What's the advantage of a car buying service?

[Qacer]

I was looking at Costco's, my bank's, and American Express' car buying service for a used vehicle. Each claim that they offer upfront pricing and what you see is what you'll pay. However, their upfront pricing is the same thing as shown on the dealer's website. So what's the advantage? I checked out Amex's FAQ, but didn't really see any immediate benefits.

 

[DesiPower]

I have used USAA's service, it actually saved be money. I was looking for a Hybrid Camry base with just a couple of additions worth $750 retail. I wanted to pay a certain amount. I took printout and went to two dealers, they laughed at me and shooed me away. I called the third dealer, primarily to avoid the embarrassment and told the guy exactly what I was looking for and how much I wanted to pay. He willingly agreed, even gave me a $1000 more for my tradin than the other two guys. What I found out though was that I didn't actually call and deal with the main dealer but it was their online dept., located about 1/2 mile away. So in my case I did get a discount. It was in the month of March, later during model year clearance and year end clearance, I could have gotten at the same price or maybe even less.... so i guess the car buying services' prices are better during the regular months but same or higher during the crazy sale seasons...

 

[CrackRabbit]

I was rather un-impressed with the Costco buying service. The dealership that was a member of the program that I went to was rather shady and the Costco price was simply $1000 off MSRP.
On top of that they called me every day for two weeks straight even after I told them to piss off, and that their prices were awful.

Check out cars.overstock.com if you are interested in a car buying service, but be prepared to drive a ways if you want a good deal.

 

[DesiPower]

I was rather un-impressed with the Costco buying service. The dealership that was a member of the program that I went to was rather shady and the Costco price was simply $1000 off MSRP.
On top of that they called me every day for two weeks straight even after I told them to piss off, and that their prices were awful.

Check out cars.overstock.com if you are interested in a car buying service, but be prepared to drive a ways if you want a good deal.

thats Zag, some one used by USAA.

 

[KIAman]

If you are uncomfortable haggling, you can generally use a car buying service to do the work for you. You'll still pay more compared to haggling yourself but you won't have to work the dealers and you will get a better deal than MSRP.

That's pretty much the ONLY benefit. This is also why Carmax is so popular. People just don't like to haggle much.

 

[rcpratt]

Thank god a fairly nearby dealer is a close family friend.

 

[DesiPower]

Thank god a fairly nearby dealer is a close family friend.

What is you wanted a new car? (assuming hes a used car dealer) or if you wanted a different brand? (assuming hes a new car dealer)

 

[ichy]

From what I understand Costco's car buying service is inconsistent. They can sometimes get you a good deal, but they can also get you an awful one.

 

[rcpratt]

What is you wanted a new car? (assuming hes a used car dealer) or if you wanted a different brand? (assuming hes a new car dealer)

He sells new and used Fords and Kias. I guess if I want a different brand I'm screwed, but I don't right now.

 

[thegimp03]

Had a friend who used a car buying service for his 335i coupe a year ago and he got exactly what he was looking for at the right price. The advantage for him was that he didn't have to negotiate the price with the sales guy/dealer and it was all taken care of for him.

 

[HeXen]

People just don't like to haggle much.

i don't see why, its all just talking and telling them what you want and thats that kinda attitude. i always try to go for getting extras too, like tinted windows or something. i dont call it haggling, i just call it being honest with myself in what i want and willing to pay.

 

[KIAman]

i don't see why, its all just talking and telling them what you want and thats that kinda attitude. i always try to go for getting extras too, like tinted windows or something. i dont call it haggling, i just call it being honest with myself in what i want and willing to pay.

Yup, I agree. But people in general (in the USA at least) just don't like the confrontation of haggling.

In other countries, haggling is a way of life.

 

[Zap]

I went through AAA for my wife's new 2011 WRX (hopefully delivered next week - woot!). I was pretty impressed. I went to the AAA web site and logged in with my membership credentials. Clicked through to their buying service and basically entered the details of the vehicle we were looking for. We got some information about a dealer that was a bit farther than we would have normally looked (close to 1 hour away). The next day we got a call from the dealer asking if we would like to come in to discuss the vehicle. We did and ended up ordering it the following week. The dealer was upfront about their invoice cost (*usual disclaimers about dealer invoice applies) and said their asking price will be dealer invoice plus $200, which came in close to $2k below MSRP. Note that this was back in October for a 2011 model of a hot seller (every one in stock at all nearby dealers were selling out, including ones on order at the time). We even got the optional short shifter at dealer invoice plus no installation fee (will be installed at factory). Additionally, they're running a promo on 2 years free maintenance (basically oil changes since it expires before the 30k mile service) so we'll be getting that too.

The only other buying service I went through was Ford Partner because at the time I worked for a company that was a Ford parts supplier. I got my Mazdaspeed for $600 over dealer invoice (at the time Ford owned controlling interest in Mazda). Should have been at dealer invoice but I added dealer installed options and stuff, and the sales manager got kind of pushy about wanting to make some profit from all that (yeah right, Ford gives them a $600 rebate for these sales, plus they get their usual volume rebates). I really should have walked away from that (to twist their arm) but I wanted to take advantage of the 0.9% APR that was expiring that day so I bought it. Guess what? The very next day the new promotional APR was 0.0%! There was no way for me to know that, so ah well. The sales guy gave me just over a year's worth of free maintenance to make up for his manager.

 

[Capt Caveman]

I was rather un-impressed with the Costco buying service. The dealership that was a member of the program that I went to was rather shady and the Costco price was simply $1000 off MSRP.
On top of that they called me every day for two weeks straight even after I told them to piss off, and that their prices were awful.

Check out cars.overstock.com if you are interested in a car buying service, but be prepared to drive a ways if you want a good deal.

I recently got an email form Costco about a special Volvo deal. $500 below Employee Discount(Invoice) and a $500 Costco cash card(after filling out survey), so basically $1k under invoice, on any variant of the Volvo XC60 and XC90.

Looking at the XC60.