Buying a car nowadays

[Cactussed]

Have people forgotten the basic principles of haggling?
You make or receive a lowball offer, you come back or receive a counter proposal.
It goes back and forth and you hopefully eventually settle somewhere in the middle.

I've put in a bid on 2 cars so far (about 10% below asking as an opening offer) and both times the only response I've received is "I think I can get more".

I mean, do you want to sell the thing or not?? Seriously...

[obob]

You must be joking, the amount of people on PH that are shocked that anyone would even think about offering less than the asking price is staggering.

[illmonkey]

I like buying cars. My other half doesn't like me buying cars.

£4k car, "£3300 cash" then just shut up. We eventually settled at £3450. It was down to the last £50 and I just kept quite. We got the "It's to pay off a loan" (Sorry, that's not my problem). He buckled under the pressure. On the way home, the other half told me she almost buckled too and said we'll pay the extra.

Edited by illmonkey on Thursday 13th January 12:25

[volvoforlife]

If the owner feels its the best value for money car on the market, then he might as well hold on. He might have only just put the advert up and is not ready to accept a low offer.

[Jobbo]

Cactussed said:

Have people forgotten the basic principles of haggling?
You make or receive a lowball offer, you come back or receive a counter proposal.
It goes back and forth and you hopefully eventually settle somewhere in the middle.

I've put in a bid on 2 cars so far (about 10% below asking as an opening offer) and both times the only response I've received is "I think I can get more".

I mean, do you want to sell the thing or not?? Seriously...

Exactly my experience trying to buy an E46 330i Sport Touring between September and December. Viewed quite a few, offered ~10% less than asking price on a few and didn't even get any significant haggling; that includes one dealer seller, who simply offered to throw in a warranty.

Glad I waited though, since I eventually picked a better one up for about 16% less than the lowest offer I'd previously made

Edited by Jobbo on Thursday 13th January 12:32

[B16JUS]

I always stand my ground to what deal i want even down to 6 months tax or a tank of fuel etc

Its only worth what you want to pay they can only say yes / no or come back with another figure

[Ean218]

Cactussed said:

I've put in a bid on 2 cars so far (about 10% below asking as an opening offer) and both times the only response I've received is "I think I can get more".

But that is a perfectly reasonable way of entering into the negotiation. They are saying your first offer is a joke and asking if you want to offer more. Presumably you are the one saying no, not them.

[POORCARDEALER]

We love a haggle once the customer is here, seen the car and wants to buy it! Straight forward old fashioned type dealing, seems to be less frequent these days.

What I dont like is phone calls where the first question is "best price?"

[The Milfman]

Cactussed said:

I've put in a bid on 2 cars so far

Just being nosy so feel free to tell me to get lost but what you buying? Anything exciting?

[2 Wycked]

doogz said:

POORCARDEALER said:

We love a haggle once the customer is here, seen the car and wants to buy it! Straight forward old fashioned type dealing, seems to be less frequent these days.

What I dont like is phone calls where the first question is "best price?"

Drives me up the wall. I just tell them it's the price stated on the advert.

Same. I'm selling my car at the moment, I've had three phone calls so far; two started out like that, the third said "will you take £450?" (I declined £450, but at this rate I may have to drop to that as 325is seem desperately unwanted at the moment).

I just invite them to come and view the car before making an offer. The fact that they tend to decline tells me that they're time wasters anyway.

[jomcvelia]

Cactussed said:

Have people forgotten the basic principles of haggling?
You make or receive a lowball offer, you come back or receive a counter proposal.
It goes back and forth and you hopefully eventually settle somewhere in the middle.

I've put in a bid on 2 cars so far (about 10% below asking as an opening offer) and both times the only response I've received is "I think I can get more".

I mean, do you want to sell the thing or not?? Seriously...

"Well what would you be prepared to go down to". Would of been my reply to the seller, to try and get a figure and get the ball rolling again....

[Deva Link]

POORCARDEALER said:

What I dont like is phone calls where the first question is "best price?"

The snag there is that if someone is on a tight budget they'll dismiss cars that you might be able to make affordable to them.

I found this when helping one of our kids to buy their first supermini (new) and we were looking at many contenders. We dismissed Toyota Yaris as too expensive only for the dealer to come back and knock in excess of £2K off the price. Yet try and establish the real-world (rather than list) price of a Polo at a VW dealer and you get guided to the door (that actually happened).

[volvoforlife]

I don't mind the best price question, but its not a good question to ask. They should make an offer over the phone rather than just asking what your best price is.

I often call up and tell them the kind of offer I want to make. Theres no point in travelling the distance to view a car if you're in no position to offer the asking price.

[Matt106]

I'm going to look at a car tomorrow from a private seller and already have an idea of what I'll offer.

It's crazy how much people over price their cars when coming to sell!

[CampDavid]

Ean218 said:

Cactussed said:

I've put in a bid on 2 cars so far (about 10% below asking as an opening offer) and both times the only response I've received is "I think I can get more".

But that is a perfectly reasonable way of entering into the negotiation. They are saying your first offer is a joke and asking if you want to offer more. Presumably you are the one saying no, not them.

Indeed.

That said, I like a bit of positive thinking in haggling. "I think I can get a bit more" feels like they're backing out of the deal.

When haggling you should always want to buy and selling you should always want to sell.

[Deva Link]

Matt106 said:

It's crazy how much people over price their cars when coming to sell!

If the difference is "crazy" then surely they just get pissed off when you offer way lower?

[Matt106]

Deva Link said:

Matt106 said:

It's crazy how much people over price their cars when coming to sell!

If the difference is "crazy" then surely they just get pissed off when you offer way lower?

Well the car I'm looking at is up for £4,300ono which in my mind means they would take £4,000. Then dependant on condition and bargaining maybe another £100-£200 off the price.

[monman321]

I bought a 1999 Freelander 1 yesterday (I know potential money pit) anyway seller wanted £1550 we had a chat about footie had a cup of tea whilst having a good old haggle Got car for £1250, but he wanted the dvd player back for that.

The deal took about 40 minutes but it was good fun and he was a really nice honest seller. Actually made a change buying away from ebay as well.

[MoonMonkey]

It's funny because as a seller I'm quite hardball with offers but try and price the car competetively in the first place. The last few I've sold I've got what I wanted but also think the buyer has driven off knowing he's got a good car and paid a fair price for it.

[browna]

illmonkey said:

I like buying cars. My other half doesn't like me buying cars.

£4k car, "£3300 cash" then just shut up. We eventually settled at £3450. It was down to the last £50 and I just kept quite. We got the "It's to pay off a loan" (Sorry, that's not my problem). He buckled under the pressure. On the way home, the other half told me she almost buckled too and said we'll pay the extra.

Edited by illmonkey on Thursday 13th January 12:25

haha +1. i love the silent routine after youve made an offer.. let them mull it over. hard cash in ur pocket/hand too, works a treat.