Volvo Community Forum. The Forums of the Volvo Owners Club

Forum Rules Volvo Owners Club About VOC Volvo Gallery Links Volvo History Volvo Press
Go Back   Volvo Owners Club Forum > "General Topics" > General Volvo and Motoring Discussions

Notices

General Volvo and Motoring Discussions This forum is for messages of a general nature about Volvos that are not covered by other forums and other motoring related matters of interest. Users will need to register to post/reply.

Information
  • VOC Members: There is no login facility using your VOC membership number or the details from page 3 of the club magazine. You need to register in the normal way
  • AOL Customers: Make sure you check the 'Remember me' check box otherwise the AOL system may log you out during the session. This is a known issue with AOL.
  • AOL, Yahoo and Plus.net users. Forum owners such as us are finding that AOL, Yahoo and Plus.net are blocking a lot of email generated from forums. This may mean your registration activation and other emails will not get to you, or they may appear in your spam mailbox

Thread Informations

Has online car sales killed haggling ?

Views : 2594

Replies : 41

Users Viewing This Thread :  

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old Sep 13th, 2020, 00:21   #1
swil00
Member
 

Last Online: Mar 16th, 2024 23:50
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Glasgow
Default Has online car sales killed haggling ?

I've not been near a car dealership for a long time now.

Recently, I've been looking at a few 3 year old S90 and V90's, but nobody seems to be willing to move on price, main dealers and other used car places.

Has the art of haggling been killed off by the likes of carwow and other online companies ?

I'm aware that dealers are keen to sell finance, but one dealer told me the screen price is the best that can be done and the only movement would be with trade in.
swil00 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old Sep 13th, 2020, 08:49   #2
Harvey1512
Premier Member
 
Harvey1512's Avatar
 

Last Online: Jan 30th, 2021 13:00
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Northumberland
Default

I can only hope so. I hate haggling, are you really sure you are getting the best price or is the dealer playing you still? Having a fixed price means you are more likely to be getting the correct price straight away rather than an artificially high price that then gets knocked down accordingly.

Haggling has disappeared in most areas, car sales is just catching up to modern times.
__________________
I used to have an S40, V60 and XC60 so I am allowed here, honest.
Harvey1512 is offline   Reply With Quote
The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Harvey1512 For This Useful Post:
Old Sep 13th, 2020, 08:58   #3
Zebster
Upstanding Member
 
Zebster's Avatar
 

Last Online: Sep 12th, 2023 12:29
Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: Ludlow
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by swil00 View Post
I've not been near a car dealership for a long time now.

Recently, I've been looking at a few 3 year old S90 and V90's, but nobody seems to be willing to move on price, main dealers and other used car places.

Has the art of haggling been killed off by the likes of carwow and other online companies ?

I'm aware that dealers are keen to sell finance, but one dealer told me the screen price is the best that can be done and the only movement would be with trade in.
That was exactly my experience when buying a 3-year old Kia late last year from a main dealer, the salesman was very pleasant and helpful but absolutely refused to budge on price unless I could show him a cheaper local trade example (which, to be fair, I couldn't). However we did haggle significantly over the trade-in allowance on my wife's previous Toyota and ended up getting about double what I expected!
__________________
GONE: 2015 V60 D4 181 (VEA) R-Design Lux Nav manual in black
Zebster is offline   Reply With Quote
The Following User Says Thank You to Zebster For This Useful Post:
Old Sep 13th, 2020, 09:00   #4
GMcL
0's and 1's
 
GMcL's Avatar
 

Last Online: Today 13:04
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: -
Default

Or, human nature being what it is, you get the artificially high price for everything with some artificially high prices being higher than others.

The older I get the more I ask for a discount on most things with the exception of grocery shopping because the person operating the till has no authority to discount.

I got £150 off a £600 watch by asking for the managers discount.
__________________
2011 Volvo S60 D3 R-design Premium - 2020 Focus ST estate automatic - 2020 KIA eSoul 150kW 64kwh EV

Previous: 2005 Volvo S60 D5 Sport - 2017 Focus RS
GMcL is offline   Reply With Quote
The Following 4 Users Say Thank You to GMcL For This Useful Post:
Old Sep 13th, 2020, 09:05   #5
green van man
Premier Member
 

Last Online: Feb 7th, 2024 11:00
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: Ffos y Ffin
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by swil00 View Post
I've not been near a car dealership for a long time now.

Recently, I've been looking at a few 3 year old S90 and V90's, but nobody seems to be willing to move on price, main dealers and other used car places.

Has the art of haggling been killed off by the likes of carwow and other online companies ?

I'm aware that dealers are keen to sell finance, but one dealer told me the screen price is the best that can be done and the only movement would be with trade in.
Daughter did a deal with a suzuki dealer by telling him what she had seen the car for on car wow. His sticker price was 3k more. She drove off the forecourt with a pre registered car having saved 4k off the sticker price and a grand off the car wow price.

I saved a grand and a half by traveling to Newcastle on Tyne for my volvo, the car I wanted, at a price I deemed fair and cheaper than I could get localy.

Landrover I did not haggle over, it was a private sale and a very fair price so no point. I looked it over, test drove and paid.

Any deal is a good one if both parties are happy with it.
<irrelevant political comment removed>
Paul.

Last edited by cumbrianmale; Sep 13th, 2020 at 12:59. Reason: Removed political comment
green van man is offline   Reply With Quote
The Following User Says Thank You to green van man For This Useful Post:
Old Sep 13th, 2020, 10:30   #6
DaveNP
Non VOC Member
 

Last Online: Today 07:52
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Milton Keynes
Default

I didn't haggle over my last three car purchases, but then with the advantage of the internet, with the price of virtually every car at my fingertips, I didn't bother even looking at cars that I thought were overpriced. Prices have always been subject to market forces, anything is only worth what someone will pay and if a competitor has it cheaper that's where the business goes, in the old days a car salesman would know what his local competition were doing, both on price and service levels and would price accordingly, nowadays everyone can know what everyone is doing so the upfront price has to reflect that.
In terms of trade in the best deal I got was on my Renault Espace when I didn't trade in the Proton we had, the dealer had one on his forecourt already so when I asked the salesman if he really wanted another he was glad to be off of the hook and got me a big discount for money transferred bank to bank immediately by phone.
__________________

David
V70 2.5 10v Torslanda Manual 98 Sreg
DaveNP is offline   Reply With Quote
The Following User Says Thank You to DaveNP For This Useful Post:
Old Sep 13th, 2020, 15:11   #7
swil00
Member
 

Last Online: Mar 16th, 2024 23:50
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Glasgow
Default

Thanks for all the responses.

I still find it a little bizarre looking at used cars knowing there is likely to be no wiggle room. That said, I wouldn't go in asking for their "best price" either.

I'm not looking to trade in, so I would have thought that might be a bonus for the place selling.

I have noticed that the well priced cars, or cars marked at under market value sell very quickly. Perhaps this is due to the lack of negotiation on higher priced examples.

I'll just need to keep and eye out and get in fast !
swil00 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old Sep 13th, 2020, 19:57   #8
eternal optimist
Master Member
 

Last Online: Mar 20th, 2024 19:00
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Reading
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by swil00 View Post
Thanks for all the responses.

I still find it a little bizarre looking at used cars knowing there is likely to be no wiggle room. That said, I wouldn't go in asking for their "best price" either.

I'm not looking to trade in, so I would have thought that might be a bonus for the place selling.

I have noticed that the well priced cars, or cars marked at under market value sell very quickly. Perhaps this is due to the lack of negotiation on higher priced examples.

I'll just need to keep and eye out and get in fast !
No trade in is likely to be a disappointment to the dealer - good used cars are currently in demand, and even if they don’t want to retail in, auction prices are v high at the moment for anything decent.
eternal optimist is offline   Reply With Quote
Old Sep 14th, 2020, 00:16   #9
Wagon Sailor
Junior Senior
 
Wagon Sailor's Avatar
 

Last Online: Today 00:35
Join Date: Dec 2019
Location: Hampshire
Default

I never found haggling over car prices an enjoyable experience. Buying or selling, I'd have my price, stick to it - and be prepared to walk away. There were exceptions over the years, but not many.

On the other hand, I have asked sellers to throw in 'extras' to an agreed price. Asking a dealer for a fresh MoT is one example.

Of course, haggling of a sort does still exist in the car game - particularly when buying insurance.
__________________

------------------------------------------------------
Comfy and roomy but a bit boring. I've had two.
Wagon Sailor is offline   Reply With Quote
Old Sep 14th, 2020, 09:58   #10
Welton
Premier Member
 

Last Online: Sep 14th, 2021 18:03
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Market Harborough
Default

I notice certain Car Supermarkets have attractive pricing, I once bought a 4 year old Astra from a car supermarket and the guy said they only make a small profit on each car (£200.00) but shift high volumes.

I guess trade-ins are attractive to dealers because most people cave in and virtually give the car to them for cheaps and then a local 'broker' car dealer will come along pay the dealer more for it and make some profit.
__________________
2005 S40 T5 SE - Manual. Bilstein B4's. (For Sale)
2010 Citroen C4 1.6 HDi (bizarre Gearbox model).
2010 Renault Twingo (refreshingly simple)
2018 Infiniti Q30 1.6T Business Executive (what's this button do?)
Welton is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 17:05.


Powered by vBulletin
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.