Buying used car - can I haggle?

[EarthlyNightshade]

Currently looking at a used car at a garage (not dealer, place selling second hand cars) list price just over £5000. I've asked what kind of discount I could get, suggesting £4700 and he said there is no wriggle room at all.
Is this likely to be the case?
I do like the car (and I think he realised that despite me being fairly breezy), should I leave it a few days and try again, or give in and pay full price?

Go look again. Maybe it'll be a different salesman. Say you're interested at x price. and you'll but it right now. I offered a couple hundred less and haggled, ended up with 100 off the price listed and a full tank of petrol.
See what happens

I would go back and say you like it but can only afford to pay ‘certain amount’ and see what they say. Sometimes there is wiggle room and sadly sometimes there’s not depending on how much they bought the car for.

I guess all garages are different. Annoying, though- I bet he haggled when he bought that car!

I got £300 off my last car when I bought it and that was at a main dealer, so it's definitely a thing.

Thanks. I think I will try again. I was not dealing with the owner, if I speak to the owner I might be able to say £200 less and see what happens. Previously unsuccessful haggle attempts in the past led me to asking for a full tank of petrol and being given so little, I barely got off the forecourt! I'd rather some cold hard cash discount (even £50).

What can annoy car dealers is expecting a discount just because.

What is important is how is this particular car priced compared to similar cars locally in terms of spec, mileage, condition, history etc?? If it's priced fairly then why would he discount it? If you've seen a better value car elsewhere then you can use that as a bargaining point but only if it's truly better value.

They seem less inclined to haggle now than 10-15 years ago, particularly with cash buyers. It seems to all be about finance deals now. I was going to list my own car privately with the assumption that someone would offer a few hundred less which I'd be happy to take.

Search for the exact same car, fuel, spec, mileage on auto trader and see the price of them. Make sure they're also trade sellers. Show your phone and say this one is available for X, can you match.

You should be able to haggle but say it's Carshop, they use the line of a team of people making sure they have the cheapest unless you can match in 25 mile radius. I think they're full of shit. A lot of places say no outright now.

We have a large car garage (independent) and there's no wiggle room

When we purchase the cars, we also don't haggle, as we get the stock from auctions or other dealers (main dealers)

Every car we sell is inspected throughly and all work is carried out.

All cars are priced based upon market research etc

However, if it's a small independent garage, it may be different.

We have multiple mechanics, in house valeters etc, with 100+ cars on site

Of course people still haggle. Car salesmen hate it and are trying their best to persuade customers that there's no longer haggling going on, but there is. We've never paid screen nor list price for a car, new or used, and that's over 40 years and probably 20/25 cars between us. We did it last year for a demo car and just done it again 3 months ago for a brand new one! There's always some deal to be had. Make sure they know your email address and/or phone number and be prepared to walk away. They'll almost certainly phone/email the next day with some kind of deal.

OP didnt say how her offer of several hundred under was made. If over the phone then no wonder they were told to go away. In person, after a test drive and some qualifying questions then they know if you're serious or not and be more willing to talk turkey. But even so, there is no expectation for a discount for no reason whatsoever. If a better car is available elsewhere then buy that one.

I offered after a test drive. But it was a "if I were to buy this car today, would you take XXX?" so I do understand that it was refused.
I was just wondering if I could call back and say "I want the car, would you take XXX?" and if they said no, just take the list price.
It does seem expensive to me, there are cheaper cars around but not exactly comparable. I hate haggling as a principle, but I also hate the idea that they might expect to sell it for £200 less and save this because I didn't haggle well.

I think you've already asked for a discount, walked away, I presume they havent been in touch so they arent desperate to sell. All depends if you want to pat the asking price or not. The fact they didnt try and strike a deal with you after a test drive shows they are pretty rigid on price.

Are there others things that have a value to you they could add rather than them taking actual money off? Full tank of petrol, first year service/ MOT, new floor mats that kind of thing. Saves you money and the garage may have more 'wriggle room' on those costs. And yes you definitely need to go back armed with prices on similar cars available locally. They can only say no and you've lost nothing by asking.

Well I haven't heard from them so I guess they thought I was not that interested or maybe they have other interest. This is the first car I've looked at in my current search so I think I will wait a week or two and resume my search looking at other cars as well.
The car is priced reasonably, but I obviously don't know if other cars are going for below list price. I need a "sold" price website to look at - or I need to hang around garages and ask people as they leave!!
Thanks everyone for your time and useful replies, I am a bit better informed now.

The bottom line is if its the car is what you want - right model, spec, condition, history etc then just buy it. For the sake of trying to save a couple of hundred quid to feel that you "won" the deal then thats silly.

E.g. assume you saw 2 cars that were near identical. One was priced at £5500 and they gave you no discount. The second was £5900 and they gave you a £300 discount. The dealer offering no discount is still a better deal, all things considered.

Another thing is, is this car on Autotrader? They flag cars as low price/great/price/good price/fair price.

Ideally you want a low price or great price. If its a fair price avoid it or if its a good price you could try and negotiate. But these are basic barometers. Has the dealer serviced the car? Have they repaired stuff? The choice of garage at £5000 price point is as important as anything. Do they have a good reputation?

It would depend on how much profit was in it and how confident they are in selling it for full price. Some models are more desirable than others. Worth asking them what the best price is after checking similar on auto trader

They won't if it's a very tight margin
I've know cars that are a lot more expensive have no room as the profit ends up being about £30