Buying a car – what is a good deal now?

9 comments

1. [deleted]

2. To be totally honest, the dealers now make most of their money through finance commission so if you’re buying “cash” or bank loan expect very little in the way of a deal. Using their finance options will increase your chances but expect to pay through the nose in interest

3. A gently used electric car is the most cost-effective deal

4. You’re more likely to get things bundled in rather than get a price drop. It’s a seller’s market at the moment. If they don’t get the price they want from you, they’ll get it from the next customer instead.

   Bear in mind with Mercs, some features aren’t automatically included such as Android Auto and Apple CarPlay support. You have to pay for them in the Mercedes app – so see if you can get them bundled in. Same for the “In car office” pack and the remote control features. It costs Mercedes nothing to give these things away but you could save £500 or more.

   Also see if you can get a discount on a Service Plan. Mercedes dealership services can get pricey and, if you plan to get them done, a Service Plan (paid monthly) could be the way to go. It essentially just splits the cost of the annual service up into monthly direct debits but also allows you a courtesy car or to have you car collected and dropped off. Again, the dealership might be able to give you a discount.

   Finally, don’t take their finance! When I bought mine, I put down a big deposit but there was still some finance remaining. They offered me theirs, at 10% APR but it worked out much cheaper to get a Tesco Bank loan at 4% instead. Money was in my account the next day.

5. It’s best to look at similar cars and get a really good idea of how much they should cost, and how much the one you’re considering is overpriced by. I don’t think there’s too much room to negotiate at the moment though but saying I’ve seen this one cheaper, can you match is always worth a shot.

   Some garages offer a finance contribution that you can take advantage of, they contribute a little if you purchase on finance but instead of going ahead and paying the payments you can just phone up and pay in full. Taking advantage of the contribution and not paying the interest

   Aside from that just make sure you’re not paying stupid amounts of interest. Like the other guy said bank loans or paying outright is the way to go

   If you’re going PCP on a car less than a year old then they’ll probably be ripping you off. Even a brand new one might end up cheaper because they often have much better finance deals

6. I would look at a new car over a nearly new one. You are likely to get a better or same monthly payment on a new Vs a nearly new. The only problem would be the wait time for a new car. It was what I found looking for a new car last year. I had to go 3 years old before the monthly payments were significantly less than a new car and even then, it was only £100 a month less for a three year older car, I was on the waiting list for a new car but it just took too long for my circumstances.

7. “I know I’ll likely get the “let me go speak to the manager and see what I can do”

   You won’t, you’ll get the, “this is the price, pay it or fuck off”

8. I bought used remotely from an MB dealer in Feb.

   There wasn’t much movement in price, got them to throw in some F1 merch and fill the tank. The salesman really needed to hit his targets for extras (cosmetic insurance etc.); I had initially agreed to buy cosmetic ins. but then changed my mind. I then got offered the cosmetic ins half price (which I took) or the cosmetic ins. and free paint protection coating (which I’d never take from a dealer)

9. We got an extended warranty and services thrown in for taking their (VW) finance. The interest rate sucked, but there was no early repayment penalty, so we cleared it a week later.