Richard Yarrow’s opinion for www.startrescue.co.uk, providing low cost Car Breakdown.
Spent yesterday in the company of some car dealers. Not everyone’s idea of fun, I freely admit, but the ‘fun’ element for me was that they didn’t know I was a journalist. I was touring showrooms posing as a punter to see what sort of deals are around at the moment. There’s something quite satisfying about talking large sums of money that you’ve got no chance of spending. “Only £2,000 for the premium audio upgrade? Why, what excellent value. I’ll take it!”
More seriously, and without giving the whole game away – you need to keep an eye on future issues of Auto Express magazine for that – there’s good deals to be had on new cars. The manufacturers and their franchised dealers are acutely aware of the financial uncertainty that’s affecting the country, and understand many drivers will delay making a purchase if the current runabout will last. The range of available offers is designed to change your mind.
If you visit a dealership at the moment and pay full price you want your head looking at. There’s money off everything… and I mean everything. I know not everyone is comfortable with haggling, but simply saying the sentence “Is that your best price or can I get a discount?” is enough to have most sales staff reaching for the calculator. Even after a £3,000 saving had been applied to one car I was supposedly interested in, another £400 suddenly disappeared off the bottom line when I suggested I might be able to do the deal that day. Amazing.
A bit of searching can even lead to impressive savings without haggling. A car I was looking at, with just 740 miles on the clock, was on offer for £11,000 instead of £14,000 simply because it was a 60-reg rather than an 11-reg.
If you’re in the market for a new car, it’s a great time to buy.
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