Even if it doesn’t come naturally to you it really is worth pushing salespeople slightly – chances are you could end up with a better deal. Steven Baillie, head of Sainsbury’s Loans advised that car buyers “make sure they secure the best possible deal by being prepared to haggle over the price of their new vehicle.” Indeed, according to Sainsbury’s research those prepared to barter could save on average £1,585.  

Here are a few tips on how to secure the best possible deal on a new car: 

1. Your first job is to decide on the car you want. Work out what your budget is and consult a car price guide like Parkers to find out the recommended market price – you can use this as a benchmark when negotiating. 
2. Do a bit of online research – you can use online brokers and importers like Auto finders or Drive the deal to find the best possible prices the web has to offer on your chosen dream machine. Once you’ve got a benchmark price, even if you don’t plan on buying online, you can haggle with an important extra weapon in your armory – a price to beat. 
3. When you’re actually negotiating keep in mind that prices probably aren’t fixed so you can be fairly certain that the potential is there for some movement. A good tip is to time your visit right – go at the end of the month when dealers will be anxious to meet their targets. 
4. As I’ll explain below car dealership finance is generally to be avoided, just don’t let on that you’re unlikely to buy it too early - this could hamper your chances of getting a decent deal, salespeople are probably on commission to sell finance so if they think you might go for it there’s a better chance they’ll move on the price.  
5. In most cases you’ll be better off paying for your new car with a loan. Shop around for the best rate on loans comparison sites like Motley Fool or Uswitch – there are plenty of loans available at far better rates than you’re likely to find with car finance. At the time of writing Moneyback Bank were offering a particularly impressive 6.5% APR and even some of the big boys like A&L Car Loans and Natwest Loans were offering relatively cheap loans at 7.4% and 8.9% respectively (based on £7,500 over 60 months.) These deals are at least all likely to beat a typical dealership finance offer – often in excess of 12%.
6. Although probably not a good idea unless you’re quite organised with your finances and even cheaper option is to buy your car with a 0% credit card. With the likes of RBS credit cards now offering 13 months interest free this is more feasible than ever. Of course, if you haven’t managed to pay it off in that time you can always shift your balance to another 0% card.