Used cars are not liked goods in a corner shop or supermarket. They are discretionary purchases, i.e. buying out of choice. Goods in a supermarket are in most cases necessities, so a poor analogy.

Prices of used cars, or any used product, will be set by the seller at what they think the market will stand, so reflect all sorts of things like supply, location, competition etc. For cars, the dealer also factors in the ‘extras’; finance, service plans, paint protection, GAP etc, so they have a target to earn from the car, which influences their sticker price.

The buyer will then negotiate with the salesman around what price suits them, which may include a part ex car. The salesman and customer agree a price, which may or may not include some or all of the extras. That price will be as close to the sticker price as possible but won’t necessarily match it, so long as the salesman has got what he needs to earn from the deal. The buyer pays a price he’s happy with.

That’s how I buy a used car anyway and I’ve never paid the full sticker price.

I wouldn’t even look at a car if the price wasn’t right. It’s the same with anything I get a quote for, it needs to be the best price first, if someone comes back with a lower cost to get the business it just feels like they were trying to rip me off when they first quoted.

If it’s a new car then I do my research re discounts and make a decision based on my local dealers best price. When I bought a BMW they were c£400-500 more expensive but I thought it was worth it to buy locally rather than through a broker, it’s a fairly small % on the list price anyway.

I bought my RR at 12 months old, the price was very competitive and the colour / spec was what I wanted. So I just asked a general question about what the salesman could do to help and he did a very good deal on fitting deployable side steps, a sensible offer on my trade in and agreed to replace the gloss black B pillar trim that had some light scratches on it.

If you think the price is too high, then either it won’t sell and they’ll reduce it, or you were wrong and it sells to someone else! MY23 Panamera E-Hybrid
MY19 SDV8 Autobiography - Sold

Up until 2-3 years ago the used car market was and always had been more or less a buyers market where the buyer had a strong hand in any negotiation. Now it's a sellers market and what has a buyer got to negotiate with exactly? 2012 TDV8 Vogue (L322)

I went to look at some 405s yesterday, a very tidy, almost new, 2018 pre facelift, with low miles and one owner. The story from dealer held water as to why it was there and why the low miles but it was a lot of dollar for a pre facelift even with the dealer knocking off a couple of K for a financed deal.

I saw two that were a bit too tatty for me, and a facelift that ticked the boxes but the dealer let it slip it was a sale or return for a customer, so main dealer price for a private sale.

Ive a trip around Yorkshire planned for the new year to look at a few that are in main dealers there, a day should see me able to get around all of them. First time FFRR owner