Hi guys.
Am planning/hoping to get a new car.
I heard before that we can get bargain quite hard at the dealers. Care to share some technique or share the deals that you guys got? I heard before they were offered the cars at pretty much half the advertised price?! Just have to go at the right time.
Am looking at late model or new SUVs.
So far been looking at demonstrators sale.
There are a few different brands doing 1/3 1/3 1/3 deals with 1.9% finance.
Thoughts and advice please.
Far from an expert. Advice I've heard is go at the end of the financial year for the dealer or at least at the end of a month. Family member recently got a huge discount off sticker price. New, small Hyundai car about 30% off sticker price - end of the month.
End of financial year sales usually have a good discount or at the beginning of next year as their 2017 models would be considered a year old =)
I've bought 2 new cars in the past 5 years:
1) 2013 Rav 4 GXL - RRP was $52.5K + ORC, I got it for $45K including ORC
2) 2015 Kia Cerato 2.0 SX - RRP was $40.5 + ORC, I got it for $33K including ORC and 3 years free servicing
The Rav I bargained them down but it was quite a bit of work, Mazda's CX-5 was $45K so I made out that I was interested in that so Toyota came the party eventually (and had more kit for the money) - although it turned out to be one of my least favourite cars.
The Kia I got quite a bargain on, Kia are very keen to get market share and seem to be willing to slash prices. I never thought I'd buy a Korean car but it's turned out to be one of the best cars I've owned, very well put together and nice to drive.
Oh wow @quasar.
Both times u got very good deals.
Currently looking at Mazda CX-9 and only managed to get $6k off - but keep in mind they giving us the demonstrator. They said no more discount :(
I think you can do much better than, I know of someone who got $10K off a $58K Mazda6 diesel wagon - it's all about the sales person wanting to sell the car more than you wanting to buy it, it takes a lot of self control but if you can get yourself into that mindset you can get yourself a good deal (it's tough I know, I love getting new cars).
Personally I wouldn't buy an ex-demo, I know that when I test drive a car I absolutely thrash them to see how they perform, they get uses by the sales people to drive to and from work and I don't a lot of them would treat them nicely, and some get used as press cars for reviews (who definitely don't treat them nicely). Unless you're getting an amazing deal I'd steer clear.
A few tricks I've used:
1) I always go by myself, they never meet my wife - I drive the car home and then she takes it for a test drive. I then go back and say we love the car but my wife is giving me a hard time about us spending this much money on the car etc
2) Shop it against other cars. They usually come up with BS like "our brand is in a different league to brand X", my usual response is that brand X does everything we need it to do, we love your brand but I'm not sure I can justify spending the extra money for it. It can also be combined with "my wife is happy with/prefers brand X, I need a way to convince her" etc.
3) Email all the other dealers around the country, see what they can offer (make sure they include transport charges). Even if you don't buy from them you might get some good deals that you can play off against your local dealer. Even if you buy from other parts of the country you can still get it serviced at your local dealership (and because it's a Mazda it'll be free)
4) Be willing to walk away. Getting up and leaving is the most powerful thing you can do. You don't have to be a dick about it, you can say something like "look, I love the car but I just can't justify spending this much money on it, if you change your mind I'm not going to do anything about it for a couple of days so just give me a call". If they need to get their sales figures up for the month you'll probably get a call back that day.
Some of this will work, some won't, a lot of it will depend on how much the salesperson needs to sell that month. If it doesn't work you can probably still go back in a couple of weeks and take the original deal, but in my experience if you can be patient there'll be a salesperson who'll cave.
If you're in the market for a 7 seater I'd also check out the Sorento, it's a very, very nice car - the 2.2L diesel is an awesome engine. They're doing some pretty sharp pricing on it at the moment. The Santa Fe is also good and both cars are probably due for an upgrade soon so you might get some good run out deals, they're also both a bit shorter than the CX-9. That said the CX-9 is an excellent car.
@Alias: The three brands I'd buy at the moment are Mazda, Kia & Hyundai - Mazda & Kia probably win out for me because of the 5 year warranty vs 3 years for Hyundai.
I've remembered a couple of other things as well:
When negotiating just don't let them pressure you and number one thing to remember is to be willing to get up and walk out. Doing the negotiating by yourself can be to your advantage because you have an easy out, "I can't give you an answer until I speak to my partner".
@Alias: We bought a new Sorento at the end of February.
Advertised price was $49990 + ORC of about $1500. It was a special deal down from $59990.
We paid $50500 for the car, with ORC ($1500), and a towbar ($1000) included.
I felt like we got a good deal, they weren't very flexible because it was already on promotion.
It also came with a 5 year warranty and 3 years free servicing.
We were like you, we fell in love with the Hyundai Santa Fe in 2013, and decided to wait 3 years for a second hand model. Once we were ready to buy, the specs of the newer cars won out, and the Kia is beautiful to drive.
Thank you so much quasar for sharing.
Never even considered Kia to be honest. Like u mentioned, never thought I'll even consider a korean car. But I just did some quick search on Sorrento and it is now a top contender! With their current deal, it is the same listed price with cx9. I wonder if sorento will still discount on top of the current deal. But i actually prefer the sorento look now! Need to give it a test drive and see which one we prefer :)
Now just to keep my heart calm when negotiating. Lol. Me and my other half both are useless. We basically walked in looking like we would buy it at any cost.
Really keen to hear what kind of discount we can get :) went to Range Rover and only managed to get 10k off with a trade me of a old car worth $4k. So basically only $6k off of a $80k car. Doesn't sound much at all.
Field day specials traditionally gave good discounts. But I don't think they are as good as they used to be.
I have been thinking of Mazda CX-9 And Subaru Outback. Two very different cars but these down are in my list :) anyone have experience buying it recently? How much did u guys managed to get after negotiating? Thanks :)
A new car is almost never a bargain, especially when you get get a decent used car for $5-10k. Cars are so reliable these days that a used car will do 99% of what a new car can do, apart from better fuel efficiency and safety.
If you really want to splurge get a big Lexus (they're bulletproof) for $15-20k and spend a bit more on petrol. If you wanna look like a rich guy get a Porsche Cayman for $30k, and buy a cheap van/4x4 to lug stuff around. I know what I'll pick if I have some new car money lying around.
Yeah this is the first time we have even considered buying a newish car. Have to say this is an emotional buy.
Started looking at 7 seater and liked the old cx9 look and did some research and found the new facelift cx9 and can't resist the look. Have been waiting for a year now. When we started looking it was still 'coming'. Wanted to wait for second hand version but it is still not available yet. Prob have to wait for another year before people will trade it in.
And started looking and emotionally just really like the newer look. Lol.
Not financially sensible thing to do - totally agree.
In 10 years time internal combustion engines vehicles will be worthless in New Zealand.
Tesla and/or other full electric vehicles will become far more common here (there are already signs of their growing popularity now) devaluing an already flooded and the biggest depreciating car market in the world.
Good luck.
Problem is that we are still generating some of our electricity from burning fuels.
Burn fuels -> generate electricity -> charge car -> power car, doesn't make sense, it's worse for the environment than a hybrid petrol engine (Burn fuel -> Power car)
80% renewable electricity is the current figure in New Zealand and is one of the world leaders (far better than Australia ~6% and most countries). If you driving a petrol car you are emitting 100% regardless.
But I did say in 10 years time… So I'm expecting 80% to increase by then, I am not discounting petrol/diesel cars now, but in the distant future. I don't actually own/drive an electric car but I suspect I would end up buying one in a few years time given current trends:
France say they are banning petrol and diesel car sales in 2040 (even though they are mostly Nuclear powered)
Volvo recently announced they will only manufacture electric or hybrid cars from 2019. If other car makers follow suit then, we might see the end of production for many petrol/diesel models.
In New Zealand, electricity to charge per km is cheaper than Petrol per km.
Technology into battery recycling and charging has significantly improved over the past few years and will continue to get better. ie. look at an old iphone compared to the current model. The new Tesla 3 does ~350kms and can take 40mins for 80% charge.
I do agree with your point on hyrbids though. They might be more suitable to large vehicles/buses/trucks
true, 80% is pretty good. (I'm surprised it's so high!). However if you run an electric car that uses electricity from non renewable sources you are emitting >100%.
the reason the charge is less is because of road tax, and taxation hasn't caught up with electric vehicles (eg. diseal car is taxed per km not per litre).
I'm all for electric cars and hybrid cars, but it isn't a panacea.
I will give you the best advice of the century……. Avoid Ford Vehicles