Bartering knocks £1,000 off car prices

BARTERING Brits are saving themselves hundreds of pounds by haggling over car prices, it was revealed today. Motorists are now getting average savings of nearly £1,000 by forecourt haggling, the survey by the Alliance & Leicester bank showed.

Men barter better than women, getting average savings of £1,180 compared with women's £662.

Five years ago, fewer than 35% of car buyers were prepared to haggle compared with 68% in the last year.

Around half (53.1%) of those who bought a car five years ago managed to negotiate either a price cut or added extras, compared with 75% of those who bought a car in the last year.

Although most of the under-35s (70%) negotiated a price cut, extras, or both, those over 35 managed to secure more off the advertised price.

Alliance & Leicester said this suggested that older people are less likely to try to haggle, but when they do they are likely to get a much better deal than younger people.

Andy Bayes, head of personal loans at Alliance & Leicester, said: 'Motorists must make sure to haggle hard when they are on the forecourt.

'The windscreen price is not the final story and it is encouraging to see that more car buyers are beginning to recognise the strength of their motoring pound.

'We're also glad to see that motorists have been pleasantly surprised by car prices.

'Hopefully car buyers will approach their car financing with the same diligence and really scrutinise the deals, paying particular attention to the interest rate on any loan they may take.'

The survey also revealed:

29% had bought a car in the last year and almost 60% within the last three years.

The average length of time since the last purchase of a car was 2.6 years across Great Britain.

Across different TV regions, this purchase time ranged from 1.8 years in Anglia to 3.2 years in the Carlton/LWT area.

The age group that treats itself to new cars the most is the over-65s, with 46.1% of them buying a new car, compared with just 15.3% of the under-24s.

As younger people buy a relatively higher proportion of cars over one year old, the average price they paid for their most recent car was 23.7% less than the average for Great Britain at just £5,860.

The price of the most recent purchase ranged from an average £4,615 in the West country TV area to £9,763 in the Anglia region.