I've bought a few cars before and have negotiated on behalf of my sister, my friend and my wife when they all bought their Jazzes, and managed to get quite a lot knocked off the asking price so here's a few of my tips on buying. Not in any particular order, just what comes to mind… but hope it helps.
1. Do your home work. You need to spend quite a bit of time knowing everything there is to know about the car you are looking to buy so that no one can BS you. Know the spec of the car, included options, cost of extras you would like, cost of ownership, road tax band, cost of tyres (sometimes the size of tyre is not readily available - my BMW 135i uses tyres that only a couple of manufacturers make!). Given that you already own a Jazz, this shouldn't be too difficult. Do a reccy at your local dealership make sure you're familiar with the car, go for a test drive to make sure it is definitely the one you want. Make sure you know the OTR price of the car, and perhaps a variant of the same car – sometimes they may have a similar one to the one you want that they can offer at a discount price.
2. Buying a car at the end of the month is usually best, as dealers have to meet their targets which means you have better negotiating potential. Better still, if you can wait, buy one just before the reg number changes. They change in March and September each year, so dealers will be looking to get rid of old stock by Feb and Aug – which is the best time to bag a bargain.
3. Since you’re a cash buyer, you can do what I did. Set yourself a date when you will buy the car. Call up/Email the dealerships and make them aware that you are definitely going be buying a Honda Jazz this weekend (say), whoever gives me the best deal will get my business. Usually dealers are not prepared to give a price over the phone or on an Email. But will tell you that they will give you the best deal or you won’t be disappointed etc.. This is ok, but not what you want to know. Tell them that you have been booked in at another dealership and will call them before finalising the deal, but any counter-offer needs to be worth your while. I was lucky and managed to get one dealer to give me their best offer, which I took with me.
4. Set yourself a budget, keep it to yourself and stick to it. Make a list of things you “must have” as well as a list of “would like”. E.g. air conditioning, metallic paint, rear parking sensors, alloys, electric windows, alarm etc. Not all Jazzes come with an alarm, so make sure you check that. As a rule of thumb, you can usually knock about £1k-£2k off the asking price of a typical new family hatch like this.
5. Golden rule when negotiating a price, NEVER give away your budget. Nine times out of ten, the salesperson will always ask you this.. “just so I can help find the best car deal for you, can you tell me what your budget is…”. It’s a trap! Once you’ve revealed your budget, it will give them the upper hand, as they will know what you’re roughly willing to pay, so may not discount as much as they could.
6. If at any point you feel that the negotiation is really not getting anywhere, or if the dealer is really unwilling to budge at all. Walk away. There are plenty of other dealerships around. Be prepared to travel a bit for a good deal.
7. Look out for genuine 0% finance deals. Honda and Toyota did this in the Autumn last year for the Jazz and Yaris. These are worthwhile unless you prefer to pay it all off in one go.
8. Research for known faults, recalls etc and ask if yours will have them sorted before you collect the car.
9. Things people typically ask to have thrown in… genuine car mats, 12mths road tax, full tank of fuel. But for my sister, I also got them to throw in rear parking sensors, 3 years free servicing (any dealership). Parking sensors are expensive for the consumer, but are a relatively cheap add-on for a big dealership.
10. When picking up the car, make sure you check and test everything before you take it away. Sometimes, though rare, there may be scuff marks on the car from delivery. Make sure all the bits that should come with the car or you agreed as part of the deal are there.
