Car prices rise, while discounts fall

What Car? can reveal that car prices have risen by an average of 9% in the past 12 months, while discounts have shrunk by 13% at the same time.

The good news is you can still haggle an average of £1699 off the list price of a car, although that’s more than £200 less than the average discount a year ago.

Renault is currently the most generous manufacturer with an average of £2009 (13%) off its range, while Mini is the stingiest with typical savings of just £125 (1%) off its cars.

During the past year Ford has increased prices the most, with average increases of 14.7%, and a staggering 32.6% hike on a Fiesta 1.25 60 Studio 3dr.

'Price rises can be partially attributed to the weak value of the pound compared with the Euro, but we wouldn’t be surprised if some makers are looking to recoup some of the cost of the scrappage scheme, too,' said What Car? editor Steve Fowler.

'Everyone's feeling the pinch at the moment, so it’s more important than ever that car buyers do their research and haggle hard - never pay more than the What Car? Target Price. If a dealer won't play ball, leave your phone number with them and walk away. In my experience it won’t be long before they call.'

What Car?'s team of mystery shoppers visits hundreds of car dealers up and down the country to calculate the Target Price for every car on sale. It’s the very most buyers should pay – in most cases bigger savings are up for grabs. If buyers can't find a dealer that will match the Target Price, What Car? guarantees to put them in touch with one that will.








See our full Target Price feature here.


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