What kind of percentage is acceptable to knock off the list price!I'm paying cash (or whatever payment method they want, but don't need finance).If a car is on at $11995 is it cheeky to ask if they'll take $9000, or $10000! Or is it standard practise to offer and then they counter offer!
chebry,
Dec 8, 3:05pm
They are trying desperately to sell a car make em a offer, The cheeky bit is the $11995 for a $500 import
thunderbolt,
Dec 8, 3:10pm
There is no hard and fast rule Huggy, depends on a whole bunch of factors. How much margin is in the car you are buying! (how much does it owe them and how much could they buy the same model for now!) How long has it been sitting around! How much can they get for your trade! (Can they pay you X and wholesale for Y!) Is it a big yard with targets to meet! (might be need month end and salesman might be close to an incentive target!) Is it overpriced/underpriced in comparison to other yards! They are unlikely to drop much if they are already under other advertised models. All these factors will have some bearing on the price they are willing to accept. All you can do is have a go at getting them down and do your homeowrk on other similar cars for sale to compare.
huggy5,
Dec 8, 3:12pm
Thank you!I will have to do more research, I did figure it was kind of like buying a house (you have to actually know what it's worth, sometimes you pay asking price and sometimes you get it for 100K below).But I know more about houses than cars so am way better qualified to bargain on houses!
r15,
Dec 8, 3:13pm
chebry clearly has absolutely no idea.
the thing is that you can buy cars from pretty much all the same places dealers can -dealers can't just magically find $500 cars to sell for $12k
a car for sale at $11995 could be a car that a dealer traded for 8, but made nothing on the sale of the new vehicle of that deal, and had to service the old car, clean it up, fix things, warranty etc to go out for $11995-
or it could be a car that the dealer bought last year for $15k and demand for said vehicle has dropped- he could already be losing $3k on it
every vechicle will have a different margin - and is irrelevant how much is being knocked off the price,what is relevant is how the price sits with comparable models both on that yard and elsewhere -remember to factor travel costs if you need to buy out of town
edit-looks like i type too slowly!
splinter67,
Dec 8, 3:14pm
Start at 9k the worst thing that can happen is the dealer says no and you can offer more its called bargaining remember you can always go up but not down
kdcentralni,
Dec 8, 3:25pm
OP you sound like a private buyer. Buy privately and be cheecky and go in low, the private seller just wants out of the vehicle and has no rent, wages, recond or tax to pay and had the perceived use out of it. A dealership will not knock much of as a general rule but will offer after sales recoarse, trade ins finance etc.
hpaul,
Dec 8, 3:30pm
They're experts at haggling. They learn, go on seminars, have daily meetings and targets. You're not an expert but.you are the buyer. Do your homework, be polite and confident. Make your offer, leave your number if no agreement reached. I make around 10 offers before a dealer accepts, always low offers, always polite. On an $11995 car that I really wanted I'd offer $9k and go to high nines Let us know how you get on.
kazbanz,
Dec 8, 3:52pm
Huggy this has been covered off many times before. My reply has always been the same. You have it all backwards. You have about the very best search engine at your fingertips. Dare I say it --Trade me. Before thinking of making any offerUse the tools at your disposal. Look up the car. How does this dealerships car stack up price wise compared to all the others out there! Take into account year/color milage all of which play a big part in what dealers pay for the vehicle. If say (using your 11995 ecxample) the average price is $10000 you have an idea theres probable room to negotiate. If the average price is $13000 theres a good chance the car is priced very sharply already and there wont be a lot of room to move. All that said Always make an offer.As others have posted there are other factors involved that may mean the dealer may be negotiable even when the price is the sharpest in town
kazbanz,
Dec 8, 3:52pm
Huggy this has been covered off many times before. My reply has always been the same. You have it all backwards. You have about the very best search engine at your fingertips. Dare I say it --Trade me. Before thinking of making any offerUse the tools at your disposal. Look up the car. How does this dealerships car stack up price wise compared to all the others out there! Take into account year/color milage all of which play a big part in what dealers pay for the vehicle. If say (using your 11995 ecxample) the average price is $10000 you have an idea theres probable room to negotiate. If the average price is $13000 theres a good chance the car is priced very sharply already and there wont be a lot of room to move. All that said Always make an offer.As others have posted there are other factors involved that may mean the dealer may be negotiable even when the price is the sharpest in town. But if the car stacks up otherwise don't be offended if the dealer says theres no room to move.
xs1100,
Dec 9, 2:15am
maybe the Q you should ask yrself is how would you feel if you got the best car on the market but no discount or would you prefer the worst car on the market but the biggest discount.hah- ahaha of course not you want the best car with the biggest discount sorry they have all gone
marte,
Dec 10, 12:52am
Offer down to the 500 mark, ie $9995 offer $9500
harry353,
Dec 10, 1:01am
Most NZers are useless at negotiating. It's not a skill that is usually taught here except to those in sales positions. Shame really especially when we travel overseas and then we get a real lesson.
phillip.weston,
Dec 10, 2:27am
I just think NZers are too honest and realistic with their prices to begin with. Many people overseas hike their prices knowing they are going to get low-balled.
mokaubach,
Dec 11, 6:48am
Offer them $5000 and when they say "you're joking " , say "well you started it"! .
icemans1,
Dec 11, 6:58am
best time to buy from a dealer is at the end of the month
oakie,
Dec 11, 12:30pm
Do you go into Countdown and make them an offer at the checkout!. I don't think so. why should a dealer discount $2-$3000 just because you have cash!A dealer couldn't care if you have gold bullion, they love it when cheapskates like you walk in they will get their daily dose of sport and then spit you out. remember one thing before trying to be the BIg Boy, a dealer will only discount for a reason and you just might end up buying an old stocker or some shiny looking car that's had more hits than the Beatles.
master-trader,
Dec 11, 12:48pm
Funny you mention this.I saw this exact thing at The Warehouse yesterday. The lady in front of me was buying a cellphone, and told the checkout operator she didn't like the price and said she'd like a discount. Before the checkout operator could answer, she said "I'll pay $ XXX for it".The checkout operator handled it really well.explained they don't accept offers on their products and went in to some depth with the lady about it. Though I don't think the lady got it. shestill insisted that she shouldn't have to pay the price they were asking as she didn't want to, and that if she was happy to suggest aprice then that should be what she pays. Normally I'd jump checkout aisles when this kind of thing happens but it was quite entertaining.
She ended buyingthe phone,but seemed quite disgruntled about not being able to dictate the price.
There are means and ways around this , but she employed a method that obviously wan't going to work.
I'm all for haggling with car yards.It's not like it's a small investment so there should be some give and take from their side.obviously if they feel like they are being bent over the bonnet they'll say so.
smac,
Dec 11, 12:55pm
The point isn't whether you can get the car listed at $11995 for $9k or $10k. The point is how much is the car worth to you, and how much are similar vehicles actually selling for (not being advertised for)!
tazcsv,
Dec 11, 2:45pm
When i brought my gtb legacy from a subaru dealership it was advertised at $13,995 so i offered $11,000 for starters and we settled on $12,000 cash sale,. I had done my homework and noit was not overpriced so yes it pays to ask.
marblicious,
Dec 11, 3:39pm
I think the most important thing about haggling about price is that you are speaking to right person. I.E the owner of the business. If you can pay in cash and that person has a way of dealing with it so that John Key doesn't find out about it then you are one huge step closer to getting a good deal.
I am not advocating this. everyone should pay their taxes!
master-trader,
Dec 11, 5:01pm
Is this similarto going to the back of Pak n Save to the store room with a wad of $20's.like an express and a discount isle all in one !
marblicious,
Dec 11, 5:30pm
Pretty much!
leso,
Dec 11, 9:30pm
alot of dealers dont like cash offers.much more profit in finance deals.as someone said start low and go up,know when to stop,always another one.
poppajn,
Dec 11, 9:40pm
I recently bought a car, traded mine and just said I was prepared to spend $5000, so it was just the difference between trade in valueplus $5000.
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