Buying Used Car, how much haggle room do I have?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I’m looking at the following:

Infiniti, Lexus, Volvo

Price range 17,500 U.S to 21,000 U.S

Mileage: 35k or less

Years 2002-2005

How much room is there to haggle on used cars? I am very used to buying new, but now decided that I would rather buy a depreciated auto for my wife/kids, rather than lease a new one. The brands listed above should prove dependable and safe past 100k miles, hopefully for years after they are paid for.

I can’t see dropping on a lease. Unfortunately, this means I am entering uncharted waters when it comes time to know if they are taking enough off the price. At all times, I will talk total price, and not monthly payments.

Any opinions?

2

Are you buying from a private individual or used car dealership?

A lot depends on how good you are at negotiating. I don’t mean the nickle and diming kind of stuff. Inform youself about the local market value of your object of desire. Use Black/Blue book values and Edwards and whatever else is freely available on the net. Take the high and low range of what they recommend and decide what you’re willing to pay. Realize that a car dealer will want to make a profit and your chances improve if the car has been on the lot longer or is a luke warm seller. But, above all else, try not to let emotion rule your decision and be willing to walk away from a car deal that is outside your comfort range. There are always cars available and unless you are in a great rush to buy something immediately, time is on your side.

There… completely not helpful, right? :smack:

I have to be honest though… in that price range and for a family type sedan, you can buy a new Hyunday Sonata with a V6 and a 5-star crash test rating. It’s a handsome car this year (IMHO) and very well built at the price. Yes, it’s not a lexus or infinity level of luxury and appointment but you do get a car with a terrific warranty and very good reliability. And it is well appointed.

3

I can’t address the price issue, but I think it’s a must to have the vehicle inspected by an independant professional mechanic before you sign anything. It will cost you $100.00 or so, but it’s money well spent. The inspection should include a Carfax check. You should find inspectors listed in your yellow pages. Don’t use anyone recommended by the seller. Beware of prices significantly below market value.

4

It depends; the safe assumption is “lots”. I’ve looked at a very average used cars whose owner wouldn’t budge from a price at least 20% over market value. And one beauty where the owner had already knocked the price down to about 60% of what he could easily have obtained before I’d finished kicking the tires.

Owners vary a great deal in their motivations for selling, their perceptions of value, etc. If possible, shop until you find the right seller. Do your homework so you’ll know the difference between good and bad value.

And A.R.Cane’s advice on inspection is sensible.

5

I am kind of stubborn. I believe strongly in buying used cars. However, I also trust my research on what a car is worth compared to what I am willing to pay more than anything a buyer or dealer could ever say. I do my research, have the car inspected by a mechanic and then walk in a tell them I am making a non-negotiable offer. Take it or leave. For some reason they never quite believed me and I have to use the phrase “Repeat back what I just said”. I have done it twice as almost a joke but it worked just fine and I was truly prepared to walk away just because I am hard headed. In one case, I got a BMW for $16,000 instaed of $17,800 and the second time I got an SUV for $10,000 instead of $12,000.

You can use that if you aren’t shy and really prepared to do it.

6

You have to be prepared to walk away. Don’t fall for any of the add-ons, like paint sealant and stuff. Don’t let them talk you out of your set price. If they can’t make a deal, there’s plenty of others who will.

My dad is a whiz at this. He refuses to walk all around the lot, looking at different cars. He demands the cars be brought to him to test drive. He refuses to go in to “crunch the numbers,” but prefers to talk outside. Do not discuss trade-ins until the price of the car has been set. And do not be fooled by monthly payment amounts…you want the entire price of the car.

7

A note on the newest Hyundai: Definitely a worthy car, but equipped the way I want, then it creeps to 22k+. I would seriously consider this otherwise.

I’ve scoped an Infiniti at 18,700 and an Lexus ES300 at 18,500 (both around 30k miles) and I would take either car for 16,700 and 16,500 respectively. I guess I want to know if that is a reasonable goal, and based on feedback, I have a shot at that.

8

Just saw a commercial for the Sonata and they are offering a $2,000 mfr rebate. Not sure if your research included that.

By the way, I am not a Hyunday salesman, not an owner, nor do I own stock in that company. :slight_smile:

Just think it’s one of those rare good bargains.

9

Good point. The last time my wife and I bought a Mazda, we looked at their web site as part of our research and found a sweet rebate being offered on our car choice. The salesman at the lot never mentioned it and claimed that he didn’t know about it

10

Before you make any offers, visit CarBuyingTips.com. There’s a whole section on how to buy a used car, covering everything from finding the car you want to buying an extended warranty.

11

Had to update:

Well, I took the wife and my 3 y/o daughter out last Friday to car shop while my 5 y/o son was in school.

Started out looking at Lexus, Infinity, Acura and Volvo at some local ‘import’ retailers who offer mostly 1-4 year old premium imports. Ok, well…I was suddenly introduced to the ‘no haggle’ price. Yep, like Saturn, they have a policy of no haggling – several places where I have been checking prices/inventory on the web for a while, looking for that 22,000 dollar Lexus/Infinit/etc with < 30k miles. I found several, and went to check them out.

Now, I am okay with this no haggle policy, but the problem is that when perusing the inventory and prices in advance, it wasn’t mentioned anywhere. My final ceiling on spending was to finance no more than 18k…and I’d put down maybe 1500-2000 bucks. So I looked for good deals of 20-24g’s that could be haggled down even modestly.

With no haggle prices of 22-24g’s, I was a bit ticked. When you have to look at 18-20,000 dollar cars, the quality and miles are not as great.

To make a long story short…in the same day, we find a way to get our 1997 Jetta repaired for a reasonable price (so I can drive it daily and park my quad cab truck), and test drive a brand new Toyota Solara convertible…which is quite roomy in back.

Anyway, we blow off the Solara convertible because they are like 29 grand, and we focus on a 1 year old Camry. After haggling a bit, they come back and try to push the Solara, because convertibles don’t exactly fly off the lots during the winter.

But I know that any Toyota where I live will be tough to haggle over. From my research, 1,000 to 1500 off would be great.

So we drive off with a pearl white Solara convertible – brand new – with about $2,5000 off the sticker.

Car shopping — gotta love it.