I have just read the honest john guide on how to buy a new car but just wanted to be 100% on how cheap I can really get this car!
I have a 56 plate A3 from september 2006. It now has 27053 miles to be exact on the clock.
I am interested in a Mini cooper D for september on the 58 plate. List price is £14,420 for the mini. I will be addding the pepper pack and MFSW as extras. Total cost on the mini website is £15,690.
Dealer 1 yesterday offered a lowish £12k for my A3 but after a bit more convincing offered £13k.
I still think they may be a better deal but what is the best way to do it? Please help, I have never bought a new car before and I now want something reliable!!!
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To get the best deal when haggling, you have to be prepared to do a deal today (there and then) if you can agree on price, and make this intention very clear to the salesperson. You will never get their best offer if they think you're just going to "think about it" or take it off to a competitor to use as ammunition. If they sniff a genuine opportunity for a deal, it's amazing what room they can find.
You also need to find out exactly what your A3 is worth, bearing in mind you won't get close to its retail value on a p/x basis. You pay handsomely for the convenience of the p/x process.
Try Parkers, or have a friendly word with one of the CAP subscribers on here. Do some sums in your head, book an appointment at the dealership and then sit down and be prepared to buy if they can meet your expectations.
Cheers
DP
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What is the cost to change? That's what you are haggling on, not the individual components of the deal.
Taking an Audi to a BMW garage is another opportunity for you to be stung.
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Many thanks DP. My car seems to be worth roughly £15k on the forecourt. Honestjohn says do not accept any less than 15% of this. Should be worth about £13.5k then?
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As davey says, it is the cost to change that's important, but in this case it's quite simple, as MINIs are not discounted. So all you're really haggling on is the value of your p/x.
The trade will just value it with CAP or Glass's. You need to get a more accurate valuation. The trade turn their noses up at it, but for us mere mortals with no secret bible, Parkers is worth a punt.
www.parkers.co.uk/cars/used-prices/ {no clickable links to Parkers please}
Bear in mind the screen prices on used cars in main dealers, and particularly VW/Audi dealers, are very optimistic. Rarely will they actually sell the car at that price. I have a local VW dealer asking £8495 for a 60,000 mile mkIV Golf GT TDI 130, for example. I bet its former owner didn't get a penny over £6k for it, and I bet you could get a grand off the screen price without trying.
Cheers
DP
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 01/07/2008 at 11:28
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DP's advice on making it clear you want to do the deal right here, right now is very sound but in a sense is half right. You also have to be prepared to walk away right here, right now if the deal isn't right. A salesman will sniff someone who is smitten with the car they want to buy and that's never a good place to haggle from.
Business-like and with an air of professinal detachment is the way - after all if you're buying new then there are dozens of other cars just like it a short drive away so it's all about what you're being offered for yours.
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worth roughly £15k on the forecourt. Honestjohn says do not accept any less than 15% of this.
15% off £15k = £12750 ?
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I would think it is more like 25% plus for dealer margins an offer of 13k seems quite good say you will do the deal now for £13250.
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What type of A3 is it ? 2007 tdi's low mileage are not retailing at anything like 15k a quick scroll through autotrader shows plenty at 10 to 12 k
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.*********
As it happens, £13k for my car for a 58 plate mini seems to be a very good offer. All other dealers couldn't match it! Come September time, it will be worth around £12k they said. So dealer 1 was generous it seems, guaranteeing £13k for my car in September.
I think I'll be cheeky and ask for the TLC pack chucked in the deal, you never know!
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If I may add my 2p..
If you really wnt a great deal.. and car sales are dire... wait till a week before end July. They will want to fill sales quotas and your offer is a great package: easily sellable car and you are buyinmg a premium priced car with lots of profit in it.
Of course others may disagree...
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If car sales are dire, how much do you think I could get off a 7-8000 pound 3yr old car? How do I find out the salesman's lowest price as quickly as possible?
Thanks,
Compo
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The main thing to do is not get fixated on the px offer but the overall cost to change. The vast majority of dealers will value it much the same - variations in the offers are "over allowances" being given - i.e. effectively a discount off the new car.
Without knowing exactly what your car is it is difficult to value but, for example, most dealers would value a 2006/56 A3 2.0 TDI SE with 27k at about £11000-£11500.
CAP Clean on such a car is £12050 but there are loads about and many failing to get close to book at auction so I would expect most offers to take that into account.
If you can get a discount off the dealer which offers the lowest px then they might be the better deal - to be honest that might not happen on a Mini but it does on many cars.
Edited by pd on 02/07/2008 at 13:56
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Sorry, sony, but having driven an A3 2.0 TDI and a new Cooper D, the cost to change wouldn't be in any equation - I would keep the A3!
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