Haggle hard when buying a car, motorists urged

04/11/2009

Many people are opening themselves up to possible debt problems by failing to haggle with the dealer when buying a car, Sainsbury's Finance has suggested.

According to the firm, bartering over the price of a new car could save buyers a total of £229 million between September 2009 and February 2010.

A poll conducted by Sainsbury's Finance also revealed that 121,000 of the 1.14 million people planning to purchase a vehicle over this period either have not or do not plan to haggle.

The popularity of haggling was also revealed to have declined despite the ongoing recession, with just 52 per cent of buyers saying that they planned to negotiate on price.

In February, this total had stood at 67 per cent.

This is despite the fact that buying a car is one of the largest outlays a household can make.

The purchases are also often funded by unsecured personal loans, meaning that paying over the odds can cause increased debt problems.

Steven Baillie, head of Sainsbury's Loans, said: "Our research suggests that with stereotypical British reserve, many of us don't haggle hard despite the big savings that can be made, so we'd urge car buyers to give it a go."

Sainsbury's Finance said that around 26 per cent of the new cars bought over the six-month period will be financed by personal loans.

Tags; Debt Management and Banking, Credit Card Lifestyle, Recent Graduate Debt,

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