We're always told to buy a new car when the dealer is desperate for orders to meet his monthly quota and will give you the best deal. So the new registration months of March and September are obviously to be avoided.

But.....

When does the order count against the dealer's quota? When the order is placed, or when the deal is completed, with delivery of the car, registration and payment of most of the money?

Makes a difference to us, as an order now (poor month for sales) for an Octy 2 would mean March (06) delivery (lots of deliveries). Is that bad or good?

Put the question last night to a long-time friend in the motor trade, and his response was to try to get me to buy something else entirely - well, it was very late at night and he just couldn't remember what the answer was - nor can I....

Right o here we go.

Franchised dealers have a monthly sales target, these targets can be both set by the dealer and also part of a sales campaign from the manufacterer.

If a dealer is behind on the manufacterers target - it's not uncommon for them to wipe all their profit or even loose money on a deal in an effort to get the backend bonus from the manufacterer.

Quite often these backend bonus's can make the difference between making money and losing money.

When it comes to getting deals, the best deals can be had for cars that are in stock, especially if you are talking a deal at the end of the month.

If you are flexible in the spec you want, are in a posistion to complete a deal quickly there can be some very good deals around.

This month is not really that bad for sales, believe it or not used sales are very strong this time of year -- plus the orders coming in for March.

If your not bothered by new reg - then you could get a great deal for end of Feb.

then again leave it a while for delivery in April -- when it WILL be quite.

Many thanks, Skodaw - so I should go for something in stock for delivery before March, or sign up in a month or so for precise spec after the March rush.

Methinks an early Feb approach to our local (quite decent) dealer should flush out the best prospects - 55 plate in stock before March or 06 plate to spec later in the year.

Is that right?

Methinks an early Feb approach to our local (quite decent) dealer should flush out the best prospects - 55 plate in stock before March or 06 plate to spec later in the year.

Is that right?

Yes that's it -- you don't always have to take their stock either, they have a locator system that can find new cars that are either at the storage centre or have been sent to other dealers -- so you may not need to sacrifice too much spec -- if you let the sales guy know that you are flexible they will tend to do more to try and find the best car available for you,as well as try and upsell you as well

The other thing is if your going to have finance on the car -- there are a couple of things to remember -- always take id with you (drivers licence,payslip,utility bill)-- finance companies need this and if the salesman sees you've brought it with you - he'll know your serious.

Also don't just accept the figures( finance rate) always challenge there rates - sometimes they will drop them a little to get your business -- don't for one minute think they are set in stone,although this will depend on the size of the dealership and how good a relationship they have with the finance company.

Sadly, I'll be paying cash. I say "sadly" because dealers make good money on selling you finance and are more likely to give you a better cost-to-change figure.

Yes that's it -- you don't always have to take their stock either' date=' they have a locator system that can find new cars that are either at the storage centre or have been sent to other dealers -- so you may not need to sacrifice too much spec -- if you let the sales guy know that you are flexible they will tend to do more to try and find the best car available for you,as well as try and upsell you as well

The other thing is if your going to have finance on the car -- there are a couple of things to remember -- always take id with you (drivers licence,payslip,utility bill)-- finance companies need this and if the salesman sees you've brought it with you - he'll know your serious.

Also don't just accept the figures( finance rate) always challenge there rates - sometimes they will drop them a little to get your business -- don't for one minute think they are set in stone,although this will depend on the size of the dealership and how good a relationship they have with the finance company.[/quote']

And they sometimes think they're being very smart by quoting you flat rate - I was told 5% flat, which is 9% apr. You can get 6% apr just on the internet.

Why not go for their Finance "if" you can get a better discount on the Car, do the deal then pay off the Finance within the first month or whatever the cancellation period is as you have the cash available. Did this a few years back with a Honda.

Why not look at an Internet broker deal there are some good ones out there and some good pre-reg deals by dealers seeking to hit or exceed their targets.

I have to say when I tried five of my local Skoda dealers the response to my inquiries was pathetic and their idea of a good deal laughable.

That's why I used a specialist dealer, not a main dealer. Chalk and cheese. Got a neat deal, paid with old car plus cash, then set up a standing order to "pay myself back" the cash. 0% interest [though losing a measely few quid on investment interest].

Does pay to shop around, I went to my local dealer in Sept 04 Gorners in Warrington (before it shut) but they were not interested in doing a deal RRP only no budging, did get a nice 4hr test drive though Went to Woodlands in Blackpool just on the off chance as I was up there for a business meeting which finished early and they were great very helpful and were prepared to negiotate, after two hours of negiotation we signed a deal there and then.

NEVER buy for delivery on 1st March or 1st September.

Cars are sometimes rushed through - my previous car was and I will never buy that way again.

My current (New) Car was a demo adn I took delivery in December - a quiet time. the car was registered in april (again a quiet time) and the car is fine.

I used to think buying just before the New Registration months was best, but this is not always the case. Buying at the end of any month can be best depending if the dealer needs your sale to hit target. Obviously at the end of the year and the month preceding a new registration letter, the dealers are very keen to sell a car. But it’s not the selling that’s important; it’s the registering of the vehicle that counts to their targets. I sold a new Nissan Micra to a woman who came in for a 1.2 S model (fairly low spec) but as it was the last day of March and we needed her registration, we ended up selling her a 1.2 SX (Top end model) for the same money. She then had the nerve to ask, as she now had a higher spec’ model than she originally wanted, would we pay the difference on her insurance? (Good for her I thought) which we did. The crucial point to us was that she would not only sign on the day, but was prepared to let us register the car on the same day too. This meant we had to drive to the local Direct Line insurance building and pick-up in person her new insurance (we did not have the car physically but had the chassis number etc) in order for us to register her new car. She picked it up a week later and saved around £2,000 in the process,

So I would say, always try to buy a new car at the end of the month and you should be able to see which dealers are looking desperate for that one, last elusive sale. Then be prepared to haggled like mad and also be prepared for them to rush through your insurance cover (they can’t legally use photo-copies from an insurance firm, so you may have to use a local insurer) One reason dealers do these deals when a new Reg’ letter comes in, is if they are short on target, they might have to pre-register some cars to make their bonuses. This often means they will have to sit on the cars for 3 months in order to qualify for various other discounts from the Manufacturer.

Happy hunting

Lady Elanore, that's an interesting post, particularly the insurance aspect.

• I have a personal reg.no.which I would want to transfer at the time of trade-in and
  

• the only vehicle identification on my insurance certificate is the reg.no.
  

.

so does that mean my existing certificate could be used in the situation you describe. Clearly it would be sensible to clear it with my insurer first but that aside could there be any problem with completing registration? Because the certificate would obviously not be temporary and its start date could be almost 12 months in the past it would be self evident it had not been obtained to cover the new vehicle.

Lady Elanore' date=' that's an interesting post, particularly the insurance aspect.[list']

[*]I have a personal reg.no.which I would want to transfer at the time of trade-in and

• the only vehicle identification on my insurance certificate is the reg.no.
  

.

so does that mean my existing certificate could be used in the situation you describe. Clearly it would be sensible to clear it with my insurer first but that aside could there be any problem with completing registration? Because the certificate would obviously not be temporary and its start date could be almost 12 months in the past it would be self evident it had not been obtained to cover the new vehicle.

When I changed my car a couple of months ago, complete with private plate transfer, the local DVLA office demanded a new insurance certificate/cover note that started on the date the car was to be collected. I didn't think to ask why at the time but presumably it was to guard against this sort of event.

Hello

I wonder if I could widen the thread to include second hand. I know it includes many more variables and the issues of targets many not apply but does anyone have any tips on the best time to buy second hand (not an old banger but a 1or 2 year old probably from a franchise dealer). Also does it pay to get rid of car first and have cash in hand or will they knock los of of money off if they can sell you finance.

Lots of bvague questions I know but any knowledge gratefully accepted!

Lady Elanore' date=' that's an interesting post, particularly the insurance aspect.

[list']

[*]I have a personal reg.no.which I would want to transfer at the time of trade-in and

• the only vehicle identification on my insurance certificate is the reg.no.

.

so does that mean my existing certificate could be used in the situation you describe. Clearly it would be sensible to clear it with my insurer first but that aside could there be any problem with completing registration? Because the certificate would obviously not be temporary and its start date could be almost 12 months in the past it would be self evident it had not been obtained to cover the new vehicle.

We used to be able to get an insurance cover note based on the vehicle chassis number, but that was a couple of years ago and you would have to check whether this is still the case. The reason for this was, the Dealer gets the chassis number before he even sees the car in the flesh. I think your safest course of action is to put your Private reg on a retainer and transfer it later on if there is a problem. Normally however, you should be able to get the relevant retension documents from your local big Post Office to assist in the transfer and then you take this retension (I'm not sure how you spell it)document to the dealer who will register the car using your special reg. they should not have to register it first with a normal reg if you see what I mean. Once your private reg has been put on a retainer, the trade in car will be given a new reg number, commensurate with its true age. You should speak to your dealer in advance and check with their backroom staff as to what is required, they will know the relevant document code for the Post office doc’ and will also know how much it will cost….it’s not much as I recall, around £40 or so. This is probably the safest option ie. to sort it out before you trade the car in. After all if you leave it too late the car might get sold on with your private reg and then you might have trouble getting it back from the cars new owners.:eek:

The odd business with the chassis numbers was only when we were desperate for a registration and did not have time to acquire a reg number for the vehicle. Usually the person who does this work is snowed under by tons of registrations and orders; they certainly don’t get paid enough. I’ve seen Sales managers leaning on them to register and tax cars without a proper insurance document present. This is illegal and can land everyone in big trouble.