How to Get the Best Price on a New Car in Australia (2026)

The advertised price of a new car is rarely the price a sharp buyer actually pays. Between drive-away deals, end-of-financial-year runout, trade-in negotiations and the way finance is structured, there's often thousands of dollars of difference between two people buying the identical car in the same week. Here's how to make sure you're the one paying less.

Know the difference between RRP and drive-away

The first number you'll see is usually the recommended retail price — the cost of the car before on-road costs like stamp duty, registration, CTP and dealer delivery. A "drive-away" price bundles all of that in, so it's the only figure worth comparing dealer to dealer. When you're negotiating, always bring the conversation back to the total drive-away price. It's where the games get played.

Understand where the discount actually comes from

Not every brand lets the dealer discount. Traditional brands like Toyota, Mazda or Ford run a dealer network where each dealer owns their stock and has room to move on price — that's where haggling works. A growing number of brands (Honda, some EV makers, and others) have shifted to a fixed-price "agency" model where the price is the price at every dealer. Knowing which camp your car is in tells you whether to negotiate hard or shop on service and availability instead.

Time your purchase

When you buy can be worth more than how well you haggle. The strongest windows are:

• End of financial year (June). Dealers and salespeople are chasing targets, and runout deals on the outgoing model year are at their sharpest.
• End of the calendar year (December). Nobody wants last year's "build plate" car in January, so December stock gets discounted hard — just be aware the car effectively ages a year the moment the calendar ticks over.
• Model runout. When a new generation is about to land, the current one gets cleared. If you don't care about having the very latest version, this is the single biggest saving available.
• End of the month or quarter. Sales targets reset, so a deal that's "not quite there" on the 2nd often gets done on the 30th.

Get your trade-in right

A trade-in is convenient but it's also where dealers quietly claw back the discount they just gave you. Always negotiate the new car price first, as a drive-away figure, before you even mention a trade. Once that number is locked, then talk trade-in — and know what your car is actually worth beforehand by checking a few online valuations and a couple of private-sale listings for the same model.

Selling privately almost always nets you more money, sometimes a few thousand more, but a trade-in saves you the hassle and, in some states, reduces the stamp duty you pay on the new car because you're only taxed on the price difference. Weigh the convenience against the cash.

Treat the finance as a separate negotiation

This is where a lot of buyers lose the savings they fought for on the car. Dealer finance is convenient, but the interest rate is often marked up, and "low weekly repayments" can hide a long term or a big balloon payment at the end. Always:

• Compare the dealer's finance offer against at least one outside option before signing.
• Look at the total amount you'll repay and the comparison rate, not just the weekly figure.
• If you're employed and salary-packaging is available, price a novated lease too — for many buyers it works out cheaper again, especially on an electric car.

Negotiate like you've done it before

You don't need to be aggressive — you need to be informed and willing to walk. The tactics that consistently work:

• Get it in writing. Email or get a written drive-away quote from two or three dealers for the exact same car, then let them compete.
• Be ready to walk away. The buyer who can genuinely leave gets the better price. It's the single most powerful position in the room.
• Don't fall for add-ons. Paint protection, fabric protection and extended warranties carry huge margins. Decline them, or treat them as free extras you negotiate in, not things you pay list price for.
• Stay calm about "today only" pressure. A genuinely good deal is still good tomorrow.

What to do with fixed-price brands

If your car is sold under a no-haggle agency model, your savings come from elsewhere: timing a runout, getting a better trade-in figure elsewhere, choosing the right finance, and negotiating accessories or the first few services. The sticker might be fixed, but your total cost of ownership isn't.

Or let someone do it for you

All of this takes time, multiple dealer visits, and a willingness to play hardball — which is exactly why car-buying services exist. At Rodar, we do the comparing, the negotiating and the paperwork on your behalf, using volume relationships to get pricing most individual buyers can't. You tell us the car; we get it for the right price. If you'd rather not spend three weekends at dealerships, that's the shortcut.

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