Don’t forget to bargain when buying a new car!

Most drivers buy a new car at some point. Here it is important not to simply accept the gross price as at the deep-freeze counter. Buying a car is usually an expensive affair, but the vehicle is usually supposed to drive for several years – so the purchase should be well thought out. That’s why it’s important in the car dealership not only to get good advice to talk seriously about the price.

What else can you do with the price?

Usually quite a lot. If you assume a vehicle like the VW Golf with normal equipment (private use), you can almost always bargain down at least 1000 EUR – assuming the top offer of the year is not running (e.g. “VAT 19% free” is sometimes not so much to get)
All manufacturers have regularly special models of their vehicles – for the World Cup as well as for the Eurovision Song Contest. These models are interesting because they usually have a very generous standard equipment bring it with you – but don’t let yourself be persuaded that you can’t discount anything, even with special models – the manufacturer calculates the profit in the same way.

What is the best way to negotiate with the seller?

Most important bid: Catch don’t stop at floor mats and don’t be happy about a fuel voucher or 10 liters of motor oil! Find out exactly what special equipment you want, what the individual items cost and how much euros can realistically be discounted. Never choose a car from the catalogue, then test drive it and sign the sales contract in one session with the seller! rush Don’t sign a contract! First of all, test drive. Then ask the seller the equipment together and talk realistic about the price – which one – quite specifically in euros, could still decrease. Tip: A set of winter tires on top is almost always possible. If the dealer doesn’t want to give you an interesting discount: Go home and call him – until an acceptable discount comes about. If nothing can be done in the form of a classic discount – ask for special equipment such as one higher quality radio or even the next more powerful engine at no extra charge.

Tip: Financing preferred to cash payment!

Car financing used to be a sign of poor creditworthiness and is now very popular with all manufacturers. According to information from large automobile manufacturers, financiers are also involved more loyal customers than cash payers, because you change the vehicle more frequently, while cash payers usually drive the same car for many years. The reason why car sellers are so happy about financing is that the seller / dealership is relatively independent of the financing banks (e.g. the Audi Bank for Audi or the BMW Bank for BMW). high commissions received for a concluded loan agreement. This commission then goes to the customer often in the form of discounts on the vehicle.
A good financier pays at least a quarter of the total price – half is optimal – and usually finances the rest in 36-48 monthly installments. The higher the down payment, the less likely it is that the bank will reject it.

Regardless of whether you are a regular or a new customer and: Conclusion:

In the car error test, we registered with a large Bavarian VW car dealership chain for a test drive in the VW Scirocco. In hindsight, we posed for about 30 minutes with the seller who dated us unknown was putting our dream vehicle together, whereby we ourselves friendly and tech-savvy gifts. With a diesel engine and a few extras, we came up with a gross price of around EUR 27,000. When asked by the seller, we stated that we did not have a car to trade in, would like to pay cash (i.e. transfer in one amount) and use the car purely privately, whereby we drive 20,000 km a year. Without us having started talking about discounts, the seller leafed through the purchase price lists and told us that the price could definitely be reduced by another 2000 euros. Surely one or the other extra would have been added free of charge through further conversation. The conversation would certainly have gone particularly well for us as new car buyers – but it primarily shows that Willingness of most sellers to meet the customer with the final price! So always try to negotiate the price – the profit margins are still high enough.