Negotiating a Used Car
 

Whats reasonable to ask off the asking price on a 2009 at a VW dealership?

I hate user cars, always taking and never giving





:troll:




Try to work it down as much as you can, and wait until you're going over the final contract to freak out about the assignment fees (anywhere from $350-$600 ... aka bullshit paperwork fee).

Once the contract is drawn up, the salesman doesn't wanna lose the sale so threaten to walk if they don't get rid of the BS fees. That's my only tip that I usually use when buying a used car from the dealership.

A lot of used cars are trade ins that they paid next to nothing for. Look up blue book value and try to get under that as much as possible

VW :lawl:

I love how they use "front license plate holder" as a selling point.

2009 sounds like a lease end vehicle, go through it with a fine comb, never know if the last lease owner is like me :troll:

might want to check for needles and other paraphernalia first or you could use it to your advantage to get some dollars knocked off the asking price :troll:

What kind of VW?

Uh... what model? What trim level? How many km's? Any accidents or claims? Ex lease or trade in?

More information might be relevant... :p

09 Tiguan...somewhat loaded(comfortline I think?) no accidents, fair kms(60-70k) ex lease.

So you're interested in buying a vehicle yet you don't even know which options it has, and it has "about" 60-70kms? Not smart...

It's not for me.

What does it really matter? My question is, "how much is reasonable to negotiate off?" Not, "should I buy it?"

It's listed for 22,900. Is it reasonable to say 20+tax? 19+tax? How much markup is there?

markup really depends on the guy who returned it. If he returned it early to get something else or if it was the end of his lease.

Starting at 18-19 grand doesn't seem bad. Look around on craigslist at tiguans from the same year, find the lowest priced one and start around there.

I usually don't start with their list price.

I look at the market (CL, B&S, RS), and decide what would be a good/fair price, knowing that a dealer car will always be a bit more than a private sale, and use that as my number to shoot for.

If that number ends up being 22.9, then any thing you can bargain off is just icing on the cake. If that number ends up being 17K, well, they're going to have to do a bit of work for my business.

^ this plus look at condition.
For example if the tires are worn out I have the dealer put on new, their cost, or take it off the top. If the wear is uneven I ask for an alignment.

If the ashtray insert is missing it was probably a smoker's car, avoid!

When I go used car shopping I go in with a price in mind after I do my research. That's with all the taxes in. Never budge and never go above what your asking for even if its the car you want. Always remember that there is always a better car out there if you have patience.

Once I was looking at a 1999 Miata Special Edition (the one that came with watches). Dealership wanted 12k, I said 10k with all taxes fee's and everything. I made the sales guy work for it and in the end, everyone said no to me. Almost 3 hours of negotiation and he came out empty handed. It was a fun day.

?

So you wasted your day? Or did you end up buying the car?

People think some cars are marked up so much... When I was selling a lot of the time there would be only $250-$500 left in the car and people would wonder why we said no when they offer $2-3k less.

Why does it matter? It's going to be a hell of alot easier to negotiate on an ex lease, accident repaired V8 Toureg than it would be to deal on a Jetta TDI

Tiguan for 22 asking? I'd offer 20 all in and go up to 22 all in.

+1.

this. every customer thinks we have a huge mark up on the cars... some cars are barely $500... and they expect a $4000 discount. if my car has more than 10k mark up, sure maybe I would give you a $4000 discount... assuming you are a no hassle customer that deserves the discount.

Im pretty straight up about it: if you are going to offer me that low for the car, I wont even bother sitting down with you and work a deal. You are wasting your time and mine. Its quite ridiculous.

Hell, us car sales guys dont get rich off deals. Im pretty sure if the customer is easy to deal with and straight forward, the sales guy and manager would be more than happy to give you a wicked deal. Cant be greedy all the time.

^Exactly. If the guy is nice and doesn't act like a total know-it-all douche, I'd be more than willing to work with him on price. Where as if he's like "I saw the same one go for $10k less at so and so place so I want that price and lifetime oil changes and you pay college tuition for my kids" - I will just say price is firm sorry.

might sound stupid, but the easier to deal with a customer is, the more I am willing to do on pricing. That simple.

I hate those customers that compare this and that when it comes to used cars: no two used cars are ever alike.

why is our unit 2-3k more than the other unit? there is always reasoning behind it. could be simple as a few options (nav etc), accidents (amount of claim), status (local, out of prov etc) and sometimes even color combo! (white Bmws being a good example..)

excuse me if I do sound a bit bitter... 5 canceled deals this month... :okay:

:iknowthatfeelbro:

appreciate having sales guys in here giving their opinion. The above quote go both ways though., not sure how thrilled sales and managers are to be giving away wicked deals all around. Last time I sat down at a dealer to negotiate a price, we were down to a $200 difference on a $14k car. And I know for a fact that there was a good enough profit on that car already, they just wanted an extra couple hundred bucks from me.

or your vehicle is 2-3k more because your dealership wants to make an extra 1-1.5k on the deal? Once again, see my above quote. Not saying all sales guys are in it to win it, but from my experience, they are definitely not all as chill as you are. The fact that your clients are cancelling your deals, means they are finding their vehicles elsewhere no?

Go in at the end of the month before closing. :troll:

It's extremely hard to sell a vehicle worth the same as lot x has for $2-$3k more because of the internet. It takes seconds to compare cars and prices. The only time this usually works for the dealer is if someone comes on the lot looking for a specific Civic, that they know of 15 others for sale, but while on the lot they see a Mazda 3 that they haven't done their research on. They don't know that its $3000 more than most of the Mazda 3s out there. Where as with the civic they know exactly what they go for. This used to be the case when you would go lot to lot looking for cars back in the day.

Every dealer is different, but you would have to understand, they cant give every car away! Dealer stays open because of profit and not at losses!

I usually give deals to referrals and family / friends.

What really pisses me off is they dont trust me that I have already given a deep discount and they still grind me $300 or the sort. I have done deals before that are less than $300 away... its ridiculous.

as for those canceled deals they are because of:

1) serious credit problem... I have had people where they are so seriously in debt, yet still want a $40k car
2) they have found another unit elsewhere (a lower km unit usually, but more expensive)
3) changed their minds as they think the buy is too impulsive
4) something went horridly wrong with the trade in (the engine blew up on the trade in! )


or this... usually on new cars though.

Based on my experience with negotiating used cars.

You have to be reasonable. Look up the trade-in value and at least factor in a profit for the dealer. Based on the cars I looked at when I was shopping, I usually put in $500 to $1K profit on it as a starting point (CBB @ $15-16K). And of course have to put some leeway into it (I usually expect to pay $1.5-2K above the CBB) But that would only work in the case of a Trade-In.

Leases I looked up residual values and just estimated the buyout if the vehicle was returned early (Months to be paid off pretty much + penalty and fees). Then had to tack on a profit margin of some sort.

For most of the sales people and dealers I've worked with, they've been quite nice in working with me. I've even had a sales person tell me that he could get $3K off the asking price since he was the one who dealt with it as the trade-in ('10 Lancer GTS - 1 week on the lot & no claims, 28k km) though I passed as it just didn't feel like the car for me.

And the car that I ultimately drove home I was able to get $3K off (13%), being that they also replaced the brake pads prior and that the vehicle was only on the lot for about a week. This however you'll need to get a good look over the vehicle and just point out anything that is outside of normal wear and tear. And you'll need to do your research in what is a reasonable price to offer. It can especially be tricky if there are no similar vehicles out there.

Now at the end of the day, the dealers need to make money, we want to drive home in a set of wheels. So at the very least, just be kind and sincere while not being demanding. They sometimes may just go out of their way to help!

And note, i'm just sharing my experience. There is no right or wrong way (except for a lowball offer, can go south real quick).