What are you buying?

 

Watch an episode of wheeler dealers Mike Brewer is you man there!!!

 

Hopefully an anniversary, going looking at one tomorrow. Ah i seen that programme before the man has a talent!

I just seem to give up to easily for some reason

If a car is in for 10ish and is mint with no problems what kind of money should i start offering? I know it should be ten but everyone has to try haggle a little first?

Cheers,
Shaun

 

Set yourself a limit and stick to it, dont be afraid to walk away. Know your market and dont listen to bullsh*tting salesmen. All salesmen are liars. The best slaesmen are the biggest liars.
I walked away from a good deal last week, but I reckon he will drop another 2k. If he doesnt he may be stuck with it for a while, if it sells in the meantime I wont lose any sleep.

 

QUOTE (Red Diesel @ Jun 8 2009, 01:38 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Set yourself a limit and stick to it, dont be afraid to walk away. Know your market and dont listen to bullsh*tting salesmen. All salesmen are liars. The best slaesmen are the biggest liars.
I walked away from a good deal last week, but I reckon he will drop another 2k. If he doesnt he may be stuck with it for a while, if it sells in the meantime I wont lose any sleep.

Thats it to, its not the only one in the world. Ideally i would like to pay 500 less than asking because thats what one in and cleared from the UK would cost, at a push i could probably get an ok condition one for 1.5k i would just feel a bit cheeky offering that kind of money though??

 

When i was buying the leon i went in 500 over the cost of one in the uk + vrt. Where would that leave the anni?

 

^That would be a good guide cos it would cover the cost of ferry and petrol too.

 

bring a friend who knows a bit about cars say he's a mechanic
bring cash
point out every fault you can regardless of how minor
and depending how brave you are, if a car is for sale at 5K start at 3

 

QUOTE (TGi @ Jun 8 2009, 02:16 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>bring a friend who knows a bit about cars say he's a mechanic
bring cash
point out every fault you can regardless of how minor
and depending how brave you are, if a car is for sale at 5K start at 3

Ha ha good idea tom, bringing a good mate who knows mk4 tdi's inside out, properly knows what's what on them.

That above prices I gave were including the plane boat etc based on what it cost me for my last car, adding €500 to it will still leave it a little more than importing. I understand as it's a numbered limited run car it will demand a premium, I
not aiming to get the car for nothing but it would be nice to save a few quid

 

QUOTE (Shaun @ Jun 8 2009, 02:29 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Ha ha good idea tom, bringing a good mate who knows mk4 tdi's inside out, properly knows what's what on them.

That above prices I gave were including the plane boat etc based on what it cost me for my last car, adding €500 to it will still leave it more than importing. I understand as it's a numbered limited run car it will demand a premium, I
not aiming to get the car for nothing but it would be nice to save a few quid

didnt see the part when you said its a anni (have now) but its the seller is desperate for cash the price can be adjusted in your favour

 

Play hardball with your conversation (and therefore what you'll be paying from the off), dont 'swoon' or appear too interested in the car, and obviously start the negotiations 'on the low side'.... if he gets all 'frosty' or the conversation becomes a bit laboured, dont feel you need to 'break the silence', if the conversation 'lulls' or becomes filled with long pauses as you both 'cross swords'.... car sales men know all the tricks; if the negotiations are going badly from his point of view, he'll make up some exuse about having to make a phonecall or something and scuttle off to leave you with no-one to talk to, and the stew, and he hopes in that space of time (10-20mins usually as he doesnt want to let you off the hook), you'd have had 'a rethink' or cooled down, and then see things from his point of view; its an old trick, and dont fall for it; stay firm in your approach your entire time there....

 

I would offer him 8 grand if he is looking 10 grand, and walk away if he didn't accept it, give him your phone number and tell him if he don't get any better offers to give you a buzz if he interested, go to 8500 euro on the spot if he wants to haggle for a quick sale.. if he don't go for it, leave... I find showing a seller a big bundle of cash helps strike a deal...

I would also bring someone to check the car out too, make sure its sound before any offers.....

 

QUOTE (kenneally_mark @ Jun 8 2009, 01:33 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Watch an episode of wheeler dealers Mike Brewer is you man there!!!

Mike Brewer is a c0ck!

Gary is spot on with his approach.

 

QUOTE (babyface @ Jun 8 2009, 04:01 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>I would offer him 8 grand if he is looking 10 grand, and walk away if he didn't accept it, give him your phone number and tell him if he don't get any better offers to give you a buzz if he interested, go to 8500 euro on the spot if he wants to haggle for a quick sale.. if he don't go for it, leave... I find showing a seller a big bundle of cash helps strike a deal...

What the hell man, you just throwing arbitrary numbers around?
My method of negotiation (buying and selling) is similar to other posters, research the car, find faults and compare to its peers. So if you can get one landed from the UK for 2k cheaper, than by all means attempt to get them to match it. If it has a rattle, scrape you werent told about etc, deduct X amount. If the tax is up, try to get a full years Tax on it (or the amount off as cash). Be reasonable and realistic.

I do not however as a buyer (or entertain from as the seller) chancers that pick random numbers out the sky cos they feel, "in principle", they need to get 10,20,30% off. Afaik, Golfs are still one of the easier cars to sell, so you would want to be careful about appearing as some timewaster with little commitment to actually making the purchase.

 

i do alot of it for work (construction project management) and the latest one i was delighted with was last week i was hagglin over pain bricks, like the cobblelock for drives, he started of 15.50 or so a square metre. we threw a couple of figures around and with a bit of gentle persuasion had him down to "his rock bottom" of 14.20. then i just turned to him and said i'll give you 13. he wasn't happy but we dealt at that.

thats the best way to do it imo. if he says 10. don't say i'll give you 9 straight off. just act like your afraid of haggling or don't really know what your doing and ask him to deal. he'll knock a few hundred off straight away and then with a bit of "agh go" on you'll get another bit. then just be bold and what ever his "bottom price" is just ask for 500 hundred or a thousand less and hold out your hand. alot of people make their lives too easy. don't forget to say "obviously that includes a full tank" but wait till after the deal to say that.

at the end of the day they can only say no.

 

QUOTE (lupus @ Jun 8 2009, 04:09 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>What the hell man, you just throwing arbitrary numbers around?
My method of negotiation (buying and selling) is similar to other posters, research the car, find faults and compare to its peers. So if you can get one landed from the UK for 2k cheaper, than by all means attempt to get them to match it. If it has a rattle, scrape you werent told about etc, deduct X amount. If the tax is up, try to get a full years Tax on it (or the amount off as cash). Be reasonable and realistic.

I do not however as a buyer (or entertain from as the seller) chancers that pick random numbers out the sky cos they feel, "in principle", they need to get 10,20,30% off. Afaik, Golfs are still one of the easier cars to sell, so you would want to be careful about appearing as some timewaster with little commitment to actually making the purchase.

To tell you the truth I would probably offer him 7grand to start with, thats how its working these days, I have seen guys look at cars for up to 20 grand, and offer just over half of the asking, and some got serious deals, one guy I know got an 04 320 BMW for 12 grand, and he was after offering 15grand months before for the same car off the same seller (a stealer) the stealer actualy phoned him and offered the car at something like 16 grand but took 12grand after a little haggling..... There are thousands of good second hand cars both here and the UK, if one guy won't deal, someone else will...

I guarantee, if you ask that guy whats his best price, he will say 9grand, and 8 grand aint far from 9 grand when you want ridd of it, is it? I would get that car for a max of 8500 euro, probably cheaper, if not that one, another one just like it..

 

as above! dont be afraid to walk away! when my sister and i went to look at an a3 in longford the guys girlfriend was after taking the car to collage in dublin that morning. he had an older one there which she didnt like and there was nothing else she liked in the yard! we told him we were going to look at another one out the road and we couldnt wait around for the girlfriend to come back. we were only left about 10 mins when he rang and said he would load the car up on the lorry and drive it down to us to look at later that night. a nice spin down to laois on a lorry and no promise we were going to buy!! they will do anything for a sale. dont let them think for a second that you really want the car as they will stick it out esp for the likes of an anni that are rare. offer him what you think is a decent price and dont budge off it in the office even if you are willing to give a bit more! i did this when buying the leon and i got 2grand off what he was asking for it! walk away if he wont bargin! he will ring you back and deal!! a small profit is better to him than a car sitting in the yard!!

 

Another trick if its a dealer is to find a cheap car (don't buy it but find out what you can get it for) something a friend has lying up and want rid of, you might even get it for nowt, and then use it as a trade in, most stealers will give you a grand off the asking for any sort of banger... Offer him 8grand with the trade in or 8.5 grand cash.. guarrantee you would drive away in the car....

Cash will get you a major discount on anything these days.....

 

If it's a dealer they will have pushed the price up by thousands when they got it in. Split your cash into 2 different envelopes. Say you have only got x amount of cash and show him that. Not a penny more. If he says no, give him your number and tell him to call you and walk away. He will ring you within a day to do a proper deal. Works everytime.

 

pretty much everything has been mentioned..

don't forget if you've a "mechanic" with you that you point out everything thats wrong no matter how slight and an exaggerated cost to fix it.

These days a car is only worth what someone is willing to pay and cash is king!

 

When I bought my car in the UK, it was from a garage, the sales man was looking for £5,250 I said to him "lets save the hassle of haggling, you have allowed min 10% to shift in price from your advertised price, that brings it to lets say £4,700. Obviously in Ireland I wont need the warranty (he was offering 6 months) we'll call that £500. That's £4,200, then I'm going to say ill give you £3,800, you'll say £4,200, it will go back and forward a bit and we'll end up splitting the difference. So how about I just offer you £4,000 now. He hummed a bit and said yeah your right. £4k it is." I was happy with that price and it saved all the crap.

 

if you are going to the uk make sure you close to a deal before hand as if not the dealer will have a fair idea that you have travelled a good distance and that you are keen so will be less inclined to haggle, tell him you are looking at a few cars not just his

 

QUOTE (DaveQ @ Jun 8 2009, 08:37 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>When I bought my car in the UK, it was from a garage, the sales man was looking for £5,250 I said to him "lets save the hassle of haggling, you have allowed min 10% to shift in price from your advertised price, that brings it to lets say £4,700. Obviously in Ireland I wont need the warranty (he was offering 6 months) we'll call that £500. That's £4,200, then I'm going to say ill give you £3,800, you'll say £4,200, it will go back and forward a bit and we'll end up splitting the difference. So how about I just offer you £4,000 now. He hummed a bit and said yeah your right. £4k it is." I was happy with that price and it saved all the crap.

That sounds like a great way of doing it with a dealer, I may just try it

 

Ok went to look at the car today, it was clean, my car i sold was in far far better condition if I'm honest, mechanically it seemed sound, interior was mint but the exterior let me down over a few things:

Drivers door had a car park ding (With paint damage)
Passenger wing mirror casing was cracked, it has the anni stubby mirrors which i expect may be pricey?
The very tip of the drivers side wing was painted,(beside the headlight) not a great job but only a small area, wasn't finished to a great standard.
Passenger side wing, a small bit of paint had discoloured if that's the word I'm looking for?
Car was tracked, drove in a straight line but the steering wheel was at eleven o clock?
Front valance had a scrap about 4 inches long.
Rear bumper had a tip, had hairline/spiderweb cracks in the paint below the lacquer
Few small dings about the car.

When accelerating it pulled well gear change was smooth, very tight car, BUT there was a strange sound between 2-2.8k when accelerating hard, didn't affect the performance though? there was no oil or water in the bay bearings and sus seemed sound, really gave the car a serious going over (45mins) Between myself and my mech.

Bar the body work, steering wheel and the funny sound it was a straight car?

I can have it for 9k, FSH, TB @85k, last service at 97k it now has 100k, 14months NCT, 2 months tax.

I know a panel beater who can sort the bodywork for F.a but i still dont know?

Genuine opinions please, I dont know weather to walk or take it or not, It is after all nearly 8 years old and is over all in very good order?

Thanks for the help,
Shaun

 

I would offer him 8grand and give him a few days to decide and see if he comes back to you? It is an 8yr old car with 100k and damage.. If he don't get back to you, go look for another, sure if you have cash to spend you will pick up a bargain, maybe an early mk5 gti (3-4yr old) for similar money? I wouldn't rush into buying anything, and if your man said 9grand he must want it shifted, I reckon with the mileage and damage its only worth 8grand at most, don't forget nobody is buying cars these days, you were probably the only chap to enquire about it.....

Tell him that after considering the damage, mileage, and that the sound maybe something serious like the turbo, so taking all that into account you reckon 8grand is a good price.. If he don't take it, leave him with it.. if he don't sell it in a few weeks he will get back to you.....