Drivers could be missing out on more than £1,000 when buying a new car, as experts urge motorists to take steps to ensure they get the best possible deal.
New research shows that the average achievable discount on a new car is a staggering £5,753, or more than 11 per cent off the on-the-road price.
However, most drivers are also leaving around £1,145 on the table, with experts warning that this is down to independent price guides no longer existing.
The data, from Insider Car Deals, warns that information that used to level the playing field when buying a new vehicle has "been pulled from public view".
Mystery shops across more than 200 franchised UK dealers found that drivers could be losing out on around £2,230 when buying a new premium vehicle.
Pat Hoy, founder of Insider Car Deals, said: "This is a story about what happens when the independent reference points consumers used to rely on quietly disappear.
"PCP finance has made the underlying numbers far harder to follow, and the gap between an informed and uninformed buyer has never been wider."
The data highlighted how a driver looking to get their hands on a new Kia EV3 was leaving around £1,155 worth of discounts on the table.
Drivers could be missing out on more than £1,000 in savings when buying a new car
|GETTY/PA
Other similar deals could see drivers miss out on £899 for a Honda Civic Sport and a staggering £1,700 on a BMW X3.
The mystery shopper data found that the extra savings were available from the same dealer on the same day, with Insider Car Deals noting that the buyer knew what to ask for.
In one instance, a customer was hours away from accepting a £2,000 discount and interest-free finance on a Mazda CX-80.
Independent analysis found that the driver could save an extra £3,181, with the dealer not having a reason to volunteer extra discounts, which is not lying, since the buyer did not know it existed.
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One driver could have saved an extra £3,181 when buying a new Mazda CX-80
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Buyers once had access to the independent price guides, although benchmarking has now become commercially difficult to sustain, the expert highlighted.
Mr Hoy warned that this has caused many drivers to lose out on crucial savings that they could have achieved in previous years.
He emphasised that buyers only see the list price and quote in front of them, and even if they do extra research, they cannot guarantee additional savings.
"Dealers know their wholesale cost, their volume-bonus position, the manufacturer's current cash incentives and where they stand against monthly targets," Mr Hoy added.
Drivers could slash the price of a new electric car by almost 13 per cent, on average
| GETTYAverage achievable discounts by segment
Electric vehicles - Around 12.9 per cent
Family SUVs - Above 10.4 per cent. The best deals could exceed 24 per cent
Premium models - 15 to 20 per cent when combining manufacturer support stacks and dealer margin
Small cars - eight to nine per cent