How do I get the best deal when buying a new car?

[sachertorte]

How much discount off the list price, how to ask for freebies to be thrown in, what kind of thing should I haggle for? What deal did you get on your new car? Thanks!

I think you will get a good deal anyway at the moment because they are desperate, depends what you are looking for?

I´m abroad and face salesmen who don´t appear to work on commission (!!!) Have only come across ONE salesman in ALL the car show rooms I´ve been to who even had time to speak to me! Noone has tried to sell me a car yet! They´re looking very far from desperate...

are you looking for brand new? or just new-ish?

brand new or last years model of a car that has just been replaced (so they want rid of them)..

fair enough, in th UK they are depserate, showrooms closing almost as quick as pubs.
small car...family car? what do you want

it annoys me when salespeople are like that. we've had similar recently when looking for a car and it just pisses me off. you either wanna sell stuff or you don't. stupid people

aaaanyway, once you've got one to actually speak to you i would just go in with saying exactly what you want, and how much money you have.
be cheeky, it's ok,. the worst they can do is say no.
so, "we're looking for a volvo v70, up to a year old, we have £10,000 to spend. can you show me what you've got"
or something along those lines.

then, you find the one you want, fall in love with it. tell them how much you like it but you're really not sure you like it enough to spend that much money. what's the best price they can do you?

I am lucky enough to have a dp who will be very frank with salesmen and just say "ok, I like the car, the price is good, but what else will you give me to make the sale right now?"
they DO want to sell stuff, even if they give the impression that they don't. they know you have plenty of other options, and they are able to offer additional extras at little or no cost.

you just have to be brave enough to ask

want a small car..

that was a good start yesterday! I think I can do that (if the salesman understands what I´m saying - also language problem so difficult to strike the right tone and know if I´m being understood (also to know if the salesman is pretending not to understand!)

oh no I would hate to be in that position, citroen are doing 0% finance at the moment if you need finance, the new Toyota small car looks gorgeous, i think sen as there are roqws and rows of new cars sitting on car parks unsold , so many that most manufacturers have stopped production lines you should be in a good position.
As the other poster said, go in and say you have X amount to spend and you want something with XXXXX, if thye know you are serious they should show some interest, if not, go somewhere esle, they dont deserve your money

we intend to pay cash.. Would this warrant a discount?

absolutely as they dont have to do all the credit cheques, paperwork etc, if you have cash and you have a rough idea of what cars are going for, you should go in and offer just under that say a new Citroen C2 is advertised for £6,5999 then you should go in and if you like them offer them £6000 cash
you can but try, or if a year old model up for £5,500, offer them £4000 cash an work up to meet them half way

have you tried broadspeed. they are really good - got loads off our VW when the garage wasnt offering anything

So I say I quite like the car. What´s their best price?

I say their best price is higher than I had expected? there must be something they can do for me.. (long pause here)

Thye do or don´t give a better offer.

I ask if they will throw in an extra (car mats, drawer, etc)
They agree or not.

I say, of course you will give a discount if we pay cash, won´t you? Say c 800 quid and haggle to 600 quid.

Deal done?

What do I do if they refuse to haggle at all and say take it or leave it?

What is broadspeed Poppy?

I would find a car you want, with the extras you want, sya a year old model that higher sepc than a brand new basic spec model, try it, like it and say " I am interested but dont want to spend more than £XXX" they will probably say no at first but the you say, okay, well I just want to visit XXX (name of another dealerhsip) before I make any decisions. they might not let you go without making a deal,if they do, go away and depending on how you want the car ....make up your own mind