Buying a new carSimple saver If you really want to save money when buying a new car, stop. Don't do it in the first place. Instead, buy a nearly new (pre-registered) car. These are brand new in all but name - they may have as few as 20 miles on the clock - but can easily be 20% cheaper, saving you a couple of thousand pounds. Dealers register them to hit sales targets and then sell them on, so you're the second owner - but don't worry, just enjoy the saving (and check when the warranty expires). Advanced saving tips 1. Never pay top dollar for a brand new car If it's got to be a spanking spanking Pediatrics Corporal punishment, usually of children, in which the buttocks, are pummeled, swatted, or otherwise struck. See Corporal punishment Sexology Slapping, usually of the buttocks as a part of sexuoerotic activity. Cf Sadomasochism. new car rolled out of the showroom, just make sure you don't pay the full list price. The What Car? website (whatcar.co.uk) helpfully lists a useful "target" price for all brand new cars. This is the real price that you should then aim to further undercut undercut, n 1. the portion of a tooth that lies between its height of contour and the gingivae, only if that portion is of less circumference than the height of contour. 2. - and if a dealer won't discuss a discount, move on to one that will. Most buyers, particularly in the climate today, should be able to get between 5% and 15% straight off with a bit of shopping around and some mild haggling. It's good to remember that dealers are generally keener to cut a deal when business is quiet - usually in August or December - or when sales targets need to be met, which is more often than not near the end of a month. 2. Carefully compare the trade-in offers If you are looking to trade in your old car, talk to several dealers and then compare what they call the "cost to switch". Dealers will often inflate inflate - deflate the trade-in price trade-in price n → prix m à la reprise trade-in price n → prezzo di permuta of your old car, but also charge you more for the new model. When weighing up a few offers, simply look at how much money you are going to have to hand over once you've swapped cars - that is the true cost of the deal. 3. Weigh up all your financing options If the dealer is offering a 0% finance deal, these can be worth taking in a credit crunch Credit Crunch An economic condition whereby investment capital is difficult to obtain. Banks and investors become weary of lending funds to corporations thereby driving up the price of debt products for borrowers. - or then again, you may find you pay less by borrowing the money elsewhere and paying cash upfront. A cheaper cash price may more than offset the interest you'll pay on the loan. It's worth noting that, in general, dealer-organised finance and insurance is quite a lot more expensive than the same products sourced from conventional suppliers. And remember, never compare the finance deals that quote the charge per week - always look at the total cost of the loan over the whole period you are being quoted on. 4. Buy your car on the internet If you know the exact model you want, even bigger savings can be gained from internet-based car brokers. These companies bulk-buy popular models and pass on part of the saving to the customer. They can usually undercut even the most generous of main dealers - savings of between £2,000 and £5,000 are easily achieved, with more further up the food chain. Once you've paid your £500 deposit, you may have to wait a few weeks for your car to be delivered to your home on a trailer In communications, a code or set of codes that make up the last part of a transmitted message. See trailer label. ; as you take delivery, pay the balance by debit card debit card, card that allows the cost of goods or services that are purchased to be deducted directly from the purchaser's checking account. They can also be used at automated teller machines for withdrawing cash from the user's checking account. . While these deals can be spectacular, they are less likely to take in your old car in part-exchange. For a full list of online car brokers, go to Honestjohn.co.uk (although Drivethedeal.com and uk-car-discount.co.uk are two of the best-known websites). The site also lists which company is offering the biggest discounts on any chosen car. Generally, you have to be buying a run-of-the-mill model, in a popular colour, to get the biggest discounts. 5. Get an outgoing model Online car brokers can also be a great place to buy "run-out" models that are still new, but which the dealer is having trouble shifting because they are about to be superseded by a newer model. Discounts can easily be as much as 30% on the original list price. These cars may not be the latest models but they are usually packed with extras, and have proven technology that is less likely to let you down. 6. Don't spend on needless insurance cover Don't fall for the old "gap" insurance trick which salespeople sales·peo·ple pl.n. Persons who are employed to sell merchandise in a store or in a designated territory. are pushing hard at the moment. This gives you a new car replacement if yours is written off in the first one or two years of ownership. But it costs upwards of £300. Don't buy it - if you really want cover, get if from a specialist provider like click4gap.co.uk, where it will cost a fraction of the price quoted by the dealer. 7. But do consider buying a service package These can be particularly good value, as you pre-buy the next three to five years of servicing. Quick stats 2.4m Number of new cars sold last year in the UK £14,000 Average price paid by new car buyers 40.2% Proportion of these new cars that have diesel engines, up from a low of 13.8% in 1999 (All statistics from SMMT SMMT Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders SMMT Short Message Mobile Terminated SMMT System Mechanic Mobile Toolkit , the Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders Traders Individuals who take positions in securities and their derivatives with the objective of making profits. Traders can make markets by trading the flow. When they do this, their objective is to earn the bid/ask spread. ) Planet saver Until relatively recently, those who wanted to drive and do their bit to save the planet (if that's possible) were largely restricted to hybrid cars hybrid car, hybrid vehicle hybrid n → Hybridfahrzeug nt or -auto nt such as the Toyota Prius The Toyota Prius is a hybrid electric vehicle developed and manufactured by the Toyota Motor Corporation, and one of the first such vehicles to be mass-produced and marketed. The Prius first went on sale in Japan in 1997, and worldwide in 2001. or a small electric car. However, government changes to the road tax regime have encouraged manufacturers to be innovative and come up with more cars that are deemed environmentally friendly Environmentally friendly, also referred to as nature friendly, is a term used to refer to goods and services considered to inflict minimal harm on the environment.[1] - those emitting e·mit tr.v. e·mit·ted, e·mit·ting, e·mits 1. To give or send out (matter or energy): isotopes that emit radioactive particles; a stove emitting heat. 2. a. fewer than 120g/km of carbon dioxide carbon dioxide, chemical compound, CO2, a colorless, odorless, tasteless gas that is about one and one-half times as dense as air under ordinary conditions of temperature and pressure. . Lots of small diesels and a growing number of petrol-engined super-minis now fit this category. The Citroen C1 is a good example - it has super-low emissions and a new one can be snapped up for less than £6,000. Always check the "g/km" rating of any purchase - it will have a big impact on how much road tax you pay. 
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