Need Advise on Buying a Used Car From a Dealership Without Finance.

[Hardcore]

For those that were following my project on the other site, my Corsa got wrote off and i've been looking for another car since.

I've found one that takes my fancy.

1 owner from new.
77k miles
FSH
2006
Ibiza 1.9tdi FR
Listed at £4,000.

When ever i've bought cars in the past they've at most been around the £1k marker and i've always paid by cash with private sellers.
What's the best way to make sure i don't get stung or caught out?

Should i view the car first, tell dealership i'm interested then do a HPI check and hope it doesn't get sold in the meantime, or should i put down a deposit?
Since i'll not be using finance and i don't have credit cards or fancy walking around with £4k in my backpack should i pay via debit card or cheque? I'm thinking my bank might stop the debit card payment as it's outside my normal activities on how much i spend.
Will this give me any more haggling points if i don't use finance?

Any advice or tips appreciated

[Tim]

Intercooler and remap would be all I would do

- - - Updated - - -

Also good choice, they're nice cars

[Hardcore]

Couldn't haggle anymore than £100 off the price.
Couldn't find any faults at all with the car period. No scratches, dings, ect. Engine was really clean as well, FSH ect.

So now the owner of an Ibiza FR. It's quite quick for a diesel and handles nice as well.
Stuff like climate control and steering wheel controls for the stereo are so foreign to me but i'm sure i'll get used to everything shortly.

Not sure about a project thread to be honest since i want to drive it at least for 6 months to ensure it's reliable before i change anything, but mods should come later. Nothing cosmetic at all though.

[Coleman]

I'd be offering them 3k cash to start. Did that with my first focus and they said yes straight away (£4k screen price) I was gutted I didn't start lower after that.

Good luck hardcore, hopefully it's what you're looking for

[Hardcore]

It's worth £3500 if it's as good as it's made out to be, but i'll try my haggling skills and see what i can do.
As it's a smaller company i'll offer to pay cash as well and see how it goes. Hopefully all goes well, missing having my own car.

[Tim]

Ok, probably £3100/3200. He's probably got it for under £3,000 but will have advertising and servicing costs on top. Just be cheeky and see what you can do.

Our golf was up for £7,500 and we got it for £6,000

[Hardcore]

Tim, that one is listed for £3495

[Tim]

Aim to get it for £3,500. If he's had it a month he might just want the cash back out of it.

[Hardcore]

Called to query the car now.
Service history with Seat for the first 3 years and 33k then no more service history until the dealership serviced it at 77k
Appears it was serviced whilst in warranty and then after that neglected. With the problems with premature camshaft wear on these engines, i decided to give it a miss, especially for 4k asking price.

Going to view this one tomorrow though instead.

Seat Ibiza 1.9TDi FR 3dr Very Fast And Economical 2006

Apparently it's had a 120 point pre sales service, HPI clear and FSH every 10k although not with SEAT so no gaurantee that long life oil has been used but seems worth the risk.
Coupled with timing belt and tentioner just done with genuine parts could be my new car.
The guy i spoke to sounded a little older and quite genuine. I know this could me being naive but he said his son would see me tomorrow as he's on Holiday so it must be a small family business. Car has been advertised for approx one month and pictures have been changed a few times so i reckon i can get it a little less than the asking price

[Tim]

Taurus is right, they normally work in quarters. I heard a story, from a bloke who used to work at BMW, who witnessed a woman walking into a dealership on the last day of the quarter. Apparently they needed 1 more car sold to hit their BMW target which would mean a huge bonus. Apparently she got a brand new BMW, with nearly every extra for next to nothing.

They made a big loss on that car but received a huge bonus.

[Taurus]

It's the right time of the month to try to haggle. Depending on the size of the dealership though. Small independent one man places it doesn't make any difference, but larger ones often work on a sales target system. What you are hoping for is a salesman who just needs a couple more sales this month to meet the target - in which case he'll often sell cheaper to meet the target. If he's already met it, or is way off, then it's nothing doing. But occasionally you hit just the right time and they just need that one more sale to make up the numbers.

Never make an offer first visit - have a good look, even leave some details, but if you walk away they'll often ring you and then you're in the driving seat.

It also depends how long they've had it. The last two cars I bought for other people had been there a while and they were getting to the stage where the dealer offloads them - both were priced at £3,500, I got one for £2,500 and the other for £2,700 with 4 brand new tyres.

[hoppydan]

1% of

[Tim]

Plus they get a debit card fee, probably only 1-2% but still a fee.

[Coleman]

Use cash to try to lever more money off. if they say no, just use the debit card. Have fun haggling.

[Hardcore]

That's what i was thinking Tim, it's a small independent dealer as far as i know.

When ever i get repairs done on my cars from most of the places i've been to, they give a reasonable discount if paying by cash for the reason's Tim mentioned.
Usually never got a receipt when doing it that way though.