Tricks of the car trade revealed

Experts and industry insiders revealed the tricks of the trade, with the magazine giving tips for would-be buyers to get round the salesmen's hype.

Dealer lingo includes:

n Loss-leader advertising – the dealership sells a couple of unwanted cars at an unrealistically low price to attract buyers, then sells them pricier ones.

n Low balling – the salesman tells the customer an unrealistically low price that they should aim to pay for a new car. When they come back because they could not get it for that price elsewhere, they are convinced to buy it for more.

n Ankle tapping – a salesman offers less than market value for a trade-in, so he can offer an unrealistically low price for a new car.

n Limited time – a dealership offers a deal that is only available if the customer signs up on that day.

n Time of the month – at the beginning of month, the salesman tells the customer he needs the sale to make up last month's quota. In the middle of month, he says the sale is needed to hit a specific target. At the end of month he claims to have "almost hit target" and just needs this sale to do it.

Meanwhile, the biennial British Motor Show, cancelled in 2010, is to go ahead again in 2012.

The show, held at the ExCel exhibition centre in London's Docklands, was successfully staged in 2008.

But the downturn in the motor industry caused organisers, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), to scrap the 2010 event.