How hard a bargain have you driven?

cavanmaniac

In this climate of the second hand market having its bottom fall out and dealers reportedly choked with stock, I was just wondering how hard a bargain people here have been able to drive with them when striking a deal for a second hand. How much have you got knocked off for a straight deal, for instance?

Or is anybody out there buying at all?

I've been looking at the websites and stuff, it seems Irish dealers are still grossly overpricing their cars, it's little wonder the forecourts are clogged...

ninty9er

cavanmaniac wrote: »

In this climate of the second hand market having its bottom fall out and dealers reportedly choked with stock, I was just wondering how hard a bargain people here have been able to drive with them when striking a deal for a second hand. How much have you got knocked off for a straight deal, for instance?

Or is anybody out there buying at all?

I've been looking at the websites and stuff, it seems Irish dealers are still grossly overpricing their cars, it's little wonder the forecourts are clogged...

Many overprice to allow for haggling, while customers won't go near becaues they're pverpriced, it's a double edged sword.

SV

First car..priced at 4500, got it for 3000.

rare case that though, I'd expect?
I'd say you could knock off 15-20%+ off every car on sale.

ninty9er

ClioV6 wrote: »

First car..priced at 4500, got it for 3000.

rare case that though, I'd expect?
I'd say you could knock off 15-20%+ off every car on sale.

Not a chance of knocking 20% of something like a Corolla or Focus with the demand for them. 3-4% on new 7-8% for cash and big bucks (A8 or the like possibly)

AudiChris and colm_mcmwould know more, but that'd be giving their hand away!

cavanmaniac

It's a curious state of affairs. Is it very wishful thinking to expect dealers to drop prices in line with what the market is willing to pay? If the anecdotal evidence of people not buying cars is true like...

Anan1

cavanmaniac wrote: »

It's a curious state of affairs. Is it very wishful thinking to expect dealers to drop prices in line with what the market is willing to pay? If the anecdotal evidence of people not buying cars is true like...

I think some dealers are slower learners than others. Ultimately, every car on every forecourt will be sold at a price that someone is willing to pay. I got a new Subaru Forester 2.5XT auto at the end of June for €34,800, down from something like €47,000.

bazz26

cavanmaniac wrote: »

It's a curious state of affairs. Is it very wishful thinking to expect dealers to drop prices in line with what the market is willing to pay? If the anecdotal evidence of people not buying cars is true like...

Well a car is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it.

There is so much choice out there in the second hand market at the moment that if a car is overpriced it will simply not sell. How long a garage can afford to leave it sit there in the hope that they get their target selling price depends on how well the garage's other stock is moving i'd guess.

Darragh29

I know of one particular main dealer principal, (I know a salesman in the outlet very well), who has this week instructed sales staff to sell second cars at a loss if necessary, just to get rid of them and keep some cashflow coming in, as opposed to the cars still being there in 6-8 weeks time and no cash being generated from sales in the meantime. The situation seems to be that bad that some garages are now selling cars for less than they have paid for them, in the hope that if they can keep the wolf from the door for a few months using cashflow from the sale of used cars, that the new car market might recover, which I think is unlikely the more the end of the year approaches...

Darragh29

cavanmaniac wrote: »

It's a curious state of affairs. Is it very wishful thinking to expect dealers to drop prices in line with what the market is willing to pay? If the anecdotal evidence of people not buying cars is true like...

I don't think the public understand how bad the situation is at the moment for some (not all) outlets. Some dealerships (and these are dealerships that have been doing extremely well until very recently), are selling absolutely nothing. I know of one very large dealership in the leinster area that has in excess of 170 used cars in stock and hasn't sold a new car in 3 weeks... This same delership is no longer taking trade in's, it's either a straight deal or fu*k off. This dealership is one of the largest main dealerships outside of Dublin in the Leinster area...

ninty9er

Darragh29 wrote: »

I know of one particular main dealer principal, (I know a salesman in the outlet very well), who has this week instructed sales staff to sell second cars at a loss if necessary

My old car is going for €400 below cost, might have something to do with the fact I got too much for it, but that's not going to bother me. It's been sitting on a forecourt since January.

From an accounting perspective, builders, builder providers and car main dealers are the 3 primary industries of consideration in providing a going concern expectation when finalising accounts at the moment. I haven't seen any emphasis of matter just yet, but I reckon that particular issue won't show it's face until '08 accounts come up for audit from next January onwards.
The trick is to understand the difference between cash and profit. You would be surprised how many people who have been in business for years won't take a hit on the bottom line because they think a loss is the end of the line. The cafr industry has had 15 good years in Ireland, and it's only the completely foolish that don't have a few million sitting in reserve at this stage.

A loss of 60-70k for each of the next few years isn't going to be the end of the world as long as there's cash to pay the wages, pay the bills and pay the banks.

x in the city

I have seen 02 bmws for 16k in a stealers.

Prob get the car for 8k ish from the uk with vrt done.

they never learn

audismelly

Darragh29 wrote: »

I know of one particular main dealer principal, (I know a salesman in the outlet very well), who has this week instructed sales staff to sell second cars at a loss if necessary, just to get rid of them and keep some cashflow coming in, as opposed to the cars still being there in 6-8 weeks time and no cash being generated from sales in the meantime. The situation seems to be that bad that some garages are now selling cars for less than they have paid for them, in the hope that if they can keep the wolf from the door for a few months using cashflow from the sale of used cars, that the new car market might recover, which I think is unlikely the more the end of the year approaches...

whats the name of this place, im looking to trade.

ninty9er

audismelly wrote: »

whats the name of this place, im looking to trade.

They're not looking to take any cars in though. Any dealer will sell at cost if you have cash in the current climate.

Elm Motors in Limerick have 20% off all their used stock across the board at the moment, and I reckon you could get more if you had your cheque book in your pocket ready to sign! It's the only dealer that I've seen that's not flooded with stock.

audismelly

ninty9er wrote: »

They're not looking to take any cars in though. Any dealer will sell at cost if you have cash in the current climate.

Elm Motors in Limerick have 20% off all their used stock across the board at the moment, and I reckon you could get more if you had your cheque book in your pocket ready to sign! It's the only dealer that I've seen that's not flooded with stock.

cheers for that

pastyp

I got a low mileage, mint condition 06 merc E200k fully loaded for €39,000. It was advertised for €45,000. I'm sure that it has something to do with July 1st and merc prices coming down but still a 6k difference from when I walked into the showroom to when I came back a week later is a godd reduction. The same dealer has now reduced all the merc e200s in stock to €39,950.

bazz26

ninty9er wrote: »

They're not looking to take any cars in though. Any dealer will sell at cost if you have cash in the current climate.

Elm Motors in Limerick have 20% off all their used stock across the board at the moment, and I reckon you could get more if you had your cheque book in your pocket ready to sign! It's the only dealer that I've seen that's not flooded with stock.

I've seen their "before" sale prices and they were overpriced compared to other garages to begin with. For example, they had a 2005 Volvo S40 1.6 D SE with a sticker price of €22,500 which is just silly. I've seen 2006 models priced at €22k elsewhere.

cavanmaniac

Cheers for the replies all, I guess if you're a cash buyer you're in an even stronger position than usual. I posted the thread in the first place because I'm bemused by the continued high pricing of second hand cars.

I guess the dealers are sticking to the credo that there's an arse out there for every seat and are maybe trying to avert full scale meltdown in the market by keeping advertised prices high while making large concessions during private negotiations...

rccaulfield

Got 2 and a half grand of a new bike last week! Happy days!

ninty9er

cavanmaniac wrote: »

trying to avert full scale meltdown in the market by keeping advertised prices high while making large concessions during private negotiations...

nail, head, hammer:D

(Bingo)