My ‘expensive to run and maintain’ Land Rover was duly sold this week with a good deal achieved. Buyer wanted to buy, I wanted to sell. Mutually beneficial. Tick. Loved it, don't regret it, but I now want more of my money to go into investing (maybe a little saving, and following a discussion on here, maybe a little towards overpaying the mortgage too).

With ‘cash in pocket’ I visited two car dealerships today for a normal 5 to 6 year old car. Spec was simple. £30 car tax, good mpg, all the boring stuff. I’ve always ‘done a deal’ with the cars that I’ve bought in the past, never paying the asking price and haggling well with a clear commitment to buy. I also don’t pick cars that are in fashion or demand and I’m polite, engaging, honest, respectful and all that.

When asked how I wanted to finance the car, the look of horror when I said ‘cash’ was a sight to behold (think Oliver Twist and ‘moooooooooore’) So I was gobsmacked when I was told ’no discount’. Not even £10. Smile, guile and all that was wasted in two dealerships. People queueing up to sign up for finance and cash buyer me registering absolutely no interest for them.

Of course finance is the way car dealerships make additional mark-up with interest ranging from say 3.9% to 9.9% APR for good credit rating on used cars (24 different ways to calculate APR last time I looked) and maybe a bit more for lower credit rating.

I’ve come away a tad perplexed and with my tail firmly between my legs….

Maybe I was naive? Maybe I’m just way behind the times? But I'm carless and clearly clueless!!!!

You’d probably be better served going private, you’re unlikely to get burned on anything 5-6 years old. Some of my sensible friends suggest leasing could work out, but if I wanted a car I’d go for any Euro-(6?) compatible German or Japanese car under 100k and buy outright

I probably move in different circles,
but if anyone offers me a comfy seat and drink to choke on
over the how much do you want to to pay monthly moment,
that is when i walk away. That moment was in the mid 80's for me.
Dealerships are not interested in cash/money on the table...and we know why..£££
maybe things have changed, or should do.. but it sounds like they haven't.
I am waiting for a Tesla on ebay...

The engine of our Golf TD1 140GT blew up and it took us 9 months to receive compensation after threatening court action. The engine has been replaced under warranty.
We decided to buy new.
We decided that German cars were too expensive, over-rated and unreliable so decided to go Japanese.
Her outdoors decided which car we should have and we offered cash expecting a discount. Horror! We were told that only 10% pay cash and then were already offering a discount.
Went home and looked at the garage's website. They had the same car with a higher spec which was pre-reg with 10 miles on the clock for £3k less.
They offered a finance deal. We pay so much a month for 2 years interest free and then pay off the balance.
Seemed a good deal to me.
We only did 1,500 miles last year.
And it has a service!
Buy the way the best way to run a car is one which is supplied by your employer. I can't remember the exact details but my occupational pension is slightly higher than it would otherwise be because I had a company car.

This is precisely what I did, at the salesman’s suggestion. Got a £2k deposit contribution along with a decent discount. Get multiple quotes from Carwow then take the lowest one to your local dealer and ask them to match it.

I ended up with close to 20% off the list price.