Used car buying services from AAA or Costco?

[fidler4]

I am looking to buy a used car for my teenage daughter and was considering using AAA's used car buying service or the Costco used car servce. Has anyone used either of these before? How do they compare to going to Auto Nation or Carmax?

Thanks,

Jeff

 

[daylatedollarshort]

It probably varies by location. For the last car we bought the best price we could find was through the TrueCar link on the Penfed site. The local CarMax prices were not really any deal at all. Penfed also sometimes has 0% loans if you buy through their affiliate link.

 

[ERhoosier]

I've shopped local CarMax but did not end up buying. The prices are non-negotiable and on the high side (plus they push their extended warranties which add to the net cost). If you are trading in a vehicle I found local CM similar to other car dealers in wanting to low ball your trade. From on-line postings the experiences with CM seem quite variable depending on the local CarMax location. Some very happy customers and some sound like they really got screwed over.
Editorial: The Truth About CarMax | The Truth About Cars
https://www.consumeraffairs.com/automotive/carmax.html
Ripoff Report | carmax directory of Complaints & Reviews

No experience with Costco, although I would imagine a dealership that does lots of Costco business would be more likely to treat you well to avoid losing Costco as a source of future customers.
Buy a Certified Pre-Owned Used Car through Costco

 

[fidler4]

I've shopped local CarMax but did not end up buying. The prices are non-negotiable and on the high side (plus they push their extended warranties which add to the net cost). If you are trading in a vehicle I found local CM similar to other car dealers in wanting to low ball your trade. From on-line postings the experiences with CM seem quite variable depending on the local CarMax location. Some very happy customers and some sound like they really got screwed over.
Editorial: The Truth About CarMax | The Truth About Cars
https://www.consumeraffairs.com/automotive/carmax.html
Ripoff Report | carmax directory of Complaints & Reviews

No experience with Costco, although I would imagine a dealership that does lots of Costco business would be more likely to treat you well to avoid losing Costco as a source of future customers.
Buy a Certified Pre-Owned Used Car through Costco

Thanks for the links. Fortunately I am to have a trade-in or finance the vehicle or get an extended warranty. I want to keep it simple.

I like the AAA car buy service because you can search the inventory prior to going to the dealership. Costco doesn't give you that option. It is hard to tell if pre-negotiated prices are the same but I suspect they are close to each other.

http://ww1.calif.aaa.com/en-ca/buy-...aspx?area=vanity_carbuy&zip=90808&devicecd=TB

 

[daylatedollarshort]

Thanks for the links. Fortunately I am to have a trade-in or finance the vehicle or get an extended warranty. I want to keep it simple.

I like the AAA car buy service because you can search the inventory prior to going to the dealership. Costco doesn't give you that option. It is hard to tell if pre-negotiated prices are the same but I suspect they are close to each other.

AAA - Online Preowned Car Event

There are different sites with affiliate links to Truecar, like AAA, Overstock and Penfed. We found they may have different prices (for the exact same car with the same VIN) and inventory based on what link you begin their search from. I also like being able to search the inventory ahead of time.

You can still look up inventory on the dealer sites and call and ask what their Costco price would be. They will say to come on in and you can just say I don't have time to drive all over, either give me a Costco price quote on the phone or not - your choice. In my experience they will then give you the super secret Costco price over the phone and it will be nothing that would have been worth driving over their for anyway. The having to drive over and show up in person is just a marketing tactic geared toward low information buyers who buy on the spot on impulse and emotion and not INTJ people who buy based on careful planning and detailed price comparison spreadsheets. If Costco really offered better prices than TrueCar it would be to their advantage to publish their prices online, but they do not.

I have tried asking dealers if they would give me a discount if I didn't go through the TrueCar link, if they would split the commission they saved with me, but last time I tried this I didn't get any takers.

 

[rbmrtn]

I bought from Carmax and was very pleased with the purchase. Got a good price on the car I wanted, no sales hassles. Decent value for 225K mile clunker trade trade in.

I remember looking through RipoffReports when evaluating Carmax and concluded most of the complaints were in the same vein of people suing McDonalds for making them fat.

 

[travelover]

I've had the best luck buying from a private party in an upscale part of town. Generally they just want more than the low ball dealer trade in offer. Take the car to a trusted independent garage and they will look it over for $100 or so.

 

[donheff]

I used Costco's service and it worked fine. The quote I got was right in the ballpark for a reasonable deal that I arrived at through Dr Google research. I took my old car to Carmax and the Costco dealer matched their trade-in offer so I was able to get it all done with one stop shopping.