If you dont want to head over the border then west end garage in uphall are excellent. Stuart is the guy to speak to. And as for 2 v 4 wheel drive .....unless you go off road then save your money and buy winter tyres and spend the money saved on yourself :lol:

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A technique that works for me - get a quote from a website (Autoebid, Drive-the Deal etc.) - print it out - take to your local dealer(s) - say you just want to check their showroom vehicles over - salesperson refers to his sales manager who then rings a director etc. etc. Bingo - they try to get near the internet quote!

Got my new Greenline on the 1st March.

A technique that works for me - get a quote from a website (Autoebid, Drive-the Deal etc.) - print it out - take to your local dealer(s) - say you just want to check their showroom vehicles over - salesperson refers to his sales manager who then rings a director etc. etc. Bingo - they try to get near the internet quote!

Got my new Greenline on the 1st March.

Dave, did you try our local Leicester dealer? I was impressed how they were happy to leave me alone for as long as I wanted with a demonstrator but then surprised that when I asked them to give me their best price, it was way off the mark I could get elsewhere. It was like they weren't bothered in selling a car. They didn't even call me back with a price when they said they were going to 'see what they could do'. Most odd!

My Yeti came from Farmers, Leicester; price was within £200 of DTD, who were the cheapest at the time. Ordered August 2010 - delivered late Jan 2011. No px involved, as their offer, based on 'price to change' was derisory!

All dealers will be more or less compettitive depending on supply/demand/monthly targets etc., but you're always in a better bargaining position if you don't have a px.

There is always a downside to wanting a car which is in short supply and an upside too. It is harder to get a keen price but residuals suggest that a good part of the value will be retained.

I'm impatient and profligate in equal measure so bought a demonstrator without making any real effort to haggle-at the time a 140 Elegance was a rareish beast-and so colour and detail spec were not really in issue if I wanted to drive away within a week or so. I searched dealer stock to verify that there were few to be had.

My bank beat the finance offered and my Seat dealer beat the trade in offered.

It must be tempting for a dealer not to want the bother of negotiating as they -for the time being -will expect to sell their allocation at or near retail. I sometimes think they will be the less successful ones when the market turns.

Dave, did you try our local Leicester dealer? I was impressed how they were happy to leave me alone for as long as I wanted with a demonstrator but then surprised that when I asked them to give me their best price, it was way off the mark I could get elsewhere. It was like they weren't bothered in selling a car. They didn't even call me back with a price when they said they were going to 'see what they could do'. Most odd!

Hi Soupafly

I ended up buying from Listers (Bedworth) but it needed Farmers to sort out my Spacesaver!

It doesn't matter which UK dealer you get the car from - that's how the internet brokers work.

I was worried about performance (after 3 Fabia VRS's) but its fine.

“A technique that works for me - get a quote from a website (Autoebid, Drive-the Deal etc.) - print it out - take to your local dealer(s) - say you just want to check their showroom vehicles over - salesperson refers to his sales manager who then rings a director etc. etc. Bingo - they try to get near the internet quote!”

Yup – did that with two local dealers. Was offered a pittance off list- but was offered about two grand off by using Marlborough West London – who used to supply Drive the Deal…and got excellent service too

“but then surprised that when I asked them to give me their best price, it was way off the mark I could get elsewhere. It was like they weren't bothered in selling a car. They didn't even call me back with a price when they said they were going to 'see what they could do'. Most odd! “

Yup - had exactly that too, locally.

“All dealers will be more or less competitive depending on supply/demand/monthly targets etc., but you're always in a better bargaining position if you don't have a px.”

Yup – had no PX, but see above.

Moral of the story…..a couple of phone calls and, if need be, a journey to collect can save you a fortune. (But I guess we knew that, didn’t we?)