Haggling with a dealer

[semi]

Hey, im thinking about buying a car from a dealer (2nd hand). Its a VS Berlina and the price theyt have on it is $6990. How much should/would i be able to talk them down do you think? Im hoping to get them down to $6500- how realistic is this?

[jacko]

How many kays are on the clock? You should be able to get it down to 6500, i dont know what prices are like in WA but i've seen a few VS berlinas going around that mark up here, but then again ive seen some more expensive ones.

[semi]

its done 240, but its lowered on 18s and i think the tyres are pretty good

[stocky]

thats a decent price, but the km's are a bit high for that model

[smokey_dj]

all electrics work
scratches on the interior
scratches on the exterior
everything opens and closes no problems
seats arent ripped or anything
floors clean and free of everlasting grime
boot has no water (mainly around spare
go over it with the magnet test
nothings burnt out or looks dodgy round the fuse boxes ect

all those things drop precious $$$$ off a stickerd price and if your really good you get a dropped price and also they fix everything up b4 you even take ownership
also offer cash to bring them back on yourside after youve gone over it that intensly to show you still have a decent bone in your body LOLOLOLOL

[Pretender]

Your here in WA I see.
If you think it is worth $6500 offer $6000 and let them do the negotiating.
The hardest thing is to walk away if you like the car but a VS with 240ks would not be hard to find for under that price.

Edit: I have to say it, I would offer $5500 and when they mention the wheels I would just say all cars come with wheels.
Break their spiel and they can flounder and you may be surprised with the outcome. When they say they can't reduce it much because it close to cost price (very common) tell them that worries you as they haven't made allowance for any warranty work that may be needed and you wouldn't want it repaired on the cheap.
Sometimes tactics work sometimes they don't but if you make them negotiate with you rather than the other way around you have the advantage.
It can be great fun sometimes.
Just remember a Dealer's car at $7000 probably cost them only $2000-3000 so they have room to move but they have to make money so $6000 may be acceptable for a quick sale and decent value for you.

[VKStevo]

well my car came from a dealer, had $6000 on it and i walked away with it only $4000 poorer (on road, $3300 otherwise)

[V-ahhh]

well my car came from a dealer, had $6000 on it and i walked away with it only $4000 poorer (on road, $3300 otherwise)

how long ago was that?

[VKStevo]

umm...almost 2 yrs ago

[V-ahhh]

yeh sounds around the right price 4 a vk at that time payed that 4 my calais

[BadSeed]

Id say try maby $5000 cash to start with... just to see how keen they are to make the sale. if the best they can do is $6500.. maby say cya later or tell them to call yoiu when they accept $6000 etc... normally within 30mins you have a call..

[VKStevo]

yeh sounds around the right price 4 a vk at that time payed that 4 my calais

yeh but u shouldve seen it at the time, it was almost showroom condition, barely looked used and it was a manual, it was everything i wanted...almost (i wanted a v6)

there was a bit last year where i didnt really look after it that well so it depreciated a bit, but most ppl still say she's an awesome looking vk for its age

so yes...haggling works

[TheJack]

I paid $5700 after they had a sign in the yard at $6990.
Its a VS wagon, done 230,000ks and its on LPG!

Had a few probs with it tho, hopefully all is sorted. Got new-great plugs & leads & it seems to have fixed the back firing that blew my airbox.

Anyway I wouldn't offer more than $5000. Be strong, tell em your looking at plenty of others as well.

I'm becoming a big fan of mine now, never thought I'd be a commodore head.

[semi]

Great, thanks for the replies guys, i have very little experience with dealers. Im actually thinking of trading in my car with them, a have a 93 VR wagon atm, very clean and tidy with a couple of things wrong that will be fixed within the next week or so. I asked for a general price on trade in and they said around $3000, although i didnt mention my 17's. What do you think i should realistically expect to get it down to minus trade in? 3000? 2500?

[smokey_dj]

yeah i got my vn 3.8 jan 4th 04 and it was just in 2 days previous looked at it with a mate and my dad 30th of dec and got it from 8,990 to 5,000 flat doing all the things i said in my previous post

this was imaculate was used only as a shopping trolley its whole life belonged to an elderly couple when traded in all service history this guy was so pedantic i have when he replaced interior light bulbs ect
125,865 on the clock
1 previous owner
no dints or scratches
no kids of the old owners (58 when traded) ever having driven it they didnt have any
just couldnt put a thing wrong with it lol
all the stuff needing to be done i did find was fixed at there expence too
and this was ferntree gully holden (sif find a vn come through even used cars at a holden dealers
just goes to show waht type of magic you can swing

[smokey_dj]

be better off privately sellign then youd have more than enough cash for your new car

[semi]

only problem with that though is that i need to be without a car for a while, the time between when the car is sold and i get the new one. Hmm, maybe someone would lend me the money for the week or two until i get my new car

[Tasmaniak]

if they have a car on the lot for 6,000 I can bet you the trade difference that they didn't pay 2,000 for it. They probably paid closer to 4-4,500 for it.

[Jamie_87]

man 7k for a vs berlina seems a bit steep , i got my vs calais with 200k on it for $5400 last december in immac condition, ,he onli offered me $1500 for my trade in( needed to get rid of the vp wag; rooted gbox and engine, 280k's,lol). I was looking around for about 2months tho before i found it.

But im glad i waited cos i nearly bought a vs exec with extractos,cai,ecu re-tuned to mods, 2.5" cat back, lsd, stage 2 shift kit and b&m shifter for 6000(was very fun to test drive,lol),but changed my mind when i saw all the rubber up in the guards,lol

i rekon get him down to at least 5500, cos u can pick up vt's from 6000 now.

[Tasmaniak]

he onli offered me $1500 for my trade in( needed to get rid of the vp wag; rooted gbox and engine, 280k's,lol).

I would've been happy with 1500 if it had those issues with it. Just yesterday I gave a guy 2500 for a 01 GMC Jimmy with a blown transmission. He thought I was the best goddamned salesman around.

[Shaneus]

I got my 95 VS Berlina with 153 Thou on the clock for 5k with road worthy, but that was private.

IMO anything over 5.5 is a little over priced.

[Jamie_87]

I would've been happy with 1500 if it had those issues with it. Just yesterday I gave a guy 2500 for a 01 GMC Jimmy with a blown transmission. He thought I was the best goddamned salesman around.

i was happy with it, meant i didnt have to worry about fixing those probs, too bad for the dealer who couldnt seem to pick up on them when driving it,lol

[Ripcell]

go over it with the magnet test

???????????

[jacko]

???????????

to test for rust and bodged up panels. the magnet should ideally stick. if it doesn't, you've got yourself a bung panel.

[vy_storm]

Magnet test meaning, look for bogged up panels after repair. The magnet won't stick.