comparable? That's the way to know if you're getting a good deal. Did you like your salesperson, do they have a reputation for good customer service at the dealership? Will they help if you have to go back with an issue? That's the stuff money can't buy. I wouldn't haggle for the sake of haggling. Times have changed, a cash buyer is no longer £200 in the back pocket and don't tell the tax man. It can be a real pain in the bum for someone who is targeted on finance penetration and the like.

Getting mats etc is not a good deal, they will come as demo as standard anyway.
I really hate car salesman, I worked with them for years and years. You will probably get a phone call soon offering you what you want, especially coming up to month/year end and they need to up sales

my experience is that car buying is an unenjoyable nightmare.

so much so that having spent enough time trying to find a bloody car in the second largest city in the UK, I have just reserved a car 65 miles away without any photos let alone a visit, and I am hoping the whole thing can be done without barely speaking to anyone. I am also not going to negotiate on the price. I am just going to buy the thing.

On the other hand I am negotiating hard with the insurance company for my settlement, somehow that doesnt repulse me in the same way.

You'd be surprised how little wiggle room there may be...as someone said above, they occasionally lose money when selling cars. Also DH is in car sales and there are times when a cash sale will actually lose him commission due to the fact that no finance or products have been sold, he hates cash deals most of the time as it's a lot of work for very little, if any, reward.

If you want to risk it, go 2 days before the end of the month...they're more willing to close a deal if you can take it by month end!

Cars are brilliant things to negotiate on because they are so plentiful. It's not like houses where the one is the one. You have the power in this negotiation because you can go to another dealer and get the A's good as the exact same spec car. To me, it sounds like you've been too keen, or they genuinely don't have any wriggle room (which I doubt). By saying you don't mind November or December you've lost some of your power and given them information.
You need to walk away, get online, find the same car elsewhere and wait until they contact you. Then tell them what you've found, and see what they'll do.
Or let me at it. Love a car negotiation. No emotion.

...that is what I was wondering - cash doesn't seem to have the same "ring" about it these days - finance deals seem to way to go...

I guess if I check my credit rating it would be crap as I always pay for everything up front....

So I guess - if I want it - I need to pay the price - smile and say "Thank You ".... but it won't stop me saying throw something in so my Husband doesn't think that I am a total Wuss !!!

Thank you all for your input...

You're right, Super, its not just the commission you don't make on the finance for that sale, it's the knock on, only selling 75% of cars with finance instead of 80% or whatever, it causes you to lose money out of the commission you've already been banking on!

Yes I had a strange experience at different dealerships too. One didn't even ring me back !
You need to compare prices - it is cheap compared to similar models?
If you're buying from Evans Halshaw up north then they don't move on prices as the price on the website is the price you pay. But if you are buying from local dealer they could knock off £1250!
What are similar cars priced at?

Please let us know if they call you back and give you what you want.

Having said all that I did get a great deal on my latest car.
I pretended I would be happy with a basic model but said I would pay x amount for the better model and no more. The salesman had to talk to his manager about 4 times, told me they wouldn't be making any money on it, but they gave in eventually!

Ask for extra petrol or a bunch of flowers and tell them you'll send your husband on when he's changing his car

We went to a big dealership so it was probably overpriced anyway but we got the quote, "had a private chat" with DH, told the dealer that I'd been looking at a nice car elsewhere for 20% less (we had but it looked knackered) so he'd need to offer a better price. I responded to every offer with "hmm that's a bit more than I was thinking of" and a hard stare then eventually the Pick Up Handbag and "shall we leave it" to DH, then made a low offer back to him, cue the phone the manager stage. Got 15% off and a full tank of fuel in the end . Strategy:

• go in just before they collate their end of month sales figures
• deploy Resting Bitch Face + icily polite

-ask what discount they can offer -be prepared to be told you're being cheeky -don't try this with a small dealer who's probably only just breaking even. -don't be that bothered about getting the car!

If you put the details of what your after into wow you'll get dealerships across the UK contacting you back with their best deals for that model.

Cash is of no interest to big dealerships, it's them selling finance deals and gap insurance that they get paid extra commissions on.

If you decide to revisit that one you could say you'll take finance then pay the finance off immediately.

The other possibility is that he's got somebody else who's interested in that demo already and is hanging out for that sale.

Yes, I did say to the salesman. I’m a cash buyer and I know that’s annoying for you. Also I don’t want the gap insurance.

Hello,
Just spent sometime reading through all your comments. I work as a sales executive in a ford dealership and I have two young boys. I feel quite sad reading some of the comments on here of people’s perceptions of the motor trade. In today’s market it is a struggle to sell cars, let along make a little profit. If they cannot move on the price that will be the case, demonstrator cars are more often than not sold at a loss and also the same with new cars and many used cars if they have been in stock a few weeks. If they cannot reduce the car by £145 you know you have a good deal which will either be making no money or losing money. Also with the comments about cash buyers not being the same as finance that is not the case anymore, finance commission is very little these days sometimes as low as £10 so it really doesn’t matter hugely anymore which way you find the vehicle. I hope this helps and I hope you enjoy your new car. P.S-if you want to feel like you have had something thrown in a full tank of fuel is always a good one to ask for as that is an easy one to do on the fuel account