22 May 08
Enjoy the coffee
A car showroom is a seductive place. Palatable coffee, squashy sofas, even personable salesmen all conspire to create a comfort zone that can add to your bill unnecessarily. Accept their coffee by all means; it'll sharpen the skills you'll have gleaned from our guide to showroom trickery.
Unless you're shopping for a new Mini or Smart - the only brands not to discount - your first task is to lower the price of the car.
Beware showroom trickery
The best opening gambit is to ask the salesman what his best price is. That puts the ball in his court. The return shot is likely to be 'how much are you prepared to pay?', but any question about your budget should be batted back immediately. You don't want to set a price, because then you won't know how low he could have gone. 'As little as possible' is a good response.
Fix a figure in your head beforehand by checking a broker website like Broadspeed.com. Because these guys flog cars the dealers are keen to sell, they're a good indicator of how much discount you can expect.
