Find the trade price for the vehicle you're interested in by visiting one of the numerous online car buying/valuation services (such as We Buy Any Car, Motorway or our favourites Arnold Clark or Hey Car as they don't require an email). Simply do a Google search for "value my car" and choose one.

Add the reg* and mileage of the vehicle you're interested in into the valuation tool of your choice and you'll be presented with a price.

This price is the current trade price of that vehicle and gives an indication of the price that the dealer would sell the vehicle for if they were to trade it to another dealer or at an auction.

The trade price also gives you a rough idea of what the dealer might have purchased the motor for.

The trade price is key as it's the difference between this trade price and the dealers advertised price which gives you a very good idea of the potential profit/margin that the dealer has within that vehicle.

In simple terms, the nearer you get to the trade price the better the deal you're getting.

* Don't see the reg in their listing?... simply contact the dealer and ask them for it. Tell them that you're interested in it and that you want to check the specification and get a HPI report on the vehicle.

Don't forget the trade price represents the vehicle being in average condition and doesn't make allowance for any extras that the vehicle may have or of course any additional costs that the dealer may have spent on it.

Ok, this is important... contact the dealer and do a deal BEFORE you see the motor.

Why?

Firstly, because travelling to see a vehicle you haven't done a deal on is just a waste of both your time and money.

Secondly, there is no guarantee that every dealer will necessarily play ball (some are just pig stubborn!) so you quite obviously don't want to travel to then be disappointed.

It's now time to do a deal like a pro as you've got everything you need to strike a great deal:

1) The details of a motor that a dealer needs to sell.

2) The trade price of the vehicle if they were to trade or auction it.

3) The estimated margin that the dealer has in that vehicle.

Now simply contact the dealer and make them an offer and/or negotiate a deal.

How you do that is up to you. You'll obviously have questions in relation to the vehicle so in most cases having a telephone conversation with a salesman (or preferably the sales manager!) is likely to get you the best results but an email conversation will work almost as well too.

If you're making an offer then our suggestion would be to make it sensible and be respectful that the dealer will be trying to make a small profit. Of course you could go in low and see how it goes but in our experience this approach is normally counter productive and has less chance of working. Eitherway when you're making an offer, make sure that you tell them that you're a serious buyer and that you're prepared to put a deposit down immediately.

If you're looking to negotiate (instead of making an offer) then starting low is fine as you'll naturally come to a compromise with the dealer by meeting somewhere inbetween their advertised price and your negotiated price... just remember to keep that trade price in the back of your mind. It's this trade price that is both yours and the dealers benchmark.

No matter whether you're making an offer or negotiating, the key is NOT to let the dealer know that you know the vehicle is becoming overaged for them. ;)

It's far better to keep this information up your sleeve and to mention it further into the negotiation.

Doing the negotiation in this way gives you the highground at a key time within the negotition, as the dealer will realise your serious and they'll be keen to not lose the sale to a retail customer as otherwise they'll likely need to trade or auction the vehicle. This is particularly relevant for large network & franchise main dealers as they are targeted on retail sales and not trade sales!

Also it's worth remembering that most sales execs have very limited knowledge of what's going on in the business and cannot sanction any kind of discount (they are tasked purely to sell) so in the event that the salesman is not responsive or plays hardball simply tell them that your offer stands and ask them if you can speak to (or that they present it to) their sales manager.

Month end is also important to all dealers as they need to get sales over the line and overaged motors off of their books so if you haven't heard back from them contact them again a couple of days before the end of the month.

Once you've agreed the price of the motor then the final part of the deal is to tell them that you'd like to reserve the vehicle.

Most dealers will allow you to reserve a vehicle for between £100-£250. Ensure you make the reservation payment on a credit card to cover you in the event of anything untoward and also make sure that the deposit is refundable (they should always be refundable if you haven't physically viewed the vehicle) in the event that you are unhappy with quality of the vehicle when you physically get to see it.

By reserving the motor it does two important things...

1) It ensures the dealer cannot sell it to someone else (most dealers will mark it as sold or reserved on their website). 2) It shows that you're serious and keen to buy at the price agreed.

All you need to do now is to visit the dealer and view the vehicle and the best bit is that you've already agreed a price which means the whole experience is pretty much pain free :)

Important Note: You should always carry out due diligance when buying a used vehicle.

Checkout the dealer: For example using online reviews, finding out how long they've been trading and seeing if they're part of any associations etc.

Checkout the vehicle: If you're not mechanically minded then bring someone with you that is competent (or alternatively you could use an expert such as the RAC). Always take the vehicle for a test drive, ensure the vehicle drives well, is mechanically sound, has no signs of bodywork repairs, has 2 keys, check the service history and confirm the details of the warranty etc.

We have not inspected any vehicle that we notify you about. We are not affiliated with any dealer or manufacturer and we make no assurances about the quality, condition or ownership of any vehicle we notify you about. You should always carry out due diligance on each and every motor you intend to buy. The motors, dealers, prices and all other elements of the buying process are your responsibility, not Matt's Motor Club.