More car buyers prepared to haggle on price

Britons are finally learning how to haggle, according to new research from Sainsbury's Finance which reveals that some 59% of those people buying a brand new car in the next six months said that they would haggle ‘very hard' or ‘hard', compared to only 52% in September 2009.

Sainsbury's Finance, which has been championing the need to haggle for years, says the fact that people are starting to haggle more over the price of new cars is an indication of the measures people are beginning to take in these uncertain financial times.

However, the supermarket bank warns that many car buyers are still losing out as its findings reveal that collectively British motorists could save themselves an incredible £163 million over the next six months, if only they were prepared to haggle on the price of their new car.

Of the 1.41 million people planning to buy a brand new car between March and August 2010, around 96,000 say they do not plan to haggle at all over the price they pay. This is despite the fact that depending on the car they want to buy, they could obtain a discount of up to 50% on the list price.    Indeed, according to What Car? the average discount you should be aiming for on a brand new car is around £1,699.

Sainsbury's Finance's research also highlighted that a further 453,000 people could pay too much for their brand new cars over the next six months because they are only prepared to haggle ‘slightly' over the price.

Steven Baillie, Head of Sainsbury's Loans said: "It is pleasing to see that more car buyers are prepared to haggle than previously - we have been encouraging people to haggle for years but it seems that these recessionary times have finally convinced many to try and get a better deal.

"With the car scrappage scheme and lower VAT both things of the past, car buyers will need to find other ways to lower the cost of their purchases, haggling is really worth considering.

"Car buyers need to remember that they can also save a considerable amount of money by shopping around for a competitive rate if they are planning to use a loan to help finance the car purchase."

As well as haggling over the price of the vehicle, it also pays to shop around for a competitive rate when looking for car finance. Around 21% of the money paid for brand new cars in the next six months will be financed through loans.  Sainsbury's Finance is currently offering a personal loan rate of 7.8% APR Typical to Sainsbury's shoppers applying online with a Nectar card for loans of between £7,500 and £14,999.

Haggling intentions of people who intend to buy a brand new car:

Here are some haggling tips from Sainsbury's Finance:

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 discount that you should aim to achieve for a particular make of car.

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.