buying at xmas, how to get a good deal?

[liamt]

Hi guys,

im in the market for a new car. went to skoda yesterday but all they would offer was £500 off, which seemed crap for black friday offer on a brand new car.

any tips? usually ive always purchased 2nd hand. how much would you guys expect to get knocked off an 18k car at this time of year? especially one already built and configured?

i thought this time of year i would be able to get a much better bargain than that? are dec and jan good months to buy? obviously if i wait til 2016 i get a newer reg plate

 

[FZR400RRSP]

obviously if i wait til 2016 i get a newer reg plate

To clarify, you do know it's 1st March before 16 plates come out?
Not the turn of the year?
Unless you're desperate to buy now, I'd maybe wait and get a pre-registered 16 plate car at the beginning of March.
Can get loads off with a pre-registered, delivery mileage, car.
You'll be the second owner on the V5, but I've yet to meet anyone who gives a poop about that.
We've saved thousands on our past two cars (Hyundai and Renault) buying pre-registered.

 

[liamt]

To clarify, you do know it's 1st March before 16 plates come out?
Not the turn of the year?
Unless you're desperate to buy now, I'd maybe wait and get a pre-registered 16 plate car at the beginning of March.
Can get loads off with a pre-registered, delivery mileage, car.
You'll be the second owner on the V5, but I've yet to meet anyone who gives a poop about that.
We've saved thousands on our past two cars (Hyundai and Renault) buying pre-registered.

of course i know, well done for passing the test as you can tell, brand new car is something new lol. no, i didnt know

just getting rid of my renault, i think everything electrical that could go, has gone now.

was mainly looking at skoda as they seem to have 0% on everything, unlike pretty much everyone else.

 

[FZR400RRSP]

A dealer would have to be offering me a very good deal to buy a new 65 plate now, when I could get a pre-registered 16 plate in 3 months.
Come resale time, the 16 plate car will be more attractive than the 65 plate one.
But if the deal is enough to make up for that, I'd consider it.
Doesn't sound like your deal is good enough.

 

[liamt]

nope, i think £500 off an 18.5k car is a bit measly. thats a good point you raise about the 16 plate.

im just amazed how crap all the black friday deals appear to be.

 

[FZR400RRSP]

im just amazed how crap all the black friday deals appear to be.

I think too many companies are using the term 'Black Friday' to offer paltry discounts.
Or exactly the same discounts as you'd get any other day.
Not all the deals out there are crap though.

 

[PSM1]

I would not expect to get as much of the list price if they are offering 0% since they need to cover the cost of offering that to you. So that could explain some of the drop. May also be worth going in towards the end of the month/year since they may do a better deal if they need to sell a couple more cars for the next level of bonus/incentive etc.
Also check sites like Drive the Deal and Carwow to see what they offer. Can then take the figure to your dealer to see if they can get close (give them something to aim for).
What sort of discount would you see as reasonable? Maybe be explicit with the dealer on what this figure is to see what they can do i.e. get the cost to change down to x (assume you are trading your old car in) and I will sign today.

 

[liamt]

I think too many companies are using the term 'Black Friday' to offer paltry discounts.
Or exactly the same discounts as you'd get any other day.
Not all the deals out there are crap though.

online i cant even see anyone doing a deal, manufacturer sites anyway.

I would not expect to get as much of the list price if they are offering 0% since they need to cover the cost of offering that to you. So that could explain some of the drop. May also be worth going in towards the end of the month/year since they may do a better deal if they need to sell a couple more cars for the next level of bonus/incentive etc.
Also check sites like Drive the Deal and Carwow to see what they offer. Can then take the figure to your dealer to see if they can get close (give them something to aim for).
What sort of discount would you see as reasonable? Maybe be explicit with the dealer on what this figure is to see what they can do i.e. get the cost to change down to x (assume you are trading your old car in) and I will sign today.

only skoda are offering that. everyone else is 4-8%, yet still bugger all money knocked off.

will check those sites though. failing that will have to go 2nd hand but then could buy something nicer so swings and roundabouts!

 

[FZR400RRSP]

I'm always wary of 0%, as I always figure it means I'll get sod all discount and I'm paying full RRP.
However, 0% and discount aren't unheard of.
A bank loan is only around 3.8% just now, be interesting to see if you'd get any discount for a cash deal.
Then you could work out which option better.

 

[liamt]

I'm always wary of 0%, as I always figure it means I'll get sod all discount and I'm paying full RRP.
However, 0% and discount aren't unheard of.
A bank loan is only around 3.8% just now, be interesting to see if you'd get any discount for a cash deal.
Then you could work out which option better.

yeah, thats another option. i maybe need to go back in and play some hardball when i have more time.

 

[PSM1]

My last skoda I managed a good discount and 0%. So it can be done. I used the drive the deal price to help with getting to figure. I also was a regular to garage as I had a skoda I got serviced there. So I had prior contact and chats with sales guys which may have helped too.

 

[deantown]

I also used DTD and actually got more money-off for taking 2 years O% finance. 'Twas as they say a No-brainer. That was with Volvo, must say it was an easy way to buy a new car.

 

[micloi]

We also got a reasonable discount and 0% on our Skoda last month so it can be done.

 

[liamt]

cheers guys! been studying all the models etc over weekend, need to organise a couple of test drives this week. also need to find what the 2016 models are to see if its worth holding off a bit

 

[Jon Boy]

nope, i think £500 off an 18.5k car is a bit measly. thats a good point you raise about the 16 plate.

im just amazed how crap all the black friday deals appear to be.

Did the price guide show the car at £18500 and they offered it to you for £18000? New car margins aren't as big as everyone seems to think!

Also you wont' get a pre-reg '16' plate for 4 months (early april), dealers commit to a certain amount of new car reg's each month and if they aren't quite there they will pre register some stock cars but this is almost always done at the END of March. These cars usually need to go through prep and valet IF they are on site so April week 2 you normally see them available to buy

 

[liamt]

Did the price guide show the car at £18500 and they offered it to you for £18000? New car margins aren't as big as everyone seems to think!

Also you wont' get a pre-reg '16' plate for 4 months (early april), dealers commit to a certain amount of new car reg's each month and if they aren't quite there they will pre register some stock cars but this is almost always done at the END of March. These cars usually need to go through prep and valet IF they are on site so April week 2 you normally see them available to buy

cheers mate. going to have a test drive today. any bargaining tips? would December usually be a good time to bag a bargain?

 

[1jim]

Best tip....look at dive the deal, orange wheels etc, these are Internet car brokers. Use the published prices as the price to aim for. Carwow is another site where dealers provide their best price. One thing to be wary of, when you go into the dealers to negotiate, don't listen to the guff sprouted by some salesmen, some will try and scare you about the brokers, telling you the car doesn't exist etc...rubbish! To be honest, if you know the car you want, find out the best online price and phone the dealer explain the deal you have been offered and say you will leave a deposit today if they can match or beat it. Some won't be able to, some will. Depending on the car you can get a decent discount and take advantage of any manufacturers finance deals

 

[un1eash]

cheers mate. going to have a test drive today. any bargaining tips? would December usually be a good time to bag a bargain?

There's no definite answer, you may get lucky but all depends on the dealer, sales figures for the month/quarter, how desperate they are to shift units. If your after a new factory order Octavia I believe lead times are still 12 weeks plus.

 

[liamt]

We also got a reasonable discount and 0% on our Skoda last month so it can be done.

where did you get yours from? can you give me the name of the dealer and town?

Best tip....look at dive the deal, orange wheels etc, these are Internet car brokers. Use the published prices as the price to aim for. Carwow is another site where dealers provide their best price. One thing to be wary of, when you go into the dealers to negotiate, don't listen to the guff sprouted by some salesmen, some will try and scare you about the brokers, telling you the car doesn't exist etc...rubbish! To be honest, if you know the car you want, find out the best online price and phone the dealer explain the deal you have been offered and say you will leave a deposit today if they can match or beat it. Some won't be able to, some will. Depending on the car you can get a decent discount and take advantage of any manufacturers finance deals

yeah, been through a couple of those but a couple look new, so will look into them. my idea is to print out the quotes and see if they can match or get close to them.

There's no definite answer, you may get lucky but all depends on the dealer, sales figures for the month/quarter, how desperate they are to shift units. If your after a new factory order Octavia I believe lead times are still 12 weeks plus.

im after a fabia estate, supposed to be plenty about, but i want a few extras on it so that might slow things down.

 

[micloi]

Try carwow to get offers from many official dealers and also negotiate based on those

 

[EndlessWaves]

The discount offered on new cars tends to depend on how old it is and how big a demand it's in. Something like the new Volvo XC90 is a £46k car and you'd be lucky to even get £500 off that, while the outgoing Volvo S80 has a list price of £35k and you can pick one up for £25k.

The Fabia is less than a year old, so I wouldn't have expected significant discounts. Having said that, looking around the discounts are surprisingly large, the biggest one I can see is £3.4k off a £18.7k Skoda Fabia Estate:

SKODA FABIA DIESEL ESTATE 1.4 TDI 105 Monte Carlo 5dr

Although if you compare it with the similar Seat Ibiza Estate that's five years old the discount is £1400 larger.

 

[liamt]

well, thanks for your help guys, managed to bag some extra money off and get what i wanted and should be here before xmas. merry xmas me!

 

[silent ninja]

I negotiated a semi-specced BMW 320d M Sport at £37.5k down to £29k with all the finance contributions they could possibly offer at a dealer. It took a lot of pushing. I still thought that was too much so I tried another dealer and got almost pound for pound same value, so I think they both hit rock bottom. It can be done, but doesn't mean it will be cheap. They are so much nicer when they want you're money. I don't think after service will be as keen!

 

[liamt]

I negotiated a semi-specced BMW 320d M Sport at £37.5k down to £29k with all the finance contributions they could possibly offer at a dealer. It took a lot of pushing. I still thought that was too much so I tried another dealer and got almost pound for pound same value, so I think they both hit rock bottom. It can be done, but doesn't mean it will be cheap. They are so much nicer when they want you're money. I don't think after service will be as keen!

oh yes, this guy was eager to find me the spec i wanted and have it done and dusted ASAP.

beemer m sport eh? bit rich for my blood lol maybe next time when all our debts are cleared!