[Zed]

Another interesting thread. Wow!

Negotiation and bargaining are not the same.

Here are some insights. While all of these may not apply to negotiations related to car purchases, some are apt.

1. Negotiation is a process. Bargaining is an activity in the negotiation process. We bargain for price. But can negotiate (in) almost anything: time, space, conflict, relationships...
2. The outcome of a good bargain is a satisfactory price. The outcome of a good negotiation is a sense of satisfaction associated with value.
3. A successful negotiation requires a certain degree of preparation.
4. Aim high, get high works for negotiations.
5. We often have more leverage, during a negotiation, than we think.
6. Negotiations have a strong cultural and regional element. In the context of global business, this drives the need for formal negotiation training.
7. Negotiating from a weak position rarely leads to success unless the opponent is weak at negotiating.

[aghate]

Voted 'Yes'.

During the purchase of my very first car in the pre-owned market I came across a well maintained 3rd Gen Honda City. I was checking many adverts during that time as I wanted a good deal. This particular car was on the list for more than 2-3 weeks and was not moving despite the mileage being at 41k and priced at 4.5 lacs. The catch being 'two' previous owners.

During the course of the purchase I low balled them citing that the car already has two owners and no insurance. We finally settled for a price of 4.20 with the Comprehensive insurance being done by me. We could settle for a low price as I said that I would not be financing the car and would be paying straightaway. In my opinion having cash in hand helps in these deals.

Second instance being with my second car in the UK. This works a bit differently here if you have a part exchange car with you. That's the only leverage you have and having good knowledge about the value of your car in the current market helps in this situation. I managed to get £300 knocked off in the exchange process. Additionally, the dealership was very helpful with the provision of replacement spares for the damaged parts of the car.

[mmxylorider]

I can hold my own but any transaction will have 1 party that needs it more. Whoever that is always at a disadvantage. Secondly as a seller, you have to believe in what you are selling. Lastly, the knowledge you will not walk out as the winner in all trades is be borne in mind.

All my car purchases had dealers pitted against each other and I went with the one who stood by his claim.

Read long time ago in a Reader's Digest end of article humor segment (and not verbatim) - "A bargain is a transaction where each party thinks they emerged victorious".

[sgm]

Originally Posted by YashD

Voted "Yes"

Though it highly depends but I've happily been able to save quite a few bucks on my cars.

• My latest purchase - BMW 320d Luxuryline - The BMW dealer pitched it me for around 32 Lakhs, ended up getting the same at 28 with a free Service and an additional extended warranty.

Amazing bargaining skills YashD. 28L for 320D When was this purchase done ? If you say after 2017, I would have to hang myself, I spend almost 25L for Corolla Altis in 2017

[KiloAlpha]

I voted "no", because I am pathetic at assessing the value of the overall deal during a negotiation. And I don't ever bargain hard, but prefer to walk away from a deal I don't like and look for alternative vendors/dealers.

During my most recent purchase, a S-Cross 1.6 after its price correction, I went to book a Zeta variant (one less than top). The dealer took the booking and I just let them know I wasn't in a tearing hurry to buy.
A couple of weeks later, the sales person started calling me and pitching Alpha (top end) variants that he had in-stock, or billed/in-transit from Gurgaon. I hemmed and hawed, prevaricated, gave them a lot of yes-but-no-but-maybe type responses until he pitched a fresh-off-the-transporter piece within my budget. I said yes, maybe interested ... I asked them to delete leather, asked for further price reduction, and went back to saying "I can wait so don't bother pitching a crappy deal".
After a week, the dealer got back with the deal I wanted, so I said yes and proceeded with finance.

Ended up with exactly what I wanted at the exact price I wanted. BUT it was the first time in my life I did something like this.

[i74js]

Its indeed No in my case too.

I typically make up my mind on product and trim level and then open up for discussions. I have always asked for a fair deal followed by a no-regret quote from sales advisor.

Will not pitch one dealer against the other but will obtain the same no-regret quote from the second one too.

I always believe in a face-to-face meeting as it gives confidence to sales advisor. And may be a telephonic discussion with representatives of online portal to get a sense of what is being offered by them.

I then get back to the fellow who offered the best price and get onboard with final discussions and get some additional discounts / free accessories at the closure of deal.

Some other precautions that I take:
- Never buy at the time of launch (hardly any discounts and high headed behavior of sales team)
- End of the calendar year and financial year are good since dealer principals are under pressure
- Polite yet firm in terms of my choices

Finally - I generally don't regret post closure. In principle I satisfy myself and be happy with whatever I was able to manage.

[charanreddy]

Didnt vote as I dont consider myself a good bargainer all the time .

There were instances where I bargained the heck out and got a super price.. Case in point : My Nexon (Cash discounts + Freebies + Free Insurance from company) + Delivery with in a week of booking including loan. Even better was my Beat , I pitched three dealers against each other and bargained until two backed out.

In some cases I dont care especially if the amount is low and If I dont feel investing my time. I do scout for good deals though and optimize on Return per time invested.

[ashikthomson]

I voted for No.
I'm actively self aware that I'm not good at negotiating. Whenever I go to buy something and when I like it, my urge is to always agree on a price faster and save my energy.

Actually when I bought my Karizma R recently, from used market, my friend helped to land in a good price and I was so impatient all the while, thinking if the seller would back off and if someone else comes in quick.

[YashD]

Originally Posted by sgm

Amazing bargaining skills YashD. 28L for 320D When was this purchase done ? If you say after 2017, I would have to hang myself, I spend almost 25L for Corolla Altis in 2017

Please don't hang yourself but I bought the vehicle last year, taking the Delivery on 4th March 2019 though I was banging my head with Navneet from January Last week.

[Carpainter]

Voted for "NO". I'm not really a good negotiator and when it comes to buying cars I usually go for something that my heart says. So at the back of my mind I always know that I can't back off from the car even if I don't get a sweet deal that I want. Moreover, in the last couple of purchases I didn't pick from a car that was lying in the dealer stockyard as you've said. So I had to wait 2-3 months to get my preferred colour/variant and hence no deal.

Originally Posted by blackwasp

• 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).

How's that possible. How did the dealer allow it. I suppose they earn some margin selling off second hand cars they get in exchange deals.

[blackwasp]

Originally Posted by Carpainter

How's that possible. How did the dealer allow it. I suppose they earn some margin selling off second hand cars they get in exchange deals.

For the dealer the used car is just a tool to drive sales. Many times they will work on margins as low as Rs. 5000 to just get the sale going. In this instance, the customer was also an industry person and knew the how exchange bonus claims were processed. So, he submitted the RC copy in his name at the time of buying and then had the car transferred and once the new RC came, a copy was submitted as well. This satisfied the exchange bonus criterion.

[nikhil_pon]

Originally Posted by YashD

Please don't hang yourself but I bought the vehicle last year, taking the Delivery on 4th March 2019 though I was banging my head with Navneet from January Last week.

Its a brilliant deal YashD, thanks for sharing the deal details. It gives prospective buyers some hope and solace that not always prices are exorbitant for luxury used cars in Blore.
Can you please share some tips how did you achieve such a great deal especially in Blore where used car prices are pretty high. Looks like you showed lot of patience to find the right deal.
For a 3 series less than 2 yrs old, it is probably best deal you got. Similar examples are quoted in mid 30's by dealers and not ready to negotiate much.

[YashD]

Originally Posted by nikhil_pon

Its a brilliant deal YashD, thanks for sharing the deal details. It gives prospective buyers some hope and solace that not always prices are exorbitant for luxury used cars in Blore.
Can you please share some tips how did you achieve such a great deal especially in Blore where used car prices are pretty high. Looks like you showed lot of patience to find the right deal.
For a 3 series less than 2 yrs old, it is probably best deal you got. Similar examples are quoted in mid 30's by dealers and not ready to negotiate much.

So, I had no plans to get the bimmer initially. I was religiously looking for a C Class from 2015 - 16. All the prices quoted were in the range of 28 - 36 Lakhs depending on the variant and make. Now, the thing that happened was every car I was liking, the next day it was sold.

This made me pretty annoyed and I listed out options, cross shopping between segments, new cars like Tiguan & Superb also came into the picture. I began taking test drives of the same and one day I was just bored at work hence decided to check out the BMW dealership near my office at Lavelle Road. I was shocked to see the 3er being retailed at 52 Lakhs on road for the Luxuryline trim but then the executive gave me the number of their guy in the used car department. Made a call and luckily, he had a host of options for me. 4 20ds, 1 328i, a couple of X1 and a couple of 5 Series (F10). The next day headed to their showroom, began checking out the cars, at 34 Lakhs quoted initially the LCI was out of my budget. Then came a 2015 Sportsline 26k kms clocked with M Kit pitched to me at 26 Lakhs. I was about to go for it and another example popped up in Jatoba shade for 22 Lakhs Luxuryline 2014 make. The next day Navneet called me up with the prices of the 5 3ers.

1) 320d Blue (2014) - 23.5 Lakhs
2) 20d Alpine white (15 end) - 24.5 Lakhs
3) 20d Alpine white (15) - 23.5 Lakhs again
4) 20d Black LCI (17, July) - 32 Lakhs (He decreased it by 2 Lakhs)
5) 28i white - 21 Lakhs

The F10 didn't appeal to me due to the lackluster performance compared to the 3er and I wasn't much inclined towards the X1. I began negotiating with the dealer on the 15 end Pre-facelift and LCI. On the other hand, I began negotiating with for the Blue SportsLine offered to me by another used car dealer. An another C came into my way for 34 and negotiations began for the same. Also, I was negotiating for a Tiguan with VW and Audi Bangalore for a deal on A4.

Now, I began striking off cars one by one due to various factors. I liked the all these vehicles, the first to go was A4 due to the FWD configuration and at final price of 38 Lakhs for a td vehicle. Next up, was Tiguan because well 3er's performance.

Now, It was between both the 20ds and C, by this time I had already reached mid Feb. The executives of both the manufacturers were coming under pressure and began giving me a better deal, the C came at 33. The 3er came at 31, call this dumb or smart, I was willing to take the risk of letting the car go to some other buyer but I tried to push it a little further by delaying things on the basis of contemplating and told both the dealers about the deals I was getting without revealing the names and off course the price quoted by me was lower. I told BMW that I was finalising the C at 30 and Merc that I was finalising the Bimmer for 31, seeing these prices the blue SportsLine was thrown out of the picture due to the dealership attitude and it clearly felt they were taking me for a ride.

The Mercedes executive called me for a final meeting and close the deal. The final price offered by them was 31.5 and I stuck at 29.5, the reason being car was out of warranty and the central console had some scratches on the wood. Also, I asked Mercedes to remove a dent on the rear door which they were a little apprehensive about though I don't know why, being a buyer I would obviously want my car to be spic and span!

As I was getting back to the square one, headed to BMW and decided to check out the white 3er once more. The final price quoted was 22.5 and after reading about the new engine in the LCi and how improved it is from the predecessor, I took a back to back Test drive of both and decided to push my luck for the LCi. I conveyed the same to the dealer and told him to strike out a better deal to which he said 31 was the best he could do! I decided to take some time to think about it and asked him to send me the service history of the same. Furthermore, I told him clearly that 31 was out of my budget and being a black car, my family is reluctant for the same (I love black and it was always the color I wanted!) Which he felt logical and decided to again convey it to his senior.

After 3-4 days, he called me again for a final meeting with his senior for negotiations and also show me the Service history of the vehicle. During the same, the senior decided to throw in a warranty of 1 Year additionally along with a free service, the final price decided was 30.5 but then I pushed them to show me the complete service history and this is where the deal turned in to my favour. There was a mechanical work done on the car just a couple of months back related to the drivetrain, (nothing major discussed the same with my FNG mechanic and a few friends) caught my eye followed by a few months before the car had met with a minor accident in which the front bumper was changed. It all gave me immense credibility as the dealer executive had informed me that the vehicle was accident free and mechanically absolutely sound. I had a discussion about the same with the dealer and they decided to bring down the price to 29.5 after a heated argument, I again decided to take a couple of days and in the mean time another one of the executives who was making me td the vehicles called me for a final offer. I quoted them 27 as my final offer. The same day he called me with an offer of 29 but I stayed fixed at 27 charging them for not being transparent with me, after a couple of days on 27th Feb they called me up with the offer of 28 Lakhs and asked me to close the deal immediately. I didn't press any further and decided to go for it as I knew a better deal was not possible nor it would be practical. Hence, that's how I got the Sapphire home!

I hope it wasn't too long of a read! Also, just a tip, please be patient and if you're buying a pre-owned car in Bangalore, negotiate hard. Also, avoid the resellers, they try to loot you and stick to the company dealerships. They are much easier to deal with & negotiate also, it's much more peaceful experience in terms of vehicle satisfaction too, just stay in the Zen mode and don't make a deal in gist, evaluate smartly and keep your eyes open, don't be reluctant from walking away, plenty of options in the market. The dealers keeps on getting vehicles and they'll call you whenever they've a new entry in your budget. A few other vehicles had come into the picture in my case as well but I absolutely loved the saddle brown (tan) with black combination on my car hence I stuck to it even though the other option was 7000 km run Jatoba with Beige interiors, LCi at 30 Lakhs.

[nikhil_pon]

Thank You YashD for taking the time to pen down the exact details on how you closed the deal on your BMW. I am sure it is one of the most insightful posts in Team bhp regarding purchase process of preowned luxury car. It is quite credible the way you handled multiple dealers, always kept your cool and went into minute details of the vehicle. Your post will serve as very good reference for other Bhpians. Also shows to us the kind of margins these dealers are playing with. What started at 34 lakh was finally negotiated to 28 lakh plus free service and extra warranty bundled in is phenomenal. You really deserve all the credit for closing on this deal.

[VJ05]

Being a Procurement guy with ~15 years of experience, I can safely say that Negotiation is in my blood. It's my bread and butter. Professionally, I always plan my negotiation strategy well in advance before sitting across the table for any negotiation. In personal front - For mid to high ticket purchase, Yes, I use my negotiation skills but for small purchases, I don't spend too much time & energy. All the 3 cars that I've bought till now, Eon, Amaze and XUV 5OO, I've been able to get the better deal than an average Joe would get.