Steering clear of the showrooms: How internet buyers can cut out the car salesmen

But the days of braving a battle of wits with a slippery salesman on his home turf may be numbered.

Instead more buyers are shopping from their homes on the internet and making big savings in the process, say researchers.

Scroll down for more...

Using a web broker to find the best deal on 15 popular cars delivered an average saving of 11 per cent against the list price, says the team at Which?.

Buying the same cars face to face from a salesmen yielded an average saving of 7 per cent.

The savings available by shopping for a car from a home computer, rather than spending hours in verbal combat with a pushy salesman, can run into many hundreds of pounds.

For example, a Ford Mondeo 1.8 TDCi Zetec was available for £14,449 from an internet broker, which is a saving of £3,746 on the official list price.

The best price found by visiting a main dealer was £16,395, which is £1,946 more.

Which? said that not only were prices generally cheaper on the web, but by-passing the aggravation of dealing with a salesman was also a major benefit.

The reseachers found that salesman were not only guilty of the hard sell. Many were also inefficient.

"It was tough going at times," said a spokesman.

"There were sales staff who couldn't be located or who consistently failed to make contact.

"Six dealers didn't send their promised quotation and we even came across one showroom where the salesman couldn't find a price list."

He said salesmen take advantage of the fact that many feel embarrassed about asking for discounts or haggling.

"We found some sales staff who intimated that it is somehow impolite to ask for a discount."

Which? said the job of online car brokers was simply to find and list the cheapest option.

Despite the savings, many buyers are still reluctant to make such a big purchase through the internet.

However, the consumer group said there is a host of reliable brokers such as jamjar.com, autobytel.co.uk, buyacar.co.uk and drivethedeal.co.uk.

Which? Car editor, Richard Headland, said: "You can save hundreds, if not thousands, of pounds by shopping this way.

"But if you choose to buy from a main dealer, an internet quote can give you the upper hand."