Haggling for a pre-owned at dealership- experience?

[nonofyobiz]

I'm looking to get a vehicle and I've found one I like, but it's a bit above my price range and I suck at haggling haha
I'm just wondering, if anyone here knows, how much flexibility they have and how much I could reasonable get them down. It's a 2010 vehicle priced around $21k.

Any tips going in? :burnout:

[vengie]

Go in, name your price, talk it out, and be prepared to walk away.

[snowcat]

You have to call and ask for an asian sales person only and then state you want best price with all taxes in.

For this to work, you must read the contract first before signing.

[ExtraSlow]

If you know what you want to pay, and you talk to the man, I don't see what the problem is.

With every sales transaction, you MUST be prepared to walk away.

[amear]

Hire a asian or brown guy to do it for you, and when you agree on a price hide a couple hundred in your pocket and get bigger discount :rofl:

[never]

Originally posted by vengie
Go in, name your price, talk it out, and be prepared to walk away.

This.

I've bought some used cars from dealers with a decent discount, while others have barely moved at all. The ones that didn't move were already great deals so I wasn't expecting much.

[Black Gts]

As above. I got a great deal on the last car I bought, i was ready to leave and they dropped all the bs fees. I just bought a truck, and the truck got me haha as ready to walk away as I thought I was i didn't. Payed a little extra but I'm happy, set a budget negotiate with them not yourself haha.

[Graham_A_M]

Find out what its REALLY worth, keep that in mind. Their a dealership, they'll charge more then what you'd expect from a Kijiji sale as an example, but perhaps a grand or two above those prices, and they should be able to make it work.

Most dealerships have a fair share of mark up on used vehicles, so you should have a lot of bargaining room to start with.

[revelations]

OP you also should be aware of which dealers to avoid... (eg AUTOMAXX)

[ddduke]

Most dealers aren't that willing to negotiate, especially if it's popular stock that they know will sell. I know this for a fact. Usually you can get fees waved, but many times anything more then that you're screwed.

Even though they charge a fair bit of markup they're still a business and many people don't understand that they still need to make a profit.

I'd say your best bet (if you're paying cash/certified cheque) is to walk in and be straight with them, tell them this is what you have and this is what you can spend, let them know that they can't ask for more because you don't have any and you can't bleed a stone.

Also, if you're looking for that specific car in those options and at that price I can likely help you in sourcing one. PM me some info if you want and I can let you know what you should be paying.

[hampstor]

Do some research on the vehicle:

- How long has the car been on the lot for? (Some dealers post on kijiji so you can check by the post date, or you can outright ask them)
- Was the car a trade in, or did they purchase it at ADESA?
- How many similar cars like it are on the lot? How long have they been on the lot?
- What is the market price for a similar vehicle in your region?

Dealers can be motivated to move cars quickly in certain conditions - and the information you get from those kinds of questions above will help determine how motivated they are to sell it and what's a reasonable price.

You may not be able to get them to move 20% on the price, but there are things they can add value with - ie: service (oil changes), winter tires (some dealers have sets of winter tires they've received from trade ins that they stock to use as an incentive for selling a car).

Don't waste their time with a blue-sky offer, and be prepared to walk away.

[HiTempguy1]

The more obscure the car, the better. Also, used cars typically have TONS of negotiating room if the dealer wants it gone as they make obscene amounts of money on used cars.

[ddduke]

Originally posted by HiTempguy1
The more obscure the car, the better. Also, used cars typically have TONS of negotiating room if the dealer wants it gone as they make obscene amounts of money on used cars.

Both of these statements aren't that true. Just because it's an obscure car does not make it suddenly worth less, unless it's something that no one wants, lots of dealers purchase rare or cool cars to keep in the showroom knowing very well they won't depreciate much and will make them look better as a dealership.

Also, there isn't always obscene amounts of money to be made on used cars. If it's a reputable dealer and they are selling a used trade in, they probably had to put money into it to make it worth enough to keep instead of sending to the auction. Also, in Calgary the dealers are vulchers, if it came from an auction then they probably didn't get that good of a deal cause every car sells for more then what it should. it's not uncommon for profit margins to be in the 2k range at used car lots.

Lastly, most dealers aren't that willing to negotiate on cars because they can offer financing, meaning that they know eventually someone will come in and take it. If a dealer is really ready to deal then that's when I'd be concerned because obviously there's a reason it didn't sell.

[A790]

Originally posted by ddduke
Lastly, most dealers aren't that willing to negotiate on cars because they can offer financing, meaning that they know eventually someone will come in and take it. If a dealer is really ready to deal then that's when I'd be concerned because obviously there's a reason it didn't sell.
lol what?!

I've haggled on every car I've ever purchased- new or used.

[spikerS]

Originally posted by A790

lol what?!

I've haggled on every car I've ever purchased- new or used.

same. New, I am usually able to at least haggle 10% off

Used, depending on what it was, I have negotiated 60% off at dealers. But the norm is if a vehicle is 20K, I usually get it for 15-16k.

[codetrap]

Why not look at the trade in value of it, then use that as your baseline for the price? That's probably what the dealer paid for it, then they have to recondition it and make some profit, so they're going to mark it up to retail pricing.. also available on the internet. Pick somewhere in the middle that still allows them to make a little money and they'll probably be willing to negotiate.

For example, I was offered 18k on my Outlander XLS. Private sale suggested price was 23k. Looking around I saw that everything that was equipped like mine in as good of shape was 25.5k, including dealers. So, I know there's quite a bit of room to negotiate there. I'd be offering a dealer around 22k, because I'm gonna have to pay GST on it, and there's no way I'm paying more than a private sale with no GST.

[Go4Long]

Originally posted by codetrap
For example, I was offered 18k on my Outlander XLS.

And I thought I got hosed on my 2011 outlander...lol

I got more than that and it had an accident on it.

As people have all said, it's all subject to specific circumstances. How they came to have the vehicle is really the important part. If they're desparate to make the sale on a new vehicle they may have paid to much on trade (this happens a lot when there's good incentives to the dealership, or when they're near month end), but on the flip side, if the customer is desparate for the new car and they're not really in the mood to take it they may have low balled the customer and had them still take it.

[Xtrema]

Key is prepare to walk. Once they smell the desperation, the won't lower a dime.

[nonofyobiz]

well I think I sold my soul to the bank again. I made the purchase as long as the financing works out. Should know by tomorrow. I am feeling alot of anxiety right now because I really hate to take out a loan and pay interest. Our family needed a reliable vehicle though.

Lots of good insights in here, so thanks guys.
I'm afraid to say it didn't help me a whole lot. They had it advertised for 20,888 and I only got them down to $19888 +tax+fees with the trade in (my POS wasn't worth much). Having said that I dn't feel like their asking price was high, especially for this model. The only negative about it is the KMs at 135k.

it's funny the game they play with you though....like you're negotiating with the sales manager in his office, but you have to do it with the salesmen. They act like they are the good guy and the manager is the bad guy and they are going to fight for you and all that. Then he comes out of the office with a bunch of payment numbers and like you can pay X amount B/W or if you get this awesome protection package you will pay this amount but really the price hasn't changed.

Anyway, i think it was a long day and my first car buying experience and I think I let him off pretty easy lol

[Jeeper1986]

man oh man I just got a 2005 x5 with 88k on it, plus traded a 2006 stock RSX with 118k they offered me 7200 for the car I told them no thanks I stayed there for 1 to 2 to 3 hrs there at the end I got 9550 for the rsx and got them to drop the price 1500 then made them inspect the car at bmw and get ALL the problems fixed so after spending almost 2 to 3 weeks at the bmw dealer the x5 came back 100% better with 3800 repair bill that the dealer PAID FOR

Then before all that happened the x5 had some OZ rims that where soo damn ugly, they had another x5 on the lot with ome rims 18s they swapped them out for me for free.

The day I went to pick it up I told them I want a bit more wiggle room on the price, they gave me 450 towards the rsx I got 10k for the rsx

and got 80k 4 year warrantee that was extra 4k

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v293/bigmoe/20130820_201457_zps5883154d.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/bigmoe/media/20130820_201457_zps5883154d.jpg.html)

got the car for 17 with every thing

[whydontchathen]

Originally posted by Jeeper1986
man oh man I just got a 2005 x5 with 88k on it, plus traded a 2006 stock RSX with 118k they offered me 7200 for the car I told them no thanks I stayed there for 1 to 2 to 3 hrs there at the end I got 9550 for the rsx and got them to drop the price 1500 then made them inspect the car at bmw and get ALL the problems fixed so after spending almost 2 to 3 weeks at the bmw dealer the x5 came back 100% better with 3800 repair bill that the dealer PAID FOR

Then before all that happened the x5 had some OZ rims that where soo damn ugly, they had another x5 on the lot with ome rims 18s they swapped them out for me for free.

The day I went to pick it up I told them I want a bit more wiggle room on the price, they gave me 450 towards the rsx I got 10k for the rsx

and got 80k 4 year warrantee that was extra 4k

got the car for 17 with every thing

I'm sure the op is ecstatic to hear how you did ever so well on your car trade in. Maybe even better than he. Keep up the good work of keeping everyone informed of your stupendous bargaining skills. I know it makes me feel oh so happy! You are awesome!!

:whocares:

[Jeeper1986]

Originally posted by whydontchathen


I'm sure the op is ecstatic to hear how you did ever so well on your car trade in. Maybe even better than he. Keep up the good work of keeping everyone informed of your stupendous bargaining skills. I know it makes me feel oh so happy! You are awesome!!

:whocares:

I see you giving him advice so sorry to rain on your parade :hijack:

[whydontchathen]

Originally posted by Jeeper1986


I see you giving him advice so sorry to rain on your parade :hijack:

Why should I try to give advice if I don't have any worthy advice to give? If I had good advice, then mabe I'd share it.

What I wouldn't do is post a two - three paragraph braggadocio. Way to make a fellow human feel good. pft!

[spikerS]

my penis is bigger than both of yours.

the difference is, I keep it in my pants and let my woman enjoy it, rather than whipping it out and waving it around like you 2.

[hampstor]

Originally posted by nonofyobiz
well I think I sold my soul to the bank again. I made the purchase as long as the financing works out. Should know by tomorrow. I am feeling alot of anxiety right now because I really hate to take out a loan and pay interest. Our family needed a reliable vehicle though.

Lots of good insights in here, so thanks guys.
I'm afraid to say it didn't help me a whole lot. They had it advertised for 20,888 and I only got them down to $19888 +tax+fees with the trade in (my POS wasn't worth much). Having said that I dn't feel like their asking price was high, especially for this model. The only negative about it is the KMs at 135k.

it's funny the game they play with you though....like you're negotiating with the sales manager in his office, but you have to do it with the salesmen. They act like they are the good guy and the manager is the bad guy and they are going to fight for you and all that. Then he comes out of the office with a bunch of payment numbers and like you can pay X amount B/W or if you get this awesome protection package you will pay this amount but really the price hasn't changed.

Anyway, i think it was a long day and my first car buying experience and I think I let him off pretty easy lol

Congrats on closing the deal and I hope the financial piece works out! I recently bought a used car from a dealer too for my wife so I know that "lets confuse him with breaking the total cost down into monthly payments... maybe he wont see thru it." tactic.

I do understand your 'did I leave anything on the table?' concern but hey, the deal is closed and don't dwell on it. It's quite the game - but I'm quite used to sales tactics and negotiating with sales people.

[Type_S1]

Congrats on the purchase. How much are comparable vehicles going for on kijiji?

I personally would never buy a used vehicle from a dealer. Why pay way more (usually 25%+) for a vehicle that is 99% of the time no better than those being sold privately? I also don't like greasy salesman and have no respect for them so calling them on their BS doesn't make you their friend fast.