how to haggle a car repair price

The new car dealership is where you have the most room to negotiate a price depending on brand and cost of the service.

The brands that give you the most room to negotiate are those whom are the highest volume sellers. You know who these are just by looking at Best-Selling Vehicles of 2021. I'm using '21 because '22 isn't over at the time I write this. Specifically pay attention to the brands mentioned more than once. If one of those brands (as in just brand, not model) of car or truck you drive is in that list at least twice, that's a very high-volume seller with more dealerships and more opportunity to haggle repair costs as a result.

Okay, now you know what the high-volume brands are. Now we get to the haggling.

The haggling process for car repairs

Rule #1: You can't haggle cheap services. A general rule of thumb is that if the service price quoted is under $300, you're not going to be able to talk that down. You can't negotiate price on an oil change, tire rotation, etc. since those services are already cheap to begin with.

Rule #2: Only attempt haggling if you can pay for everything without financing. Mentioning anything about financing repairs after the quote will derail your haggle attempt instantly. Only go for the haggle if you have the money.

Rule #2: Your wiggle room is between 10% and 20% and no more than that. If you get a quoted price of $500 and try to haggle $100 off (which is 20%), it's not happening. You may get $50 off (10%) from a $500 quote, but if you go for the 20%, no.

Rule #3: The more expensive the repair, the more wiggle room you have. This is for repairs that bust over 4 digits, as in $1,000+. The most wiggle room is given if you follow rule #4 below.

Rule #4: Combining repairs makes it easier for the dealership to discount the service. Mechanics get paid by the hour. Any time you can get multiple repairs done in one go, that means your car is technically scheduled for one repair appointment instead of multiple times even when there are multiple jobs to be done. While in the garage, it is easier for mechanics to just get everything done all at once.

Rule #5: Use a repair estimate tool online first before going to the dealership. AAA has one of these, and there are others if you do an online search for "car repair estimate". If you know what needs to be done, price it out. When you do, any of the estimate tools will give you a price range for a specific service. Always assume the high price.

Example situation:

Your car's A/C doesn't work because the compressor is busted, your headlights are dimming at night because the alternator is almost gone, you need a new battery, and the starter is about to quit on you because the engine is becoming increasingly difficult to start.

You use the online estimate tool and see that the cost of all that for your car will be about $2,000 on the high end. Yeah, that sucks. But at least you know what to expect.

At the dealership, let's say that's the exact price you're quoted for the work, $2,000. Say the following:

"Can you do $1,700 with tax out the door?" (You're asking for 15% off here.)

What this means is, "Could you lower the price to $1,700 with sales taxes included?"

The service desk guy is going to think about it for a moment. You are agreeing to having all the work done, all at once, and didn't say anything about financing so there will be no finance crap to deal with.

What will he say?

Published 2022 Apr 14