Where are used car prices with the MK8 launch and other worldly troubles?

[My other womans a vw.]

I’m with Yusee on this,I thought the average joe could go in and haggle 10%.
With the way things are unfolding,why would that not be unreasonable?
In fact,i’m gonna haggle for more,i’m just doing my research to try and establish the sweet spot between “can you please leave the showroom sir” and “sign here please”.
Whilst we don’t want to get bogged down with the virus on here,it is a massive factor in the discussion.

[Yusee]

Just to give you some hard numbers here... My current gtd is worth about 14k trade. It would retail for about 18k. Of the 4k gross profit, 20% is vat, probably five hundred is the vw warranty package and you've got probably two man days of your rolled up labour costs. I'd guess there is net about fifteen percent margin. On that basis no sane business is going to want to give away more than five percent. This isn't about knocking some private seller down a few quid, this is retail business.

So are they going to sit on their stock for over a year? They'll need some cashflow.

[fredgroves]

If you want to score a bargain then either try some non vw dealer or find a private seller who is desperate... As I said, vw dealerships are proper businesses, usually group business, and have strict margins to adhere to like any sane business does...

They also have mechanisms to deal with stale stock. Don't imagine this is mickey mouse business.

[Yusee]

If you want to score a bargain then either try some non vw dealer or find a private seller who is desperate... As I said, vw dealerships are proper businesses, usually group business, and have strict margins to adhere to like any sane business does...

They also have mechanisms to deal with stale stock. Don't imagine this is mickey mouse business.

I'm sure you're right. I still wouldn't be interested at 5%.

[My other womans a vw.]

Fred,are you a current/ex vw employee?
Your posts are full of good,in-depth info-you post as though you know the trade well,I want to hear from people like yourself.
I am prepared to haggle,that’s not a problem for me,but I have no recent experience in how the trade currently operates,so I want as much info as I can get,so I can sort the wheat from the chaff.
My last experience with a dealer was for a Mk2 driver years ago,advertised in the local rag at one price,£800 more when I got there.It was a nightmare,ended up involving my Dad,who went ballistic,saying they were trying to con me,because I was young.Got there in the end,but it was a crap experience and it taught me a lot about doing your homework.
Nobody thinks Vw is a Micky mouse business,especially on here.

[fredgroves]

No, I don't work anywhere near the motor trade, but i do work for an organisation which is very cost concious and works all of the numbers to ensure that profit margins are hit.

The idea that Tesco say buy baked beans ex factory at 20p and sell them at 50p means that they make 30p is the sort of cost accounting only possible for a simplistic business that fails to understand its true cost model and profit targets.

The only sort of people playing those simple calculations are really dumb small businesses, not one who's revenues are hundreds of millions of pounds.

Remember that while you see the VW logo on a stick outside of the showroom, those people are franchised dealers and most probably they are operated by a large group (Inchcape etc) and they certainly are not owned by VW. Beyond that you have "VW UK" which is a wholesale and marketing operation, VWFS which is a finance company and then you have VW gmbh itself, which is a manufacturer.

All of these people are switched on businesses, none are running a lemonade stall outside of their house.

[My other womans a vw.]

That isn’t gonna stop me trying to wring more than 5% out of them.
If they start with the overheads/margins spiel,I could say i’ve had no overtime for months,so my margins are reduced.
Joking of course-on your bean scenario,there’s an advert on telly at the moment,comparing bean prices.
Not that I want to stray off topic,but it’s examples like that,which reinforces my opinion that things are overpriced and there is room to manoeuvre.
The more I look into this,the more interested I become-large businesses are greedy.
I have already made my first mistake,I emailed a dealer and when he replied,I told him I was a cash buyer.
Lesson learnt,but only through doing a bit of research.

[barrym381]

I’m with Yusee on this,I thought the average joe could go in and haggle 10%.
With the way things are unfolding,why would that not be unreasonable?
In fact,i’m gonna haggle for more,i’m just doing my research to try and establish the sweet spot between “can you please leave the showroom sir” and “sign here please”.
Whilst we don’t want to get bogged down with the virus on here,it is a massive factor in the discussion.

10% on a 25k car is 2500quid not many dealers will entertain that unless they bought it cheap in the first place

[Watts]

I realise getting a good deal is important but the best deal isn't necessarily the lowest price. Surely since this is for a s/h car where there are more variables than buying new, getting the right car is more important?

[Pretzel]

Having searched for a long time for the right colour and specification I purchased a pre-owed Golf from Marshalls about the 18th March just as Covid-19 was starting to get really serious.

They offered me a fair price for my old car but suggested trying 'We Buy Any Car' in case I could get more, however the price to purchase would still be the same. Sold my car to WBAC for the same price as VW offered in the hope that would make a difference but they were fixed and wouldn't move.

My take is that once we resume some type of normality there won't be a great deal of price reduction although I accept this will be dependent on supply and demand. There may be a few extras thrown in to the deal and possibly service and maintenance benefits but not massive discounts unless you are not bothered about colour and specification.