Overhaulin'

By about what percent can you usually haggle car prices down at a dealership?

Looking to buy a new car; don't know how much to attempt to haggle down by. To the first answer, that's helpful except for the fact that Edmunds is for US buyers and I am Canadian. Thanks for the answer though!! Again, I am CANADIAN

Public Comments

1. Never haggle DOWN from the sticker price, always haggle UP from the invoice price. Make sure the dealer knows up-front that you know what his costs are, and you're likely to not get the run-around because they know they can't fool you with sleight of hand. Go to http://www.edmunds.com and configure the car you want to buy. It will give you the invoice price of the car (what the dealer paid). Investigate any hold-backs for the dealer (those are incentives the factory pays the dealers: http://www.edmunds.com/advice/incentives/holdback/index.html ), and figure that into the calculation. Then haggle UP from there. Depending on the value of the car, a dealer "should" (if you haggle well) accept only a few hundred-dollars profit on a car sale. When you reach a deal, get EVERYTHING in writing. If they say they'll put on a pin-stripe, make them write it down. If they say they'll put in LoJack for free, make them write it down. If they won't write it into the contract, get up and leave. Read the fine print on the contract. Make sure the loan information is correct (some dealers scam you buy bumping UP the price, then giving you an extended loan period of 72 months, so your payment is low and hopefully you won't notice the price increase). When I bought my last car, I had all my info on my laptop, I sat down in the salesman's office and opened it up on his desk and as we haggled, I entered all his information into a spreadsheet I had prepared, including calculations for taxes, dealer prep, etc. If you go in prepared, you'll get a great price.
2. depends on the car, your first answerer has it mostly correct... I've seen a few cars sold AT invoice...
3. Do not haggle with car dealers - do EVERYTHING online. If you belong to Costco or Sam's they have car buying programs that will save you serious $. My last car we bought was 04 Ford Explorer loaded that had a sticker of $39,000 that we got for $29,000. The internet guys work on volume and not gross profit so they tend to cut you deals more so than when you walk in to a dealer. I will never, ever haggle with a car sales person every again.
4. You might find this website helpful, since it is for Canadian car buyers. http://canadaonline.about.com/od/carbuying/Buying_and_Selling_Cars_in_Canada.htm Adam http://www.adamherringpoetry.com
5. Profit margins are extremely lower than they used to be......Buy a used car! You can spend all day haggling...If you wanted to....Depends on the car!
6. Dealers may be willing to bargain on their profit margin, often between 10 and 20 percent. Usually, this is the difference between the manufacturers suggested retail price (MSRP) and the invoice price.