Car pricing is down to the level of negotiating skills - salesmen are trained professionals, customers aren't. It's an uneven match that some customers are better at than others.

IMO too many buyers have this concept of a "fair" price but in reality there's no such thing - the salesman wants to deal at the highest price, the customer wants to pay less.

I recently bought an expensive car, list price about £55,000 including a big chunck of options - my p/x was worth £10,500 to WBAC - now some people would have been happy paying the £55k and getting £11k in p/x, net £44k - others would have taken the £5k discount offered by my local dealer and accepted £10k p/x, net £40k - I got an online brokers deal at £45k with £10.5k from WBAC, net £34.5k - others have done better than me, all down to negotation skills.

I would always go the main dealer route, you will pay a small amount extra, but its not that much extra and when thing go wrong you stand more change of get a good out come.

Discount wise you really have to show that you could purchase a local car in the same condition for less.

Cash purchase it not going to help as the dealer will not get any commision on selling you credit.

Assuming you are happy with the test drive and vehicle seems to fit the bill then this is all about successful negotiation.

The process is to avoid talking final price AT ALL until you have found out what the VW price includes....car insurance ( i doubt it ) a years tax?( i doubt it), paint insurance( ??!!) (I doubt it), free service after a year( I doubt it), the silly black bag of car cleaning products which notionally costs another £200 (yes-it's true!). THEN your question would be "what would be the cost to change"...remember that question cannot be answered without sales giving you a notional figure for a part exchange( if you wanted it) -even if you didn't you are getting them to believe you are a serious buyer and forcing them to show their hand !

ALSO-I would get it's number plate and do an MOT history check to identify any advisables. Get all these( if any) into the negotiation too!

Cash deffo helps-by the way--as does doing this today( end of the sales month?)

Let us know how you get on....of course if in any way you feel uncomfy or unhappy-just walk away...several times sales people have rung me a day or so later to ask if I had any further thoughts ( which translated means --"the car is still for sale-and we have identified you as a potential serious customer)

Good response. I do have the option of taking 'advantage' of VW's own finance which comes with a £500 contribution towards the deposit (effectively reducing the price by £500) and a couple of other sweetners thrown in. If I go this route (which also includes 2 free services) I could pay the finance off 1 or 2 months later.

I would ensure that the cam belt is replaced as part of any deal - that's non negotiable for me.