Snoopy: I only tried 2 branches of Benfield and one Pulman. Carrs of Hexham (Benfield group), the place in Morpeth (also Benfield group) and Pulman Durham never offer anything due to location being full of posh idiots who always pay full RRP.
Silverlink is my local (I live in N Shields), they are sometimes open to a deal , but not for my last 2 cars. I have a mate who is in sales in Benfield Scotswood Road. He told me honestly that he couldn't wring out a better part ex than Silverlink offered nor give me any discount as they've already sold their allocation up to May, all at full RRP.
So I went to Pulman Sunderland. The same salesman as last time gave me more p/x than Benfield and said that he couldn't do much for me on terms of price. I asked for free metallic paint and he said his manager won't go for that - he suggested the 3 years services pack worth £329 as there was no additional equipment I wanted to spec. We went for that in the end. He knows what he can and can't get away with e.g. what his manager will approve. He said that right now with limited allocation he can't give any meaningful discounts, but as my current car was from them he was able to inflate the part ex a little (which he did). If I was buying one in a years time I know i'd be able to shave £1.5/2k off the list, but the solutions final value won't be as good (IMO - I have never seen a GTI/GTD hold 55-60% at trade in/3 years) and right now it is £50 a month cheaper than the Roc I own and should be good for a £20-30 a month fuel saving, so by not hanging on a year i'll have saved a grand there.
