Divorcees and older people are probably the most successful people when haggling on used car prices, according to iVendi research.

Analysis of 12,500 used car transactions by the UK leader in online motor finance technology claims to give “the most comprehensive picture of ‘the haggler’ ever seen”.

James Tew, chief executive of iVendi, said: “This paints a really fascinating picture about ‘the haggler’ – who they are, what they want and what they are achieving.

The research found that 22% of people haggle on the used car price overall and usually target a saving of between £300 and 400.

Among those buyers who haggle, divorcees achieve a higher percentage saving than single, co-habiting and married people while generally, the older you get, the more likely you are to negotiate a discount.

The research indicates that as average income increases the sale price of the car increases, yet the percentage savings obtained through haggling decreases.

Retirees with lowest incomes appear to be haggling the biggest savings.

However, hagglers only tend to want to haggle on the screen price. The difference in APR on motor finance paid by hagglers and non-hagglers is only marginally different.

Tew said: “It is especially interesting that older people appear to be getting the best results. Perhaps they have simply had more practice at buying cars than younger people and have become better at making deals.

“The findings about divorcees are more difficult to explain but, again, perhaps the process of divorce has simply made them more confident about negotiating.

“All of this information has been produced by our recently-created data and insight department and we plan to issue more research from this source soon.”