Motorists should haggle over the price of a new car if they want to get the best deal, Sainsbury's Bank claims.

Many car buyers across the UK stand to lose around £1,500 each because they are too quick to pay the asking price.

Around 278,000 people plan on buying a new car between October and March but say they have no intention of haggling over the price. Sainsbury's claims this 13 per cent of new car buyers will therefore collectively overpay £417 million.

A further 453,000 people say they will only haggle slightly, costing millions more.

But two thirds of people who plan to buy a car in the next six months say they are willing to try their luck by haggling ‘very hard’ or ‘hard’.

In Sainsbury's poll from February to June 2005, just over half of new car buyers said they would try to knock the price down. Nearly three in ten people said they would not haggle at all.

Valerie Wood, car purchase scheme manager, Sainsbury’s Bank, said: "Haggling over the price of a new car can save you thousands of pounds so it is very much in your interest to do this. Before buying a car, motorists should have a good idea of what they want to pay and what their limits are."

But car buyers still need to shop around first before haggling to get the best deal.