Car Buying Services - Your Thoughts

[mike143]

Here is a bunch of good advice: How to buy a new car, FWF style

I buy vehicles for the company I work for and dealing with fleet sales is 100x better.

We have a dealer we have bought a few vehicles from in Colorado. We have a job there and when we needed more vehicles for our North Dakota job he beat the local dealer even though we was getting it from a Iowa dealer and having it delivered. Second and final vehicle for the North Dakota project he was low again and this time he is personally picking the truck up in Iowa and delivering it. Low dealer has to put forth extra effort and still beats greedy local dealer. North Dakota dealers got greedy during the oil boom. Even though we have have bought 5 or 6 vehicles from him we still shop it every time.

 

[45th Birthday]

I used Costco to buy my son a new Toyota 4Runner. It was very easy. He test drove it at a nearby dealer, decided exactly what he wanted, then we tried Costco. The Costco dealer (about 45 mins away) gave us a price. We went back to the local dealer, and they got close but not below the Costco price. They wanted us to bring it in writing and the manager would consider it. Ha-no thanks. The Costco dealer traded for the exact one we wanted with another dealer, we went in and picked it up with no hassle. A bit of a sell job on an extended warranty, but only half-hearted.

 

[travelover]

........A bit of a sell job on an extended warranty, but only half-hearted.

It's humorous how the car (or appliance or whatever) is the greatest quality until it comes time to sell the extended warranty.

 

[eytonxav]

If your so inclined, why not price out the car from both Costco and USAA's buying services and then see if you can beat it through your own shopping. One other consideration about price, if there is a terrific dealer locally from a service shop perspective, that is worth something to me versus having to drive many miles to get to the low purchase price dealer.

 

[Amethyst]

Oh, I like that! Before settling a price, I will ask if we can put any of it on a credit card, although I would expect them to say no since it costs them.

We bought a small pickup truck off the lot in 1990 and even though we wanted to pay cash, the salesman still tried to sell us a lease. It's like they're programmed to ignore what you are saying.

+
On doing the dance, the first time the salesman says " How much per mo. can you afford " I bluntly say " If you ask that again, I'm walking off the lot " . Sets the tempo

 

[GTFan]

I never buy new, always buy 2-3 year old used with less than 50k miles. Let somebody else take the 40-50% depreciation hit, most cars nowadays are very reliable and last forever.

There's a very high volume used car dealership here in the ATL (http://www.hennessympg.com/inventory/newsearch/Used/) that always advertises rock-bottom prices with no dealer fees, just ad price + tax/tag/title cost out the door. Most of their stuff is off-rental or off-lease and it's all no haggling whatsoever because the price they advertise is below market, they deal in volume. Have bought a couple of good cars there.

 

[travelover]

I never buy new, always buy 2-3 year old used with less than 50k miles. Let somebody else take the 40-50% depreciation hit, most cars nowadays are very reliable and last forever.
.........

Agree, but I haven't seen those numbers for a loooong time. Turns out that all those years of low new car sales has created a relative shortage of used cars.

 

[mickeyd]

Do they really save money over traditional negotiations?

I do not know but they definitely made the buying process much easier IF you know exactly what car you are ready to purchase. I used USAA and was in/out in a couple of hours when I bought a few years ago.

 

[Lakewood90712]

I never buy new, always buy 2-3 year old used with less than 50k miles. Let somebody else take the 40-50% depreciation hit, most cars nowadays are very reliable and last forever.

There's a very high volume used car dealership here in the ATL (Used Vehicles Hennessy Buick GMC-Morrow Buick, Gmc, GMC Jonesboro,GA Roswell,GA) that always advertises rock-bottom prices with no dealer fees, just ad price + tax/tag/title cost out the door. Most of their stuff is off-rental or off-lease and it's all no haggling whatsoever because the price they advertise is below market, they deal in volume. Have bought a couple of good cars there.

I normally buy new, and keep well over 100k miles, so depreciation is not a factor, and those first few years are zero repair costs.

I would stay away from a previous rental. Might look shinny, bur lot's of renters drive cars hard , because it's not theirs. An assistant I had working for me used to be an agent for Enterprise, the stories what renters do to cars is astonishing. And those abused cars get " Reconditioned" then off to the used car sales dept or auction.

Off lease, OK.

 

[Bikerdude]

I bought a new car in 2012 and did all the negotiations on the internet and over the phone. I never set foot in a dealers showroom until I had an OTD firm price. I used Truecar (as it was the lowest offer) and the dealer honored it no questions asked. I did have to order the car as they did not have my model with the options I wanted. I felt as though I got a good deal.

 

[Nunthewiser]

I haven't bought a new car since 1996, so I'm not very current on this but reading the fine print on the USAA and Truecar websites tells me that the price you get from using them isn't "THE PRICE" necessarily. There still looks to be some wiggle room for documentation and fluff.

When it finally comes time to buy the car for SWMBO, I am going to send written RFPs based on a very specific model/color/option combo and ask for a bottom line number on their sales contract as a response. That's the real deal and it gives me time to negotiate out any of the BS that may be in their contract.

 

[pb4uski]

Agree, but I haven't seen those numbers for a loooong time. Turns out that all those years of low new car sales has created a relative shortage of used cars.

+1 Most recently, it seems that slightly used car prices are so close to new car prices that I don't buy used anymore since the difference is just a few thousand.

 

[powerplay]

+1 Most recently, it seems that slightly used car prices are so close to new car prices that I don't buy used anymore since the difference is just a few thousand.

When I bought my last car in 1999 the 1-2 year old cars were actually more expensive than the new one at the ad price. I think it depends on the make and model whether there is much savings in a 1-3 year old car versus new.

The best experience I've had was in 1996 buying a new vehicle through a fleet dealer. He told me the price over the phone and what was available. I made an appointment with him and looked at both vehicles and chose the one to buy. There was an attempt by the finance guy to buy the extended warranty and finance, but I said no and there was no push back. I was out in less than an hour.

 

[braumeister]

+1 Most recently, it seems that slightly used car prices are so close to new car prices that I don't buy used anymore since the difference is just a few thousand.

The same situation has prevailed in my area for at least several years now.
Since I normally keep cars for 150-200 thousand miles, it makes sense to buy new.

My impression is that PenFed and USAA both have good car buying services. I haven't heard any comments from users, but it looks like Edmunds also has a good service.

 

[bmcgonig]

I used a service last year,from checkbook.org here in the Bay Area. I got a list of quotes from about 15 dealers that offered anywhere from $500 over invoice to $300 under invoice. I told the nearest dealer about the $300 under and he said that he would match it. Up to that perfect, easy peazy.

I was paying cash but since the automaker was offering $500 extra to use financing, I decided to finance the minimum, I.e. 25% of the car, and then pay it off in 2mos. I went over all the pieces in email before I showed up. When I went to the dealership they had all the paperwork ready to sign. Except that they included the extended warranty and the maintenance contract ! We had never even discussed it beforehand. If I hadn't read it carefully I would've gotten shafted because I really didn't know what the monthly payment should be, nor did I care since I figured I'd be paying it off in a month or so. The full price of the car and extras were pretty well hidden, they just told me the monthly cost.

Anyway, my advice from that is that they offer these low prices to get u in the door, and they try to work their magic. Some are better than others. I thought these guys were pretty good crooks actually


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[Rick_Head]

...
I would stay away from a previous rental. Might look shinny, bur lot's of renters drive cars hard ....

Interesting, I bought my truck from Budget. 1 year old, 8K miles and 25% below MSRP. How bad can you be to a vehicle in 8K miles?

 

[MRG]

Interesting, I bought my truck from Budget. 1 year old, 8K miles and 25% below MSRP. How bad can you be to a vehicle in 8K miles?

Ever shifted into reverse at 45, and floored it? It's very interesting what happens.

 

[pb4uski]

Ever shifted into reverse at 45, and floored it? It's very interesting what happens.

Don't do it with your own vehicle though, do it with a rental.

 

[Lsbcal]

Ever shifted into reverse at 45, and floored it? It's very interesting what happens.

OK, what happens?

 

[Nunthewiser]

^^ Nothing. Until it goes 10,000 miles and some rick_head buys it....

 

[MRG]

OK, what happens?

Wheels break loose and tires burn. Feels smooth, till the transmission blows 2k miles later or so.

 

[RAE]

If you go to Truecar, you can see the actual prices paid for a specific model in your zip code. They present you with a bell curve of actual prices paid, so you can compare an offer to see if it is actually a low one.

I sent an email to a half dozen dealers and took the lowest offer. Alternatively you can get a fixed price from Costco, AAA, Consumer Reports or others and use that as your initial negotiating price. The dealer pays a third party a cut, so you are basically negotiating against that cut.

Getting an out the door price is essential or they will try to claw back profit with phoney document fees, paint and interior treatments and anything else they can get away with.

Yes, I did the same thing (using Truecar), and it worked well for me. I got an "out the door" price via email from the dealer with the best price, printed it off, and went in and bought the car for that price. No big hassles. I had made it very clear before I went to pick up the vehicle that I wanted a final price in writing, and I just wanted to come in and pay for the vehicle (no financing) and drive it away. So I think they knew that there was no chance of getting any extra $$ out of me.

 

[Sunset]

Oh, I like that! Before settling a price, I will ask if we can put any of it on a credit card, although I would expect them to say no since it costs them..

No, just settle on a price, then tell them before signing you will pay 10% via CC and the rest in a check. Mine had no issue with a $3K CC payment.

 

[45th Birthday]

One other consideration about price, if there is a terrific dealer locally from a service shop perspective, that is worth something to me versus having to drive many miles to get to the low purchase price dealer.

You can take your car to any dealer for service, or better yet you can use your own mechanic if not warranty repair.

 

[meierlde]

Ever shifted into reverse at 45, and floored it? It's very interesting what happens.

With automatics the engine is killed if you shift into reverse when moving, its a part of the transmission design. (I did it once in the past at about 10 by accident and it just killed the engine)