How to drive a hard bargain

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
Updated:

 

The secret to getting your dream car at a price you can afford is to haggle, a new survey shows.

Discounts worth thousands of pounds are available to buyers who learn the tricks of the trade.

A slump in sales as fear of recession bites, combined with the early introduction of the new T registration on March 1, is being credited with the bargain deals.

A top-of-the-range BMW 735i, list price - £44,935, was offered at £3,150 less to a team of undercover 'buyers' from What Car? magazine. They managed to beat down the price of a £36,405 Jaguar XJ8 saloon by £2,000.

But the biggest percentage savings were in the mid-market range. The best was £1,320 off a £14,370 Vauxhall Astra 1.6 CD - a cut of just over nine per cent from a dealer with a margin of ten per cent.

The salesman concerned, Alan Crawford, at dealers Arnold Clark in Glasgow said: 'No one likes to give a nine per cent discount, but it is tough out there. It is very competitive. People are now becoming very streetwise.'

The details come a day after a damning European Union report, published in yesterday's Daily Mail, showed the British are paying up to 51 per cent more for their cars - pretax - than customers on the Continent. MPs and consumer groups described it as 'a rip-off'.

'Getting a discount on a new car is easier than you think,' said What Car? deputy editor John Evans.

A series of simple steps can add up to substantial savings in the showroom. Phoning around for the best deal is a good starting point.

'Better still, ask the dealer face to face and be prepared to take what he has in stock - you'll see the pounds fall away before your very eyes,' said Mr Evans.

It is easier if you don't part exchange your car. Do your homework, know what you want, and the quoted list prices. 'Don't be intimidated,' added Mr Evans. 'The salesman may know more than you, but you are holding all the cards. If you walk out of the door it is the salesman who loses.'

Shop around, and play off one dealer against another. 'Wait for the best quote, and if it's too high, tell him how much less you've been quoted,' he said. 'But don't just settle for a matching deal - ask for a better one.'

It may be worth looking north of the Border - the survey found some of the best deals in Scotland.

Buyers should not be afraid to ask how much profit the dealer is making, said Mr Evans.

'If he says he has only £1,000 profit on the deal, ask to see the invoice from the manufacturer to prove this. Any reasonable salesman will not take offence.'

Dealer margins are usually around ten per cent on the cost of the car before delivery, tax and VAT.

And if a salesman cites a manager who will not countenance any further discount, ask to see this mysterious superior.

It is also vital to know when silence is golden.

'Once you have put your cards on the table stop talking and look the salesman in the eye,' Mr Evans advises.

'Don't let him make excuses. A long silence merely shows that you are implacable and will make the hardest dealer start to crack.'

There are, however, limits to any salesman's flexibility and dealers were simply not prepared to haggle for cars in demand, such as BMW's 3 and 5 series saloons, and Porsche's 911 sports car. Nor were they moved by requests for cash off Jaguar's £50,655 XK8 coupe.

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