I’m after a new bike and would probably pay cash (not a fan of HP). My question is how much below advertised price do you recon is achievable if paying in cold hard cash?
I’m always up for banter and a bit of a haggle but just wondered if there was a rough rule of thumb that traders worked by.

Cheers
Thom

The seller would sooner have the extra commision from the lender than reduce his margin to you

Yep, alternatly if you consider HP, you can check there terms. Often they calculate the interest on a daily rate or just say that you must pay 3 months worth out outstanding interest.

i.e. negotiate a decent deal with HP (even if the interest rate goes up a bit to get the deal price down), pay off most of it the same/following day then make an outstanding balance request (make sure you ask for outstanding balance) and pay that off.

You need to check the terms of the finance, many reputable lending companies calculate on a daily interest rate.

Some dealers will do decent deals for cash though as said most make a decent kick back on loan commision.

My cousin looked at the best deal he could get with HP and took it - then settled it very quickly with cash directly later.

Sadly, the commission that dealers get is quite a lot these days - that's why a lot of places will offer £1000 part ex for any vehicle etc. - because the commission they make is way above that, but still looks attractive to the customer.

Dealers don't like cash any more believe it or not, too much laundering going on. Bank Drafts, Maestro cards ok, but a wad no longer excites them. As has already been said they get a sizable kick back from the finance co. and the dealer often sets the apr and will go as high as he can but quote flat rates at you, make sure he writes xx% APR, and be sure there's no early settlement penalty.