Looking at getting a new car and want to know whats a reasonable offer i should make below drive away without looking stupid.
How Much under Drive Away Price Should I Offer?
Lmuchape on 27/11/2014 - 03:59
Comments
I was all for the jazz at drive away $16990 but i had a look at the swift today and really like it at $15290 drive away its a big difference.
Mark up is small on light cars like those you mentioned, so you probably can't get massive discounts unless you get an end of model clearance.
I got a Mazda2 in September for 14,500 driveaway.
And how much was the initial price offered to you? That might give a good idea of how much you can bargain for.
@equavate: A demonstrator was listed at 15,990 and I got a brand new one for 14,500, so about $1500 or about 10% off
If you are looking into the smaller car category, i always recommend my friends/family to look at second hand cars.
For the price you are paying, you could get a car that has much higher R&D costs = value (probably a good indicator of better safety too). I estimate second hand cars from the $17k mark could have easily RRP $40k-$90k when they were sold brand new.
Take, for example, a lexus es300 (9-12yr old car) was worth $90k brand new back then! It now can be got for $18k-$25k. Lexus quality (they thew in the whole works - leather, seat heating, satnav, sunroof, rain sensing wipers, wood grain interior deco) and thad oyota reliability.
Of course, this choice of second hand cars has its comprises, but it is up to you to balance it with your needs and requirements. Remeber it is always best for the future to get best fit at good price and not worst fit at bargain. One ends up being rubbish, another ends up being gold.
Moral of the story, II you look hard enough, you can alway find a gem or two (that is better built - safety and design wise, than a brand new small car) in the second hand car market.
Not sure about whether a 9-12 year old car is safer than a new car. Things like ESC/traction control have become mandatory in the last few years and make new cars much safer than cars without these features.
@juicedpixels: esc and tranction control comes standard in the expensive cars usually.
Dont forget other passive safety. Just take a look at european old crash test compared to new cheap cars.
You can tell me which is safer after you have a look.
I extensively researched pricing for my last new car and finally arrived at a price I would be happy to pay.
The very first dealer I went to offered me better than my figure straight off, including $2k of accessories :-).
I visited a couple of other dealers and they could not come close to my offer so I grabbed it.Sometimes you wont get $1 off, sometimes you can name your own price, it is all variable.
You have to do your homework.
Effort = reward.Find the biggest dealer of the car brand you are looking at in your state. Tell them you are ready to put $500 down straight away if they give the right price. If you can get 15% - 20% off (for non luxury car) you got lucky! Make sure you know what accessiries you want as that gives the dealer more room to add "discounts". If you really want to drive a hard bargain (if you manage to get 15% to 20%), confirm the price via email and get a local dealer to knock off an easy $200-$500.
Be knowledgeable and research about the cars in your category - the more you know, the better you can arm strong the dealer, especially for luxury cars. If you are looking at lexus, tell them you are going to look at merecedes after and purchase from them.
Convince them that you are going to put $$$ down today and you know the price you want and they should attempt to give close to bottom price.
Another thing to look at is the timing of purchase. I.e. Towards the end of the month, end of year, or end of financial year will push the sales team to possibly sell at a lost Just to reach number of sold cars goal. They are incentivised by brand company to sell volume. 1-5 cars sold at lost or cost ($2k - $15k) just before that end of month/year/financial year could mean a difference of $10k-$100k bonus for the car dealer.Thanks for the advice i was looking at the ens of this month but might wait till the end of next to see if i can get a better deal.
First of all gawky is correct and I find buying at the end of the month often gets me faster results
I tend to always get AT LEAST 10% off. Have been doing so since my first car back in 1991. Basically the main thing is - you're never in a hurry to buy. You're just looking because your car is getting old. You happen to have a spare (cost of car minus 10-15%) and thought you'd pop in and browse to see if now is the right time.
Set your personal goal of the car price minus 10% AND NOT A CENT MORE. Obviously start at 15% or higher with the dealer. Be persistent. You might get fake laughs like "You're kidding". Make sure you show them you're willing to spend at YOUR price. Tell them you don't want the back and forth crap while the sales guy speaks to his manager 50 times during the deal, you have $X dollars and you're willing to buy today at that price.
Look, this process takes 2 hours to 6 MONTHS. I'm never in a hurry. Some sales people I break within 2 hours (and usually feel like I can still do better). On my wife's Honda Accord Euro (first model in Australia) after dealing with different smug salesman for 6 months who believed they didn't have to discount as the car was new and selling anyway (yes we were told this), we kept at it and at one stage complained about smug attitude from one of the salesman (worst attitude I'd EVER come across) to the owner who had two dealerships.
Net result. Owner gave price we wanted with a few extra accessories, DROVE to our place to get the paperwork signed and DELIVERED the car to our door step.
Be persistent works for me.
Nice i was looking at the jazz but since coming away the sales guy has called me 5 times in 2 days i will wait till the end of next month and see what deal i can get.
10% off is always doable, it is the 15%-20% + free acessiories that is tougher to negotiate. It can be done if you have patience and money to say yes now as Ramrunner emphasised.
Keep in mind that you should make sure to go to multiple honda dealers (try to find one which sells the most cars per month), some have passed their sales target/goal and are set for the month, some have not and are desparate to reach it.
Also, look into reviews, they are good indicators of the type of after sales service. Some dealers take car of their customers, some do not give a damn. Get the dealer that cares to price match the best price you got (only if you think they are located not too far from you for when you service your car).
P.s. You might want to negotiate fixed price servicing.
Depends greatly on the make and model - what are you buying?
Use carsales.com.au to find a demonstrator of the same model which will give you an idea of how much to offer.
Be firm but nice about saying no to extras like paint protection which is where the dealer makes most of their money.