At What Car? our aim is to make car buying as straightforward as possible, so our New Car Buying service puts you in direct contact with approved franchised dealers. Dealers typically set prices according to demand, stock availability and regional variations, so our Target Price is set by daily mystery shopping, and is a guide to what we believe is the most you should pay. Our Target Price team is constantly researching what discounts are available, so you don’t have to go through the hassle of haggling.

Simply click the ‘Get best price’ button by the car you’re interested in and we’ll alert dealers so they can send you the latest car deals near you. We’ll prioritise local dealers, but also show you some of the best deals from around the country. Once you send an enquiry through our secure messaging service, dealers will respond via our platform, by email or phone. Find out more here.

You can request quotes on as many different cars as you like, and your personalised ‘All my offers’ page makes it easy to compare them all in one place. To message dealers through our platform, just click the ‘My account’ icon, which can be found in the top right hand corner of the navigation bar on whatcar.com.

We always advise comparing the total price you’ll pay over the length of a deal when comparing new car offers. Most new car buyers use finance, and so should consider monthly repayments, the APR interest rate, length of the term, the mileage allowance, manufacturer contributions and what the optional final payment will be. Our website regularly rounds up the best deals according to how much you want to spend, including for those with new car budgets of £200 a month and £300 a month.

What Car? New Car Buying provides an excellent way to compare prices between dealers when you are looking to buy a car. The prices have been pre-haggled, meaning you get a clear and immediate idea of pricing without any hassle. If you have a used car you are looking to sell, leveraging the current high prices of secondhand in your favour can help offset the cost of the new one.

Since the pandemic discounts have been harder to come by. However, it is still sometimes worth shopping around at the end of each quarter, when some dealerships will have sales targets to hit and so might be open to bigger discounts. It’s also worth shopping at quieter times of the year to buy a car - the summer, or before Christmas. Another good time to seek discounts is when a car is about to go off-sale, or when number plates change in March and September. Some car dealers hold Black Friday events in November.

There are pros and cons of getting a car on a lease deal. It gives you lower monthly costs, meaning you get the chance to drive a new vehicle that you may not have been able to afford otherwise. In addition to this the rentals don’t change and you don’t need to worry about selling the car afterwards - you simply hand it back at the end of the term. The disadvantages of leasing a car are that you do not have the opportunity of owning the car and fees may apply if you exceed the stated mileage limit. If you want a car long-term, then leasing will ultimately work out more expensive.

PCP is a form of finance, and is the most popular way of buying a new car. Unlike hire purchase agreements, which divide the total amount borrowed into equal payments, PCP deals involve smaller monthly bills, followed by a larger final payment if you want to keep the car. However, most people never pay this; instead they hand the car back and start a new PCP deal. Find out more here.