Buying new car in France

[Maverick73]

Hi there,

I'm thinking of buying a car in France (BMW 3 series) to be registered in France. Does anyone have any idea what sort of discount i can expect to negotiate from a dealer off the price of a new car? In the UK this can be as much as 10% but interestingly second hand cars in France appear to hold their value much better than the UK.

Any help much appreciated.

Thanks

Maverick73

[smifffymoto]

When I bought my Passat it was already discounted a bit(3500) and he wouldn't budge any but did throw in the next price up mats.
When I bought my peugeot van I mention I was buying for my business,out came the little black book and straight away without asking knocked 25% off(not a typo).

I think because new cars aren't bought as regularley dealers don't do mega deals as they know it's going to be 10 years until you buy another new car,25 if you become native.

[rdjohn]

I get the impression that buying cars is not meant to be a pleasurable experience in France. The sticker price is pretty much the sale price; except for the mats and fuel in the tank, very little seems to be negotiable.

Conversely, whatever the Argus price is for the car you now own seems to be gospel as well; they do not start saying it needs a new tyre and has a scratch so we will reduce the price by “x”

I used http://www.chanas-auto.com to buy a zero mileage Alfa that they had imported from Milan

http://www.elite-auto.fr seems an acceptable way to get a discount on new cars albeit with a bit of hassle for collection.

[Driller]

Yeah, we're in the market for a Q5 and the Audi places we went to in the UK (they can import in LHD) were very willing to discuss the price. In France not only are the prices higher but they seem almost totally unwilling to negotiate.

Everything here is so much more monopolised than in the UK with much less competition so they don't feel they have to negotiate as much.

[leyorkie]

Buy a copy of Auto Plus and look at the back pages. You would have more of a chance getting a discount around Paris where there are lots of dealers within a radius of each other. If you want a BMW here in Le Mans the other dealers are a long way off, 50 kilometers plus so you don't get the chance to shop around and the dealers know it.
One benefit of the new registration system is that it is not tied to your department but any dealer can fix plates with your departments logo.
Companies such as Elite auto advertise in Auto Plus.
http://www.elite-auto.fr/voiture-neuve/bmw-4.html