My best purchase:

Saw the car I wanted at £12,000. Went in to the dealer and test drove the car. Liked the car and said I would buy. (I should add that my wife was with me, and that she was fairly pregnant.)

Sat down to do the deal and as he was beginning to prepare the paperwork I offered the sales man £10,000. I told him I only had £10k available and that I had to buy a car today, and would £10k be acceptable?

Sales man went off to "ask his manager". He came back and offered £11,500.

I got up, smiled nicely and said, "OK, no problem, I realise I'm offering too little but its all I have. A pity, but I'll have look else where as I only have £10k, time is short and I will need to look elsewhere as I need a car today. Thanks for your time". (Im sure I actually said that more concisely than I just typed it!!) I was polite, respectful of his position but was equally quite prepared to walk.

He jumped up and said he would ask his manager again. I sat back down and he came back offering £11,250. I repeated the same lines (ish) as before. In other words, I only have £10k and I had to seal a deal today... Off he went again. This loop went on until he eventually offered £10,500. By this time, I was kind of agitated because time was running out, and I didn't want to waste time on a deal that might not happen. I was honestly keen to move on and try else where. At that point I looked in my wallet and pulled out a £20 note, and offered £10,020. He looked beat and accepted the £10k. He probably look as beat as I looked surprised.

So, I had to go off and pick up £1000 for a deposit, and because my wife was pregnant, she decided to stay in the comfy chair in the show room. Shortly later, I came back with the deposit, and completed the deal.

Once we left, my wife told me what the sales man said while I was away. The sales man turned to my wife and said, "Wow, I have never deal with such a hard negotiator in my career. I've never given any one £2k off a sale, let alone on a £12k car." To which my wife replied, "He wasn't negotiating, everything he said was completely true. We do only have £10k, and we do have to by a car today. He was not negotiating, that was the genuine position". Apparently, he look relieved to know that.

What I learned:

I didn't really car want car I bought. Any car in its class was good enough. I was not in "love" with a particular car.

I had a fixed budged that could not be increased. I do not do credit in any way, ever.

One key bit I thought about much later on was that the car I wanted to buy was not the same make as the dealer's franchise. It was a Peugeot dealer selling a part exchanged Ford. However, the asking price was perfectly fair . As it stood, £12k was a reasonable asking price.

The truth is, I was quite prepared to walk, in fact, I was on a hair trigger to walk because I had only half a day left to do a deal.

You chaps might well have other things to add.

Anyway, my advice would be : Don't be in love with a particular car, have a fixed budged, make the dealer know you are ready to buy, but equally be prepared to walk. Lastly, try to find a car in a dealer which in not the same make as that car you want. Find a VW in a Ford dealer, for example.

This was not a method, is was necessity. But now is is my method, and has worked for me several times since, and not just with car buying. I have also helped friends buy cars and done similar deals for them.

One last thing, sorry, I was after a second hand car, not a new one. Obviously a key difference. Even so, my experience still might help others out buying.

Sorry for the long post!!!!

Edit: Jeez, that was long....