Car buyers not prepared to haggle

On average, you can save over £1,500 on the price of a brand new car through haggling, but new research from Sainsbury’s Bank reveals that many motorists are not prepared to do this.

Sainsbury's Bank has found that between March and August 2007, up to 386,000 people intending to buy a brand new car will not haggle over the price. On average, it is estimated they could save around £1,585 each by doing this and could therefore collectively overpay by a staggering £611.81 million.

In addition, the bank's research highlighted that a further 423,000 people could also pay too much for their brand new cars because they are only prepared to haggle ‘slightly’ over the price. Only 55% of those buying a brand new car said that they would haggle more aggressively - ‘very hard’ or ‘hard’.

As well as haggling over the price of the vehicle it also pays to shop around when looking for car finance. Given that around 16% of the purchase of a new car will be financed through a loan, it's worth shopping around for a competitive rate.

Steven Baillie, loans manager, Sainsbury’s Bank said: “Once you have decided which new car you want, you then need to be prepared to haggle over the price you pay, and if you are financing the purchase with a loan, you also need to make sure that you shop around to find the right option for you.”

Sainsbury’s Bank’s car purchase scheme, Drive, eliminates the need to haggle as it negotiates discounts on every make and model of a new car, on the motorists’ behalf. Car buyers planning to haggle should first look at sainsburysbank.co.uk/drive which shows the achievable discount on every make and model of car on sale.

However, if you wish to haggle yourself, here are some tips from Sainsbury’s Bank:

You can often pick up a good price on a new car just before the introduction of new registration plates as any cars left over from the previous new registration become less attractive

When manufacturers are introducing a new model, you can sometimes pick up a great deal on the old model

Car dealers looking for a quick sale will sometimes throw in additional features that are not included as standard (e.g. better car stereos; sunroofs etc)

Be aware of the discounts you can obtain on the car you want. Having knowledge of these can be very useful when negotiating on price. The What Car? Target Price will show you the average price that you can expect to pay for a car, which on average is currently around.£1,585 below the list price

Know what car you want and the size of your budget and stick to it

Keep your excitement in check. If you look too keen the car dealer may be less willing to negotiate on price. Make them think that you are prepared to walk away.