New car discounts fall as prices go up
New car discounts have dropped by over 12% over the past 12 months, while most list prices have shot up.
According to the What Car? Target Price (What Car?’s monthly mystery shop of thousands of new car deals), the average discount car buyers should be able to haggle off a new car this September is £1779, £248 less than September 2009 when the average discount was £2027.
However, there are still some great deals out there for anyone willing to do a bit of research before they buy. What Car?’s deal-hunters have been sniffing out the best deals on 60 new cars to coincide with today's 60-plate change. Total savings on the 60 most searched for cars on Whatcar.com total more than £158,000.
Car buyers rate a big discount ahead of any other incentive, according to a poll on Whatcar.com – 58% of car buyers would rather have a bigger discount than an extended warranty. Low rate finance was a bigger temptation than long warranty cover, too.
Steve Fowler, What Car? editor-in-chief, commented: “Even though discounts are down, it still pays to sniff out the best car deals online before you go shopping. You might not want to shop online, but sticking a print-out under a car dealer’s nose is a sure-fire way to get them to up their own discount.”
Top discounts on Whatcar.com’s 10 most researched for cars:
Volkswagen Golf
Save £2530 on a VW Golf 2.0 TDI 140 Match.
Price you pay at Drivethedeal.com: £17,780.
Volkswagen Polo
Save £1383 on a VW Polo 1.2 TDI Bluemotion 5dr.
Price you pay at Drivethedeal.com: £13,662.
Nissan Qasqai
Save £2014 on a Nissan Qashqai 2.0 N-Tec 2wd.
Price you pay at Carfile.net: £18,481.
Peugeot 3008
Save £2077 on a Peugeot 3008 2.0 HDi 150 Exclusive.
Price you pay at Dealdrivers.co.uk: £19,518
Ford Fiesta
Save £1538 on a Ford Fiesta 1.4 Zetec 3dr.
Price you pay at Dealdrivers.co.uk: £10,957
BMW 3 Series
Save £2825 on a BMW 320d SE.
Price you pay at Coast2coastcars.co.uk: £24,420
Ford Focus
Save £3654 on a Ford Focus 1.8 Zetec S 5dr.
Price you pay at Drivethedeal.com: £13,291
Hyundai Santa Fe
Save £1615 on a Hyundai Santa Fe 2.2 CDRi Style.
Price you pay at Coast2coastcars.co.uk: £20,755
Jaguar XF
Save £4325 on a Jaguar XF 3.0D Luxury.
Price you pay at Drivethedeal.com: £30,575
Volkswagen Tiguan
Save £3403 on a 2.0TDI 170 R Line 2wd.
Price you pay at Autobytel.co.uk: £23,692.
And the biggest savings
Audi A8
Save £12,084 on the outgoing Audi A8 3.0 TDI SE quattro.
Price you pay at Autobytel.co.uk: £42,751
Volvo XC90
Save £9111 on a Volvo XC90 2.4 D5.
Price you pay at Drivethedeal.com: £26,219
What Car? Poll
What would you prefer when buying a new car?
Low-rate finance 18%
An extended warranty 12%
Free servicing 12%
Bigger discount 58%