Top tips for negotiating with car dealers - by car dealers

[New year revolutions...... 197]

7 minutes ago, David Horgan said:

First thing to say is 

Don't bring your carpet and torch ; makes you look stupid 

Don't bring your local expert who obviously knows NOTHING , It makes you look silly 

If you want FINANCE , tell the truth when asked the questions relating to earnings , ETC , ;  Saves time and your embarrassment 

PHONE us , text is ok but we respect the call from you ; Helps to make you a considered proper buyer 

If you say your coming COME or at least tell us otherwise . That prevents you from being RUDE .

Don't come looking for an Argument ,with a sour face and attitude ,;  NOT impressed and you wont get anywhere as lots wont sell you the car anyway  

PLEASE make sure your not looking out of your pay grade , ; Just a waste of time both ways isnt it 

PX cars , TELL The TRUTH , Bring the Service book , We know its value so DONT Expect a £1,000 more than its worth , Dont tell " well they are making X online " ; makes you look silly . 

READ the advert , has it got service history , 12 Stamps On advert you blind idiot , 

Don't send an email going is Price Negotiable , ; You haven't seen the bloody thing yet .

There will be more but its lunch time .

Dont check all the lights and tyre depths as it's been pdi,d moted by the toughest garage in the nearest town (listen to the podcast earlier this week with nick,he uses the same mot station rolls Royce use,so customer ,do you honestly believe they are going to pass my Honda for my benefit if there was anything wrong with it)

Dont try negotiating on price when the paperwork is being done it's not big and it's not funny

[David Horgan 564]

Just now, Casper said:

What about your golden rule David don't entertain anyway who is a walking advert for snap on 

Oh Casper I love those types 

had one once dressed head to foot in NEW Snap On everything,  even bloody gloves , Thought he was a walking advert for them .

his mate bought a JAP car off us , he rang up 40 min later shouting about the clutch was CLICKING . 

Well bring it back then , Twat 

It was the Air con Pump Clutch unit , you know when it kicks and goes CLICK My son made him look like a complete FOOL 

 

[Casper 272]

Just now, David Horgan said:

Oh Casper I love those types 

had one once dressed head to foot in NEW Snap On everything,  even bloody gloves , Thought he was a walking advert for them .

his mate bought a JAP car off us , he rang up 40 min later shouting about the clutch was CLICKING . 

Well bring it back then , Twat 

It was the Air con Pump Clutch unit , you know when it kicks and goes CLICK My son made him look like a complete FOOL 

 

Lol 

[XFS 70]

If you are buying a used car, particularly from a large franchise or Supermarket, The advice I would give is that if your first thought is how much money can I get off or how low can I get my monthly payment, then you are simply cannon fodder and you may walk away thinking you have a great deal when the reality is you are just their standard punter whom they can swallow up and spit out without breaking sweat. You are probably walking out thinking I got the monthly I wanted, but in reality you have been strapped up for 5 years on a high interest  agreement and have a string of expensive add ons you don’t need.

Look at the car. What is the condition, history, spec...how does it compare to others on that basis. Make sure you are comparing like for like. If it’s in good nick, well serviced, good tyres and has a few options it may be good value already. 

Work out yourself what is a good finance deal before you go to the dealer, learn how APR works. That way you will know if they are strapping you up. Don’t agree to add ons you don’t need. You do not need ceramic coating at £800 or interior protection for £600 or whatever other add on junk they deem essential.

DO NOT buy on price or monthly alone without knowing exactly what you are buying.

 

[Nick M.K. 574]

31 minutes ago, XFS said:

Make sure you are comparing like for like

The general public don't have our knowledge so simply can not do that with used cars. They can barely do it with new. 

[XFS 70]

I'm not that smart, I am just average general public and if I want a new TV then I know enough to compare similar TV's. Or if I want to buy a house I can compare mortgage deals and know pretty well if somebody is trying it on. I don't understand why its so hard.

 

 

[New year revolutions...... 197]

Here's one for any business

The wife has spent the last 4 hours on the phone trying to cancel a contract that comes up for renewal automatically,a bit like the rolling car insurance one where you have to dig deep to untick a box rather than tick a box to be in the club now we are in gdpr land

Anyway

She couldn't get through even though our call was important

So

And here's the bit

I logged into the pic site and went through to the renewal page but said I had a problem so went on the chat site,a lovely chap asked how he could help and I explained the wife and I were both unemployed and had 4 cats and needed to cancel our policy,he was very humbled and fastracked me to the cancellation dept,I then had to explain that I the wife the 4 cats and now I have a budgie  too couldn't afford to renew as we were all non working

She had my policy cancelled 30 seconds later

 

So the the message is to any car buyer 

Be polite

And you often will get what you want

And be fastracked

Edited April 17, 2020 by New year revolutions......

[Casper 272]

12 minutes ago, New year revolutions...... said:

Here's one for any business

The wife has spent the last 4 hours on the phone trying to cancel a contract that comes up for renewal automatically,a bit like the rolling car insurance one where you have to dig deep to untick a box rather than tick a box to be in the club now we are in gdpr land

Anyway

She couldn't get through even though our call was important

So

And here's the bit

I logged into the pic site and went through to the renewal page but said I had a problem so went on the chat site,a lovely chap asked how he could help and I explained the wife and I were both unemployed and had 4 cats and needed to cancel our policy,he was very humbled and fastracked me to the cancellation dept,I then had to explain that I the wife the 4 cats and now I have a budgie  too couldn't afford to renew as we were all non working

She had my policy cancelled 30 seconds later

 

So the the message is to any car buyer 

Be polite

And you often will get what you want

And be fastracked

Had the same myself with the tv company the other day 

[New year revolutions...... 197]

1 minute ago, Casper said:

Had the same myself with the tv company the other day 

Did you give them the sob story.?

This is how I got to the front of the queue

A bit like using the walking stick and Zimmer frame to get to the front of the bus queue Thursday mornings so you get the best seat after 9.30am

[Casper 272]

1 minute ago, New year revolutions...... said:

Did you give them the sob story.?

This is how I got to the front of the queue

A bit like using the walking stick and Zimmer frame to get to the front of the bus queue Thursday mornings so you get the best seat after 9.30am

They said they will give there customers some slack on the bills due to virus got a couple of months free 

[awc1000 93]

On 4/15/2020 at 3:56 PM, James Baggott said:

Nope, what advice you'd like to give to punters before they walk into your office and start negotiating... 

customers and their p'ex's, bring everything you have for the car on first viewing not handover, spare keys / service history / bills etc, show me the stuff so that i can try and show you more money.

[Casper 272]

1 hour ago, awc1000 said:

customers and their p'ex's, bring everything you have for the car on first viewing not handover, spare keys / service history / bills etc, show me the stuff so that i can try and show you more money.

And leave the px as is when it actually comes in if your keeping the stereo and leaving a hole in dash tell us and putting the alloys back to steel wheels tell us its not so bad now but used to be years back .think we have all had the ones where the brand new correct bosch battery on first viewing becomes an unknown flat duffer brand thats to small when the car gets here we now say we have to move the car to where its to be parked once bitten twice shy .

Edited April 17, 2020 by Casper

[JimmyGlen 13]

Don't always expect us to round your new car payment down to the nearest hundred pounds.  

The part exchange car isn't worth what's owed to the finance company.

Your negative equity isn't our problem, we aren't here to pay your shortfall. 

Always be decent. You wouldn't be any other way if you went to a nice restaurant - why treat us any differently. 

Not all car dealers are the same. 

 

Could probably go on, but hopefully this well help

[James Baggott 227]

Thank you. Very helpful 

[MrC 142]

I used to engineer an extra £200 in to the price,  I think the most I ever knocked off was £100 to make the hardened bargain hunter feel better.

The extra £100 made me feel much better. I think they call it a win win. 

 

[Blenheim Car Sales 111]

Punter should do there homework...................  it adds to there credibility

make the sales person your friend, it is nice dealing with people you get along with

you need to earn the right as a customer to get around to negotiation and figures, It is not negotiation first

as a customer we know when you are lying, I have spoken to 10000+ customers i can tell trust me

[metcars 397]

I wonder how many traders that acquire stock from ‘private’ advertisers just turn up and hand over the cash without attempting to chip the price? 

[Umer 5]

On 4/17/2020 at 1:37 PM, David Horgan said:

Oh Casper I love those types 

had one once dressed head to foot in NEW Snap On everything,  even bloody gloves , Thought he was a walking advert for them .

his mate bought a JAP car off us , he rang up 40 min later shouting about the clutch was CLICKING . 

Well bring it back then , Twat 

It was the Air con Pump Clutch unit , you know when it kicks and goes CLICK My son made him look like a complete FOOL 

 

[James Baggott 227]

Hi all, any more tips on this one? I'm going to write a feature for the website on it this week and was hoping a few more of you had some golden nuggets of wisdom...

[Bmx Bandits 52]

I would recommend that people research the value of any part exchange they may have, many customers seem to massively over value their current car and under value the car they are looking at, dealers can’t work miracles and it can make it almost impossible to do a deal, as their budgets simply will not stretch.

 

I’d also recommended that prospective customers be honest about there credit history, if looking to purchase a car on finance. Car dealers/staff will not be judgmental and it save everyone considerably time and effort. Finance companies are very good at uncovering every minor missed payment, defaults and CCJ’s so there is no point not telling the truth!  The majority of dealers have specialist brokers/lenders that can help them get the best finance deal on the market for their credit profile.

Prospective customers also need to find/check their Driving License and then bring it with them. You are unlikely to get a test drive with out it and you will need it you take out dealer finance (it needs to be in their current address)

The salesperson will take you more seriously if you come prepared and put your cards in the table (I like your car but can you move a little on the price) is making their job much more straight forward. Your the more likely to get a better deal.

[MarkTVS 209]

I think the simplest one is probably the one you couldn’t write in a magazine and it’s simply “don’t be a dick” 

I am far more likely to do Something  for a customer I like rather than one who has a poor attitude.

[It's me 615]

you can't kid a kidder 

[have a word with the wife 299]

Do not use the current crisis as a excuse for discount !

[Contracts 68]

From my experience I think most are summed up above.

The biggest annoyance for us is customers comparing to a similar vehicle or deal somewhere else and making up a deal they have been offered (this happens a lot more in leasing, comparing apples with apples springs to mind)  

Last year had a guy trying to chip us on a Evoque as he said he could get the similar car at Stratstone with a £1000 off the advertised price plus they offered more for his car.  As we all know this does not happen with Stratstone and he did buy our car even when he said the deal was “costing him £2000 more”.

Trouble is you feel these customers resent you and overall the transaction has a bitter taste.

 

[James Baggott 227]

Finally got around to writing this one up - thanks to all for your advice: 

https://cardealermagazine.co.uk/publish/top-tips-negotiating-used-car-prices-used-car-dealers-used-car-dealers/194073