Negotiating when buying used car

The_MAC

The_MAC

Honorary Master
Joined
Oct 11, 2012
Messages
11,213
Reaction score
7,990
Location
Johannesburg
I am reaching out to some of you seasoned veterans.

I want to purchase a used car (VW Caddy Maxi, 2015, 55k km), I have a 2011 Yaris Zen (5dr, 65k km) to trade in.

How do I begin the negotiations? Do I have leverage?

They are adding the R3500 on-the-road fee, is this still being practiced in light of the recent VW developments?

Its from a dealership..
 
You will have some leverage if the vehicle has been in the dealership for more than 2 months, you obviously need to test drive the vehicle first and then make your offer.

With your trade in first approach we buy cars, carzar and other dealerships that buy cars, so you can compare valuations to what the dealer offers. Remember to negotiate the trade in after you negotiate the vehicles price you want to buy.
 
If you trade in your car on deal, you basically get the worst deal. Dealers have a pool of money to play with per deal. Lets say its around 20k (depends on the car you buying) So you either can negotiate a discount on the vehicle, or a better trade. But the amount they can play with will not change. So either you get a 10k discount, and a 10k load on your trade in. etc. Does that make sense?

Your best bet would be to sell your car privately and get as close to retail as possible. You driving a common car that will be popular, hence easy to resell. Provided it is in good nick. I know the private sale can be daunting however its the best option so long as you do your homework.

Once you have the cash in hand it will be easier to negotiate a better deal on the Caddy as you will be going in clean. Hopefully you owe less on the Yaris than it is worth, else you have no option but to "load" your next finance deal.

If I could go back in time and listen to my own advise, I would be smiling right now.
 
VikashLurker said:
If you trade in your car on deal, you basically get the worst deal. Dealers have a pool of money to play with per deal. Lets say its around 20k (depends on the car you buying) So you either can negotiate a discount on the vehicle, or a better trade. But the amount they can play with will not change. So either you get a 10k discount, and a 10k load on your trade in. etc. Does that make sense?

Your best bet would be to sell your car privately and get as close to retail as possible. You driving a common car that will be popular, hence easy to resell. Provided it is in good nick. I know the private sale can be daunting however its the best option so long as you do your homework.

Once you have the cash in hand it will be easier to negotiate a better deal on the Caddy as you will be going in clean. Hopefully you owe less on the Yaris than it is worth, else you have no option but to "load" your next finance deal.

If I could go back in time and listen to my own advise, I would be smiling right now.
Click to expand...

Thanks for this.

The Yaris has been paid of for 2 years now, so its clean "profit" now.

Unfortunately, we need 2 cars, and also, then I risk the Caddy being sold and I'm stuck without a 2nd car. And I refuse to buy a new car, so I don't actually have a Plan B when it comes to another car to buy..
 
The_MAC said:
Thanks, not very informative, ending with the closing comment - "Doesn't work with second hand or used vehicles"
Click to expand...

Its unfortunately very informative when read with the info in this thread.

Major brand dealership will have a bit of wiggle room in the ENTIRE deal, which you can take either on the trade-in value or the price of the vehicle.

But ultimately the price you see on the vehicle if its second hand is the price (plus extras) that the dealer will want and they won't negotiate on that base price. You may have wiggle room on the On The Road costs, but not much else.
 
The_MAC said:
Thanks for this.

The Yaris has been paid of for 2 years now, so its clean "profit" now.

Unfortunately, we need 2 cars, and also, then I risk the Caddy being sold and I'm stuck without a 2nd car. And I refuse to buy a new car, so I don't actually have a Plan B when it comes to another car to buy..
Click to expand...

I know the itch to get the caddy is going to be hard to resist. However, if you strong enough, rather sell the yaris first. Then get a deal on another caddy. Again, Caddys are pretty common, so if you miss out on this one, another will come along soon enough.

You can't be stranded if you able to Uber?

Good luck though, the above is easier said than done. Took me 4 trade ins, and 17 years to be able to resist the temptation!
 
ToxicBunny said:
But ultimately the price you see on the vehicle if its second hand is the price (plus extras) that the dealer will want and they won't negotiate on that base price. You may have wiggle room on the On The Road costs, but not much else.
Click to expand...

Again it depends, I knocked off 25k on a 275k 2nd hand vehicle, cash offer
 
My 2c worth.

On the few occasions where I've traded in a car I get to an agreed price of the car that I've mind and then haggle on the selling price of the car that I'm trading in. Pointers here are the excellent condition, the current selling price as per autotrader, and that my trade in appears to move quickly off the floor.
The next stage is to always refer to the pay-in amount as the price that the replacement car is going to cost me, not the actual selling price.
At no stage do I discuss on-the-road fees. If the salesman mentions it, I ignore what he says and talk about something else. At no stage must it be a factor of discussion.

After a while I thank him for his time and tell him that there are some other cars that I'm going to view. I certainly don't tell him that my heart is set on the car or even that particular brand, all he must know is that I'm looking to buy a car. In his mind is that I'm looking to replace my car and it is going to cost me the 'pay-in' price.

When you return you tell him that you've looked at quite a few cars and you've popped in to see if the car is still available or if he has other trade ins since your last visit. A good salesman will want to close the deal and if he starts to close tell him that your pay-in figure is as good as it is going to get otherwise you'll continue to shop.

Good luck.
 
The_MAC said:
When there are plenty of similar models on sale then thats easy ;)
Click to expand...

Its always that easy.

Do you NEED that Caddy or is it a want?

If its just a want then you hold the power in portions of the deal.
 
ToxicBunny said:
Its always that easy.

Do you NEED that Caddy or is it a want?

If its just a want then you hold the power in portions of the deal.
Click to expand...

After our last cramped-into-a-hatch-back holiday, its a partial need.

But yes, I'm trying to convince my wife to hold out for a while. Her arguments are that this is by far the best deal after looking at them for over a year, and that even though this car will be a year older next year (price drop), so will our trade in.

We can afford the price it is advertised for, but I want to save as much as we can.

I hate buying cars and houses, as the salesman is always lying through their teeth.
 
Last edited:
The_MAC said:
After our last cramped-into-a-hatch-back holiday, its a partial need.

But yes, I'm trying to convince my wife to hold out for a while. Her arguments are that this is by far the best deal after looking at them for over a year, and that even though this car will be a year older next year (price drop), so will our trade in.

We can afford the price it is advertised for, but I want to save as much as we can.

I hate buying cars and houses, as the salesman is always lying through their teeth.
Click to expand...
Try "we buy cars" and "carzar" as I mentioned above, they will pay you the trade price like all dealerships do but they will pay you cash via EFT.

There's no guarantee the Yaris will be sold quickly privately
 
Sumen said:
Try "we buy cars" and "carzar" as I mentioned above, they will pay you the trade price like all dealerships do but they will pay you cash via EFT.

There's no guarantee the Yaris will be sold quickly privately
Click to expand...

Yeah, I tried that today, they are giving me a bit less than I was expecting.. At least I know what the "going rate" is.
 
Usually they are sticky about budging on the price itself but negotiable on the extras.

So get the on the road fees scrapped as a start and then start talking about stuff like throwing in a warranty or other plan.

Sometimes they'll be willing to up the trade-in to make the sale, but not drop the price on the vehicle itself.

All depends on the sales person in question and what their targets are looking like as well. This time of year is excellent for shopping as they usually struggle to sell because people wait for new model years as the cars are "old" then. Which counts in you favour as they know they'll need to discount it the moment the year rolls over.
 
One more question.

When buying privately, who can do an inspection, and who would pay for it?

Edit:

From Santam's website:

10. Have the car independently inspected

"There are various AA Dekra tests that can be done on a vehicle. The Roadworthy Test is a legal requirement and must be conducted every time a vehicle changes ownership, ensuring that it meets the safety standards defined by the SABS. For extra piece of mind, you could also have the Multi-point Check, Technical Inspection or Safety Check performed. For a few hundred rand you could be saving yourself thousands in the future."
 
Last edited:
The_MAC said:
One more question.

When buying privately, who can do an inspection, and who would pay for it?

Edit:

From Santam's website:

10. Have the car independently inspected

"There are various AA Dekra tests that can be done on a vehicle. The Roadworthy Test is a legal requirement and must be conducted every time a vehicle changes ownership, ensuring that it meets the safety standards defined by the SABS. For extra piece of mind, you could also have the Multi-point Check, Technical Inspection or Safety Check performed. For a few hundred rand you could be saving yourself thousands in the future."
Click to expand...
AA approved centres or well known service centres that can test drive and do a proper diagnostics.

I think if you really want the vehicle you should pay for the inspection, the inspection should take place when you test drive the car
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X