We are planning on buying a used car soon. Not super urgent, and its a model that is neither rare nor very expensive. In short, we aren't too fussed about missing out on a particular example because there are plenty more out there and we can afford to wait a few weeks.
Does anyone have experience on either side of bargaining close to End of Financial Year?
Is it actually something that puts pressure on dealers to accept lower prices? Or is it more of an advertising gimmick?
The car becomes another year older and will thus bring more maintenance, storage, checks etc costs for the dealer.
It's EOFY, not calendar year, there is zero age difference in the car.
To the OP, it won't make much difference in used cars, but the main thing is be able to take it before the end of month. If you're financing, be ready. If it's cash, be up front about it.
If you're a cash buyer, go there in the last week or 2 of the month, be prepared to buy at a reduced price. Salesman/manager will have targets and yours could be the one that gets them there
Didn't mean it as the year of the car's production…
Meant it as an ageing of the inventory and or asset in the books.
Also means it needs to be carried over into the next period.
Is there a website out there that shows what people have paid for a car, with inclusions etc?
Redbook is pretty awesome!
Champion, will look it up. Just thought it would be a good way to compare dealers and prices etc.
Never rely on End of Financial Year SALE.
You still need to do your home work before shop.
Always shop around and compare prices from all dealer and from private sellers.
Look for one which with low KLM.
Thanks for the good advice. Sounds like we should do all our homework, have the cash ready, and push very hard at the end of the month.
Bingo :) Just be prepared to sign if they will agree to your stupid offer. If you're not prepared to handshake there and then, if they can do it, its a meaningless exercise.
But, if its a week before the end of month, and your offer is just doable, and you can drive it out by the end of the month, you'll get the best deal :)
(I've stated this before but I'm a car salesman, so take it from me that you could help me hit target, and while you won't put much in my pocket directly, indirectly you could make me pretty happy!)
Ah. So if your target is 50K, and you are on 42K, I might get a $20,000 car for $8500? Sounds like a plan.
Targets are generally a numbers thing. So just your 1 sale could help me reach a certain number of cars out the door in that month
Numbers of vehicles (with sub classes).
Also, the commission rates will be different depending on price of the car etc
Think of it like this:
Salesperson will get a commission for each vehicle with the actual $ value depending on many things such as price of the vehicle etc
This means the salesperson will prefer to put more effort into selling a more pricey car if they think you're a serious buyer.
But, he/she will also need to meet a number of sales per period meaning there's also incentive to sell cheaper cars for the numbers.
So as per my suggestion above: you go towards end of the month because your focus is on the numbers aspect (as you said your choice of car isn't pricey).
Both.
For dealers, aim to buy towards the end of the month as they need to meet targets (depending on what type of dealer of course). And most will want to get the deal finalised to meet targets and receive their full commissions.
EOFY is a good time for those getting rid of fleet cars and generally getting rid of stock to reduce time needed for accounting for everything.
Some dealers will see this as an opportunity to not reduce the face value as low as they could go because they know buyers will be more willing to buy at this time.
Go in and prepare to negotiate not only on price but on accessories and so forth.
You have time on your side and as you said the car isn't scarce, it's not like the dealer will be facing a inelastic demand.
I'd recommend letting them know you're serious in obtaining a vehicle (ie: go on in 1.5 to 1 week before the end of the month give them a timeline and your expectations of what is to happen) and then do all the test drives, checks etc. Give them time to offer you a bargain.
They'll know you're a serious buyer and they'll bring out the ammo early.
Things going for you:
1) They need to meet targets and during EOFY the targets will be higher due to competition and an expectation of selling.
2) The car becomes another year older and will thus bring more maintenance, storage, checks etc costs for the dealer.
3) More cars traded in during this time means more supply as well as dealers wanting to keep stock that's beneficial to them.
4) Inelastic demand for vehicles, with so much supply and other substitutes, they can't people will flock in for that one car that you're interested in.
5) If the car if relatively cheap, they will expect a faster and easier sale = another one for their tracker.
Just don't go overboard