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Thread: Buying from a dealership

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Nov 2011
    Location
    Canada
    Posts
    17

    Default Buying from a dealership

    Hello All,

    So we arrived in Dunedin 4 days ago, and we love it! I am pleasantly suprized by how spectacular the beauty is and the friendliness of the people.

    We are seriously considering a particular used car (2000 Subaru Impreza) from a dealership, and we're wondering by how much we can be expected to haggle down the price. It's listed for 11,500, and we're hoping not to spend more than 10,000 (as this is all we have). Is this realistic, do you think?

    I'd love to hear of anybody else's experiences with haggling with car dealers here in NZ.

    All the best,
    Jessica

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    SI NZ
    Posts
    31

    Default

    Hi my advice would be to offer what you think the vehicle is worth and then walk, they will come back to you. In addition get a car which is easy to get parts for, so something popular. I don't know anything about Subaru but Toyota cars are really popular here. You should be able to get a good car for that amount of money. Maybe you could try the main dealerships and see what they have. It's always good to have a relationship with the local main dealer should anything go wrong with your purchase.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Location
    Waikanae Beach
    Posts
    176

    Default

    The price would be pendant on many things, age, mileage, condition, which variant it was etc, and the one thing you will not find on many Kiwi cars... a service history.
    As for getting the price down, I have no idea as I have never haggled over a car purchase price at a dealers as I bought my car a week or so after getting here 4 years ago and still have it. It was lower mileage and in far better condition, nearly new tiers and the oil on the dipstick was quite clean and 1 owner from new and $2000 cheaper than anything I had seen private, it was up at $8250, I said will you take $8000, he said yes, I bought it. That was my only car purchase here and that was a dealer in Petone.

    My wife bought a car private (2 days before I arrived in NZ) and less than a week from purchase date I was driving it in Wellington City and the gearbox broke costing us $2000 AND this car was checked over before purchase by a Kiwi mechanic (We hadn't received his bill when the gearbox went, and after that we got no bill for the job so no comeback on him). I serviced the car when it came back from it's 2 grand repair and found that it had Japanese plugs, air filter, oil filter, wiper blades, etc and the oil was like treacle. These parts with Japanese writing on them were fitted in Japan and are not available in NZ, so they had been fitted when it was imported... further research revealed that the car was actually imported in 2001 and as my wife bought it in 2008 those standard service parts had never been changed, so beware if you ever buy a car private as you have no comeback on the seller whatsoever unlike with a dealer.

    Best of luck
    Cheers
    G

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    Christchurch
    Posts
    384

    Default

    One thing is certain: the dealership does not actually expect to receive $11,500 for the car. The real bottom line is unknown and this is where the haggling comes in... If you have already decided that you need the car, you will pay more (the dealer will read you like a book) - but that's OK if you're happy. Have you looked on Trade Me? It's a good place to start for determining values - but, of course, the list prices there are also inflated... I would modify the advice from the above poster just a bit: offer a small amount less than you think the car is worth and then walk. You will get a response and then it's just a matter of closing the gap.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Location
    New Zealand
    Posts
    162

    Default

    I second Bozeman's comments. In general, large ticket item sellers in NZ build haggle room into their prices and expect (and will often offer up front) to sell for less than the sticker price. Most will go down at least 10% and my experience of car dealers is that some have clearly added at least 20% to the price they expect (I bought a car some years ago for about 25% less than the sticker price, but the sticker price was clearly inflated in the first place). I don't know what the car you are interested in is worth but I would think that you should be able to get it for your budget or less. Occasionally there are cars that are heavily discounted for some reason already, that might have a bit less negotiation room on price, but these are usually obvious (e.g. newspaper ads offering a big discount of a sticker price). If you treat it as a bit of a game and haggle in good spirit, the majority of decent car dealers (and other retailers) seem to quite enjoy a hard bargain, so don't be shy.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Mar 2011
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    193

    Default

    11,500 for a 2000 Subaru Impreza? Unless it's incredibly low mileage, mint, comes with full service history and warranty and is one of the super fast ones (WRX), walk away. That's a scandalous price - its a 12yrs old car. I'd be looking at a Subaru Legacy, much better car (spec, size etc.) on 2002 which would still be less, even the fast ones.

    I bought from a dealership in Hamilton, I got virtually nothing off (but then again, I got a great price, had great service from them - Dave Allen motors in Hamilton)

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Nov 2011
    Location
    Canada
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    Yeah, 2000 is old. But it has only 34,000 Kms, and it's a 2 Litre engine.

    We're looking at a cheaper one with around 100, 000 Kms today (for $7000).

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Nov 2011
    Location
    New Zealand
    Posts
    39

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    34,000km on a 2,000 model car would raise my suspicions you would need to ask if the mileage had been certified as original.

    The price does seem high for that age. We bought a 2004 Ford Mondeo at a Toyota dealership with 65,000km and a full service history and paid $10,500 which included a 3 year mechanical warranty. He wouldn't haggle on the price other than the warranty at half price.

    Also before buying check what insurance replacement value would be on a car, the AA website does online quotes which would show an agreed value. You don't want buy a car you can't insure at the price you want.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Nov 2011
    Location
    Canada
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    Thank-you, that was all good advice. We ended up with a nice 2004 Toyota Corolla Station Wagon, 4WD, with a warranty and certified kms, at 118, 000. It has exactly everything we wanted. To boot I accidentally came across an excellent mechanic (the pickiest in Dunedin) who looked it over and found a number of minor issues, which the dealership is taking care of.

    Funny story of how I found the mechanic: I dialed the wrong number for a random mechanic in the phone book and got a packaging company. The man there asked me what I was looking for, and when I said a mechanic he highly recommended his. Very friendly little bit of sharing on his part. I've found Dunediners exceptionally friendly so far.


  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Location
    North Canterbury, New Zealand
    Posts
    865

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by dwgknz View Post
    34,000km on a 2,000 model car would raise my suspicions you would need to ask if the mileage had been certified as original.
    I reckon this certified mileage thing is a scam. Unless there is strong documentary evidence (NZ new for example and WOF records) it is almost impossible to verify the mileage of a vehicle.

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