When Lisa Shafe and Jason Greenstein walked into the Citroën dealership in Slough, they were matter-of-factly checking the prices of the new models. They weren’t quite expecting to walk out with two brand new cars, with 17% off each – a combined saving of £5,000.

Up until then, the couple had been planning to buy a Mercedes B-class to lug around the drysuits, scuba masks and air tanks they need for the diving lessons they give around the country. But with Citroën’s discount, they could afford two top-of-the-range MPVs for the same as an equivalently equipped Mercedes – £30,000 (for the pair). “I read Jeremy Clarkson’s review, in which he said the new Berlingo had enough cubby holes to hide a priest, and decided it might be worth a look,” says Greenstein, 38, from Bexley, southeast London.

Two cars for the price of one? Surely not. Well, last week that’s exactly what was on offer at www.broadspeed.com, which was advertising two Kia Magentis 2.0 CRDi GS saloons for the price of one – £15,220 for two, the list price being £15,845 for one. And if you can stretch to an £85,000 Aston Martin V8 Vantage, Broadspeed will throw in a Mercedes SLK worth about £30,000. Or, rather, it would have done until last week, when the promotion expired.

The trickle of cut-price offers has turned into a torrent as dealers compete to tempt back customers in the wake of the catastrophic collapse in car sales this summer, triggered by the worldwide economic squeeze.

The latest figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) reveal a 23% drop in UK car sales in October, compared with the same month in 2007, and Honda – which has seen sales drop by 35% – recently announced it would shut its Swindon factory for two months. Yet, amid all this gloom, buyers are waking up to the silver lining.

It’s hard to remember a time when car manufacturers have been more prepared to fight for your business. Just imagine the attention that will be lavished on you by a salesman at Cadillac (sales down a whopping 92% on this time last year) if you show even the slightest interest in purchasing one of his vehicles.

“It’s a difficult time in car retailing; it’s a battleground,” says Stephen Wright of Motorpoint, the UK’s largest car supermarket chain, which is currently offering nearly new Vauxhall Vectras for £2.60 a day as part of a finance deal – less than the cost of a large cappuccino at Starbucks. “People still want a nice, comfortable car; they’re just not prepared to pay what they used to pay for it. There’s a lot of competition to make a sale.”

Factor in the chancellor’s 2.5% reduction in Vat, and many buyers can expect to save 10%-50% – often several thousand pounds – on the price of a new or nearly new car. With proposed road-tax hikes for bigger-engined cars now on hold, buyers who don’t mind bucking the trend towards smaller, more economical vehicles can benefit from the largest savings. Motorpoint, for example, recently offered a year-old Jeep Grand Cherokee for £10,000 – a saving of more than 50% on the recommended retail price.

Last week we found Lexus RX 400h SR petrol-electric hybrids on sale through the online car broker www.dealdrivers.co.uk for a little more than £30,000 – a saving in excess of £7,000 (23%) on the manufacturer’s recommended price. Nissan (www.nissan.co.uk), meanwhile, was offering a diesel Navara double cab for a little less than £18,000 – a saving of more than £4,000 on the recommended retail price. Expect big discounts at Land Rover, which is among the hardest-hit manufacturers, with sales down 57%, according to the SMMT .

High-spec models have also seen their popularity tumble, as penny-pinching buyers opt for more frugally appointed cars. An internet broker, www.carquake.co.uk, was offering more than £9,000 off the price of a new Saab 9-3 1.8t SportWagon Vector Sport automatic last week – more than a third off the list price.

“The real bargains are on the bread-and-butter cars, good, solid family hatches, VWs, Fords, Citroëns, Peugeots and Audi A3s,” says Jo Eveleigh, of www.dealdrivers.co.uk. “On a Ford at the moment, you can generally get between 25% and 30% off. With the new VW Golf – a model that’s just being launched – even the dealers are offering between 8% and 10% off.”

Another good source of deals is the classified ads in the national and regional press. Don’t expect the bargains to last for ever, though. “A lot of people are holding off buying now, because they think prices are going to drop and drop,” says Eveleigh. “The only reason prices are so low at the moment is that the manufacturers have found themselves with a glut of stock. They’ve now started to pull back production, and October was the slowest production month in about 17 years. By January or February, supply will be more in line with demand, and the big bargains are going to start to level off.”

HOW TO BAG A BARGAIN

Here are the car-sales expert Jason Dawe’s top tips for securing yourself a terrific deal on a great new car.

Be bold The advertised deals are only the starting point for negotiation, so before you make an offer, give a round-up of the vehicle’s pros and cons. This will let the seller know that you’re interested but it will also put some doubt in their mind about whether they are likely to complete on the sale.

Be flexible Lay your cards on the table and tell the dealer you don’t mind precisely what you have but you do want a cracking deal. It may have a car in stock with a slightly odd specification, or in an unloved colour, on which it will give you a fantastic price.

Be quick Car dealers have financial pressures and targets to meet, so if you can take a car from stock and pay for it quickly, you can save a bundle. Let the dealer know if you’re ready and able to buy straight away.

Be cheeky See if you can negotiate any added extras, such as free servicing, sat nav, air-con or a low rate of finance. Haggle hard on accessories – dealers make a profit on them, so they’re keen to sell, meaning you can save hundreds of pounds.

Be a swot If you want to buy locally, first do your homework, then try your local dealer to give it a chance to match the deal. In the current climate, the chances are it will rise to the challenge.

IN REVERSE GEAR: THE BEST BUYS

THE FAMILY HATCH

Car Ford Focus Zetec 1.8 petrol 5dr hatch
Was £16,956
Now £12,140
Where www.dealdrivers.co.uk

THE 4X4

Car Land Rover Discovery 2.7 Td V6 GS 5dr
Was £29,317
Now £22,189
Where www.autoebid.com

THE PEOPLE CARRIER

Car Mitsubishi Grandis 2.4 Classic automatic
Was £18,299
Now £14,299
Where tinyurl.com/6h3py7

THE EXECUTIVE ESTATE

Car Saab 9-3 Vector Sport 1.8t SportWagon auto
Was £26,585
Now £17,195
Where www.carquake.co.uk

THE SPORTS COUPE

Car Mercedes-Benz CLK 200 Coupé Kompressor Avantgarde auto
Was £31,334
Now £23,101
Where www.broadspeed.com

THE SMALL CAR

Car Ford Ka 1.3 Zetec Climate (outgoing model)
Was £9,273
Now £6,823
Where www.dealdrivers.co.uk

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