How to negotiate for a used car?

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  isthisreally_me on 31/08/2014 - 21:44

  Its hard to bargain for a price on a second hand car by pitting two dealers against each other as the cars will almost certainly be different (different kilometres, colour, age, condition, accessories etc.) and this is something the sales people are likely to use in their favour. Do research on the price of said car for age and km travelled and offer a price based on that and see how low the dealer will go. Simply state that's what you feel the car is worth as you see it.

  • 

    hahaboy on 31/08/2014 - 22:27

    Yeh true. Co-incidentally though. Both cars are same model and colour. 1 year model difference, and 10km difference in odometer reading.

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  battler on 31/08/2014 - 21:44

  +2

  2) went into buy a work hack years ago, haggled from whatever it was signed as (perhaps 3500-3999ish) down to 3000 even. Said I'd think about it and walked off.
  Sent in a mate the following day with 2400 in cold hard cash, showed the cash to the salesman, said 'that's all the boss gave me and told me don't come back without a work ute' and secured it.
  Cash is king!

  • 

    hahaboy on 31/08/2014 - 22:24

    Haha, well played. That actually sounds awesome.

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  rambutann on 31/08/2014 - 22:57

  +2

  I found a motorcycle I wanted on carsales through a dealer, walked into the store, knew it was going to be about $3300 with on road costs.. Asked the guy about the motorcycle, he basically just took me to it and I said i'll give you $3000 for it with all on road costs included and a helmet they had in store. He asked if that was a formal offer, i crapped myself and said yes (it was the first ever vehicle i'd purchased), he shook my hand and said its a deal.

  Basically their aim is to get vehicles in and out as quickly as possible.. whats a couple of hundred dollars in comparison to depreciation and stuff.
  I dunno I found it to work for me… maybe give it a go. You need to be willing to walk away if they say no but ye.

  As Battler said cash would probz work too. I just bank transferred them the money.

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  cloudy on 01/09/2014 - 07:55

  Pro tip from watching hardcore pawn, be willing to say no to a price you're not willing to pay. If u can find a seller who is more keen on selling than u are buying the better. If u r brave, try offering a redicously low starting price, around half of what youwwould pay.

  Good luck.

  • 

    hahaboy on 01/09/2014 - 19:52

    Haha, i think i'm alright with bargaining, just wanted more tips for probably the biggest purchase on my tiny life so far.

    Only issue with going too low is they can reject you straight away and tell you not to waste their time. From that point on, bargaining power is completely lost and best to walk away (unless it's still an amazing price).

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  SaberX on 01/09/2014 - 07:59

  Really no point pitting seller against seller, most pplz get annoyed with why are you coming here if you can get it cheaper there. UNless your confident of being smooth enough to work into your speech your "options" elsewhere, otherwise given your questions I assum eyou arent.

  When I got mine it was 16900 and i nearlly got it down to 13,500, i reckon they could've but in the end they went to 14k. 13..9k originally but the chums pulled back once i was signed and insisted 14k or no deal… worked anyhow. THe power of 'missing out' and wasting time can be great. Show your interest with the salesman and spend alot of time with the car, chances are if he's invested alot of time trying to sell it to you, he'll most likely rather accept than have you walk offf.

  DOn't do those silly things of putting say $10k (if it was my car) which is clearly absurd, as you'll just piss them off. Start at something a few hundred off your ideal. say for my car being 16.9k I'm sure it's worth 12-14k max, so my aim was 12k, 13k originally, once they ruled out the more absurd 12k'ish price i went for low 13's. at least then you end up nearer to 14k than back about 15k if you don't go low enough (which is what they were offering me prev).

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  RockyRaccoon on 01/09/2014 - 08:40

  +1

  1. Check the online price guides - eg car Sales for the car you are looking at.

  2. Do not tell them at this stage you have another car at another dealer that's about the same. All this tells them is you want THAT car! Bad negotiating to give your ace away.

  3. Rather than give the game away, look at other cars on the dealers lot. As others said, talking about the one car tells them that's the car you really want.

  By looking at another car, lets say it's $15K when the one you want is $14K you then start negotiations on the $15K car, offering say $12K. The battle begins. Remember you arent going to buy that car. This hard negotiation starts to give you an idea of how much they are willing to give on a car.

  1. Then switch to - what about that car then - the $14K listed, what would you give on that?

  2. Now when you are getting close to a deal, you might want to mention the other car you saw. Ideally if you had a partner there, they can assist, like "But Hahaboy, remember there was one of those at the other place for $13K, if you are now looking at that car, maybe you should go and compare them"

  The key to remember is that they know you want the car, otherwise why would you be negotiating. So when you put doubt in their mind of which car you want, then they arent so sure and they have to price the car to get you to buy.

  Also remember these are the "professionals" they deal in cars for a living, if they werent good negotiators they wont stay selling for long. so unless you get a newbie without experience you arent going to come out on top. And sometimes the deal they are offering doesnt feel that good. Now you have to decide to pay up or forget it.

  Being prepared to walk from something if it doesnt match what you want to pay is hard.

  The game is to get the best deal for you, not the best deal period.

  • 

    hahaboy on 01/09/2014 - 19:55

    Thanks. Great advice.

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  slow on 01/09/2014 - 09:11

  +1

  I just bought a second hand car. I found the best thing is to have your money ready and make sure they understand you are ready to buy if the price is right and that you have other cars you are going to look at as well, and probably won't end up coming back. Make a reasonable offer, and be prepared to walk away.

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  Cave Fire on 01/09/2014 - 11:02

  +1

  For dealers, look at possibly going in at the end of the month or quarter, when the salespeople are trying to make their sales targets. Try to gauge wheter salesperson is new or experienced. If the car is already in lower price bracket, there may not be much room for price movement. I say use the fact that the car is cheaper elsewhere, as dealers have to be competitive. Have some sort of proof of this. You have much more room to negotiate in a private sale, but need to be a little more thorough in checking out the car. I guess everyone knows the trick of finding faults with the vehicle and trying to get this off the price, so this is something I'd avoid personally. Can I ask what car are you looking at getting & approx price?

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  shadowarrior on 01/09/2014 - 11:56

  +1

  Take your dad along with you when you are making the purchase.

  Buyer: "How much?"
  Seller: "$10,000"
  Buyer's Dad: (audibly) "Tell him he's dreaming!"
  Seller: "$5000"
  Buyer's Dad: (audibly) "Tell him he's dreaming!"
  Seller: "$3000"
  Buyer's Dad: (audibly) "Tell him he's dreaming!"
  Seller: "$1000"
  Buyer's Dad: (audibly) "Ask him to throw in a year's rego along with the RWC, and there better be full tank of fuel"
  Buyer: "Done"

  ---

  On a serious note, the key to succeeding 'ANY' negotiation is to know your BATNA. Best Alternative to No Agreement. If you can jot down and have a clear indication to what your alternative is in case your negotiation fails, you are more likely to succeed in throwing the negotiation in a more sensible direction.

  If you already have a car, have a source for another car (call it car B), then you don't have to bow down and listen to all their terms when negotiating for car A. But if car A is your only source of getting the car you want near the price you are willing to pay, then you are at the mercy of car A's seller.

  If the seller realizes, that if he can't win over your BATNA (He doesn't need to know your alternative solution, but if YOU know what your alternative is, your body language will show that and give the opposite party indications even without you telling him anything), he doesn't have a sale, he will try and work out a deal which is a Win-Win for both of you. If he realizes you don't have any alternative, (again, your body language gives that away unknowingly) he will be hard to budge from his offer.

  I have always used this key tool to negotiate any purchase and even in my professional career.

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  Shadow54 on 01/09/2014 - 18:27

  +1

  Turn up with cash for the maximum you want to pay. Offer 10 percent less than your maximum. Be sure to let the seller know you have cash and want to close the deal. Most times the seller will take the offer (unless insultingly ridiculous, in which case the seller may become angry with you!) If you have to bargain a little to satisfy the seller, then offer the extra 10 percent you have in reserve and make a bit of a show about how hard it is for you.
  If the seller says no, walk away. There's another deal around the corner. Remember there are 10s of 1000s of used cars for sale in Oz!

• 

  mousie on 02/09/2014 - 08:15

  Be mindful that a car of that age, purchased with a dealer, can be pretty much be taken 'as is'.

  http://www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/ftw/Consumers/Motor_vehicl…

  Negotiation is part science and all art. A good sales person is professionally trained to handle objections, so if your only objection is due to price, then they'll identify this quickly

  My strategy is to advise the dealer that I need a car 'in two weeks', irrespective of when you actually need the car. It sets the scene where the dealer knows that you will be buying a car, not a tyre kicker and are 'open to offers' but not stuck on the one vehicle or dealership, and to win your business that day, it'd better be a good deal.