Indians love deals & negotiation is an important part of the car buying process. Be it a used car or new, we always want to get the best discount possible. Negotiation can't be only for discounts though, as in some cases, there are no offers on newer cars, but you can always bargain for other stuff. There is scope for getting free accessories, reduced loan rates, better insurance quotes, bundled service packs and more. It all depends on certain conditions, but when they are met, you can get a sweet deal!
Here are some examples I have encountered both as a buyer and as a seller / salesperson (
I have worked at a Maruti-Nexa dealership).
• Our 2009 Grande Punto - Managed to get the 1.2 Active variant with a bundled music system and speakers + mats and mudflats for less than a Swift VXi at that time. How did we get this done? The dealer had a stockyard car in the blue shade which wasn't moving. We managed to negotiate this on the condition that we would book the car then and there itself. The final price was just Rs. ~4.23 lakhs.
• A customer picked up a 2015 manufactured car in 2017 for a very sweet price. The car was initially booked by one customer and in 2016, and removed off the stock list. The customer didn't go with it due to some reasons and somehow, the car was not picked by other customers despite offers. One day, a prospect saw the 2-year-old car as an opportunity to get the best possible deal. He initially started with cash discounts and in the end, got Rs. 1.5 lakhs off the OTR price, free insurance, 4-year extended warranty and 20k worth of accessories. A quick calculation tells me all this is worth ~ Rs. 2.2 lakhs - over 20% off for a 14-month-old car (Dec '15 car sold in Feb '17).
• 2016 Abarth Punto - We got her for ~ Rs. 10.5 lakhs OTR. The main reason for picking up this car was the fact that the Fiat dealer offered us the best deal for our old Punto. We got ~ Rs. 1.3 lakhs for her. As the car was 2015 manufactured, we also got the ex-showroom price to under Rs. 10 lakhs to save on the road tax. Back then, cars over Rs. 10 lakhs had some 1-2% extra tax. Got the insurance from outside and registered the car myself to save some more.
• 2009 Chevy Spark - My uncle wanted to sell this car, but we got very poor quotes (Rs. 25,000 - 30,000). Decided to use the car, do some basic maintenance and then try again after a year. In less than a year, I got a quote for Rs. 60,000!!! Decided to sell it via Cars24. Also got an email from them after about 2 months that the car was transferred to the new owner.
• Another customer transferred his existing car on his wife's name and claimed the exchange bonus of Rs. 50,000 on his new Ciaz! Good jugaad (only in India).
• 2002 Palio 1.6 - A friend's friend was selling this decently maintained car. Landed up to check the car out. The place was quite far from Mumbai, so the seller realised I was serious. Told him about my car history and plans for the car in the future. As the insurance had expired and the car came in the highest slab of insurance (thanks to the 1.6L engine), I asked him to reduce the price by this amount as well as to factor in the cost of tyre replacements. I will not reveal the exact amount, but it was a 5-digit figure. Of course I spent an equal amount on getting her serviced, new tyres and some repairs here and there, but had I not negotiated, I would have had to pass this car. Picked her up in October 2019.
• A customer negotiated a deal on the 3-year service pack for his Ciaz (which had no cash discounts per se) when I was working in Nexa. Maruti has service plans and very few customers know about them at the time of buying. This is usually sold by the service advisor at the time of the first service or subsequently. While this may not be the best option for all, it is certainly worth considering if your usage matches the recommended service interval.
• Very few customers I interacted with would negotiate hard. Most of them would negotiate not for the price savings but for the moral victory of getting a deal no one else got. It could be as simple as giving free car mats, perfumes and a couple of those nice soft MGA pillows. But a very memorable one I remember, was a customer who first asked about a car for himself. We gave him a test drive and he booked it on the spot. He wanted a black Ciaz, which wasn't in stock. So we told him to wait for 4-6 weeks (the regular waiting period). After about 2 weeks, he brings in his colleague and we give her a test drive too. She wanted a diesel Ciaz in the white shade which we had in stock. We discussed the rates and finalised the deal. But this wasn't over yet. He got one more colleague the next week and now told us what is the best deal we could do for 3 cars billed to the same company. As the transaction amount was large, the owner was himself involved in the negotiation. In the end, the customer got a discount equivalent to old stock cars (e.g. 2019 cars sold in 2020) as fresh cars. He also got some accessories - but as all three cars were top variants, very few could be given.
Tips for negotiation on your next car purchase
• Pit dealers against each other. This is the best way to drive prices down.
• Accessories are the highest margin products for the car dealer. So among all others, you have a higher chance of getting some freebies like mats, seat covers etc.
• In case of an exchange, many dealers have a target percentage of exchange cases every month. There is a lot of scope for negotiation on the old car's price. At times, the dealer will even take a small hit on the used car if it helps move his inventory.
• Pick a car from the dealer's ready stock, rather than ordering from the factory for better deals. A dealer's first preference is to get a sale from his inventory rather than order a fresh car. Usually, the dealer orders cars from the factory 1-2 times a month and has already given out his choice of variants / colours for a particular model. So, he would definitely want to sell a car from this verses place an additional order for just 1 car - the colour / variant choice is sent every 30 days for cars in the next 2 lots (one lot every 15 days).
• Except Maruti, you can even negotiate on the insurance quote. Just ask them to match or better any quote you get from outside. Like car exchange, insurance percentage is a target for many dealers.
• Take a look at service packages and extended warranty as well when negotiating. You can also work out a deal on these as they will help in the long run vs upfront price reduction.
So a question to all the BHPians - Are you good at negotiating? How much did you bargain off your new / old car?