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If it is what you want and the lowest equivalent price,just try for a freebie, full tank of fuel, or 2 new tyres etc...
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My experience:
Be pleasant and friendly.. makes the salesman feel more inclined towards helping you.
Research thoroughly the make/model/problem areas before you go anywhere. You need to know more than the salesman.
Check competeitive pricing near the vendor.. and keep copies of ads to prove your point if needed.
My negotiation start is something like this:
"I like your car/van and would be interested in buying it but:
xyz is wrong and needs to be sorted and will costs me...
and I can only afford £zzzz and I would really like new car mats/whatever.. NOT New tyres- as above you will get cheap ditschfinders if they give you new tyres..
And if you can't agree a deal leave your address and mobile number so they can get in touch and walk away..
That way it can be civilised and it tends to work...
Edited by madf on 18/12/2017 at 09:24
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Essentially any car sale is a desperation contest, the winner being the less desperate contestant. If you are more desperate to buy than he is to sell, few concessions will be available. From what I have heard on here, (decent) vans are in demand, so you may not be able to haggle very far.
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From what I have heard on here, (decent) vans are in demand, so you may not be able to haggle very far.
Thats a good point, i wonder if thethe better vans prior to DPFs are sought after and likely to be kept as long as possible, just like decent cars and 4x4's are from the golden years before it all got a bit silly.
I suspect London area to be a good hunting ground because legislation and massive taxation/fines are forcing van owners into new vehicles.
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As someone who has always been absolutely rubbish at haggling, and whose tunnel-visioned, specific-model-obsessed approach to car buying is a dream come true for ripoff car salespersons, I feel less than qualified to give any advice.
However, I have learned a few things. One, (as madf says), remain civilised and adopt a pleasant air. There's little to be gained by making an enemy of the salesman from the word Go. If you stick to a budget rigidly and if you ARE prepared to walk away rather than pay over the odds, you may wait a bit longer for what you want but you're far less likely to get ripped off. Make a list of the potential faults you need to check on the model you're seeking out, and be sure to ask the salesman whether the vehicle has been subject to any of those issues.
Another excellent bit of advice that I've never taken myself is to bring along a friend or acquaintance who is in the trade, if you have one, or at least someone experienced in haggling.
I'm sure an experienced salesman can tell when someone is so desperate for a particular vehicle that they'll happily pay the full asking price. They always managed to suss me out, that's for sure.
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Thanks for all those helpful suggestions!.
After applying for a loan at 3.4%, i did get accepted, but not at 3.4%, at 11.6%!. So the notion of going for one of the local vans at £5995 + vat has fallen by the wayside. I am now focussing on the VW caddy sdi i mentioned (ex British gas at £4995 and no vat), at a place called Eden commercials in Appleby-in-westmorland. The dealer reviews on autotrader are very positive indeed (All 16 give them 5 out of 5) and give me some comfort at the thought of buying unseen. Just been on the phone to the salesman, explained that viewing the van is not practical for me, so he is away to take a heap of close up photo's of any scratches or any other issues he thinks i should see. He said that they themselves would much rather i saw the van in the flesh, but understood my predicament. So i should get these photos emailed to me before lunchtime, then i will get back on the phone to see what sort of a deal i can get. Even if they throw in the delivery cost (about £160 to Aberdeen), that is something. But the van will be sold with 12 months mot, a fresh service and will be subject to an 82 point RAC inspection. So although i'd obviously much rather see it in person, i'm reasonably confident the van will be fine, and as described.
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Thanks for all those helpful suggestions!.
Sounds as though you have located a non-rogue trader, so stick with them. My unfounded gut feeling is that they may be a good bet in a back-of-the-woods place like Appleby.
You don't say whether you are part-ex'ing - if you are, then you are selling each other a vehicle, with all that implies. If you are 'cash in hand' the screen price may be a moveable target.
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Sounds as though you have located a non-rogue trader, so stick with them. My unfounded gut feeling is that they may be a good bet in a back-of-the-woods place like Appleby.
I agree with that, a specialist van seller in such a remote part who took his customers for a ride wouldn't normally last long, however i'd still be on the train or asking around for a lift down with a commuter or lorry driver passing by and give them a drink for the trouble, so you get to see the van is all good before paying, and nothing like a good long run home to show any possible problems up.
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A major problem with buying at a distance is that if you do find anything wrong, then the seller can insist you return it for them to sort out. Unless they agree to problems being sorted locally to you.
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A major problem with buying at a distance is that if you do find anything wrong, then the seller can insist you return it for them to sort out. Unless they agree to problems being sorted locally to you.
Yes, that was something that discouraged me earlier this year when I found a really nice 11 plate Focus at a main dealer in the Manchester area and made an enquiry by email. The salesman offered me (conditional to viewing my car, of course) an excellent part ex on my 07 plate Focus and when I said it was too far away, he offered to move it closer to my location, even agreeing to adjust the price downwards to sweeten the pill.
Concerned that I'd end up driving to Manchester if any problems arose I pulled out of the deal after a fairly lengthy exchange of emails. However, I felt guilty afterwards because it struck me that the salesman had done everything he could to make a deal possible and that my cold feet reaction was a bit unfair on him.
Then again, maybe he was a bit TOO keen to make the deal, who knows.
Edited by argybargy on 18/12/2017 at 13:27
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"A major problem with buying at a distance is that if you do find anything wrong, then the seller can insist you return it for them to sort out. Unless they agree to problems being sorted locally to you."
That's good advice but sometimes you just have to take a punt.
I bought my current car (04 x type 2.0d, 132k miles, £2700) coming up for 5 years ago from an independendent dealer in W Mids. (Still going, I see from current adverts). I travelled by train to get it (from extreme west Wales) and the signs, tbh, were not good. A car lot on an industrial estate, etc. It was during a snow blizzard, and my pre-purchase checks (despite my pre-planned intentions) were limited to checking that all four doors were present.
I bought it, drove it away to fill up with fuel for the 200 mile drive home, and my heart sank when an orange light appeared on the display. (Turned out to be a 'low outside temperature' warning).
Coming up to 5 years and 45k miles later, I have no complaints. It's needed stuff done (like any car) and my trusted indy has sorted it as necessary. I haven't calculated total costs, but they certainly have been acceptable - and when I look at the HJ entries for the XF (e.g.) which is a car I once fancied, I think I got a bargain.
I took a punt on this, and it worked out OK. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't. Sods law will dictate that it goes wrong when you can least afford to lose the money (been there as well!).
Good luck.
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As JG, i spotted SWMBO H6 Outback on ebay around March some 4 years ago, few seemed interested, it was in Bury Lancs much too far to go and look at prior, so i bought it unseen via auction for the princely sum of £1070 with a long MOT, fitted with a brand new set of aftermarket alloy wheels and new winter tyres and the original set of quite scabby alloys and worn out tyres sitting in the boot.
Travelled up by train, chap met me at the station in his summer car, brand new E63 Merc so not short of a few bob, and i saw the car with stone cold engine, had a quick look round engine fired up first beat, all seemed genuine as did the seller, didn't bother with a test drive and set off home the 150 odd miles, and the car purred along.
I serviced it properly and thoroughly when i got home, new brakes all round (since partly replaced again due i am sure to the VDC input on the rear brakes keeping the car stable in all conditions), and it needed new inner drive shafst boots cos they sit over the Cat's and perish, doddle of a DIY job.
4 years later it hasn't missed a beat, it goes like the clappers, we put LPG on it within 3 months of purchase which it runs well and cheaply on, and i had a stainless exhaust custom made and fitted last year because the OE system for the model in question isn't available aftermarket and OE costs near enough as much as we paid for the car.
It's looking a bit battered but SWM refuses to let me get it panted because its her dog carrier and will get more scrapes, i did put a bid on a very low mileage 2005 Outback last week located down in Surrey, but failed to buy it, though SWM is quite happy to carry on with this one till it falls apart because it does everything she wants and she doesn't have to worry about it getting damaged or filthy from 3 muddy/wet dogs...and she's chuffed she didn't swap because this very morn she scraped the same front bumper corner on the same wall she did 2 years ago at the dog groomers.
The replacement Landcruiser i bought last year was relatively local at 75 miles away, that was considerably more expensive but again hasn't given a moments cause for concern, that had been traded in for a new motorhome and was being sold by the motorhome dealer, i bought that within about 2 hours of the ad going live, you have to be quick with these because cared for ones with good history are rare indeed.
I'd like to be able to buy locally, but where JG and BBD have supply problems because they live at the far ends of the country, my problem is i want specific and relatively unusual vehicles.
Edited by gordonbennet on 18/12/2017 at 16:04
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, didn't bother with a test drive and set off home the 150 odd miles,
Not recommended.
Always test drive it. For example, It may have weird vibrations when doing more than 40 mph
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Here goes.
My last two Toyota 4x4's were sold without test drives, and the one that sold for £15k was in my bank before the chap ever laid eyes on it, both cars simple easy negotiaions, i asked a price, the buyer counter offered and we met in the middle.
Sometimes a ten minute chat with another person, preferably face to face but even on the phone will do, is enough for each of the parties to be comfortable taking the word of the other party as good.
No politicians of any hue were involved in either of these deals..:-)
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