Buying a Car Tomorrow

[Big_Hitter]

He he he. Subaru owners are a cult.

 

[redduck]

...Roomy is not the word I'd use for an Impreza, but my son likes his. I've driven it. Felt a little cramped compared to my Forester, but it can definitely be the right size for some. Smaller is easier to park for one thing.

The duchess of redduck is 5'2" and weighs 104 pounds. So, the car seems to be a good size. And, yes, "easier to park" is a major plus.

 

[Midpack]

There are a few guys that got invoice price deals and drive them home. They just had to fly to Miami dealers one way to buy them.

Invoice doesn’t mean what it used to, sometimes it’s possible to buy below “invoice” nowadays. Dealers aren’t paid by manufacturers the same way they used to be when MSRP, Invoice and “hold backs” were the norm. All three have changed now. MSRP is completely meaningless now, I hope no one pays anything like that these days.

 

[zinger1457]

Picked up at 2019 Toyota Avalon Hybrid Limited. I used Costco but it was obvious from the start that their price quote was high, I found dealers Internet specials to be lower. Ended up paying about $2500 less than the quote I got from using Costco.

 

[redduck]

The first reply in:
"The Impreza is not by any means a big ticket item for dealers, and the Costco price of $900 under invoice is genuinely where the bottom is. I've consulted my internet director, who is always willing to make a deal, but he's confirmed that's our limit."

Just for practice, I followed up on Big_Hitter's link to a dealer in Colorado. He seemed to be about $800 cheaper.

 

[aja8888]

I shopped new Ford and GM pickups in December but didn't buy yet (maybe won't). My Costco price guarantee deal got me what's called "supplier" pricing which turned out to be thousands ( $$$$) more than what most dealers would give you if you walked in off the street.

Does Costco get a kickback from the car dealer if a member buys through their service?

Duck, good luck with the Subaru as they appear to be good cars. SIL has a WRX and it's a fun car.

 

[OldShooter]

DW just bought a '18 Mini Countryman S AWD off the dealer lot. It was a BMW/Mini rep company car with 8K miles, full of electronic toys to the point of hilarity, leather, sunroof, etc. Sticker was a little over $40K and she paid $30K. Factory warranty was extended to IIRC four years with unlimited mileage. (Mileage limit on the paperwork says 99,999!)

I did a similar deal in the summer of '17 buying my Soob WRX. I just see no reason to buy brand new cars when saving significant money is so easy.

 

[Big_Hitter]

The first reply in:
"The Impreza is not by any means a big ticket item for dealers, and the Costco price of $900 under invoice is genuinely where the bottom is. I've consulted my internet director, who is always willing to make a deal, but he's confirmed that's our limit."

Just for practice, I followed up on Big_Hitter's link to a dealer in Colorado. He seemed to be about $800 cheaper.

get a quote from the colorado dealer - I've found that they are about the cheapest in the nation

 

[copyright1997reloaded]

The first reply in:
"The Impreza is not by any means a big ticket item for dealers, and the Costco price of $900 under invoice is genuinely where the bottom is. I've consulted my internet director, who is always willing to make a deal, but he's confirmed that's our limit."

Just for practice, I followed up on Big_Hitter's link to a dealer in Colorado. He seemed to be about $800 cheaper.

You might be able to use that to your advantage. In making the deal I mentioned earlier, I showed them an ad for a truck about 500 miles away. It was a major factor in getting them to lower the price further.

One gotcha on buying in another state - some states have different immersions requirements, so there are (on some vehicles) models built for all 50 states, etc. It's been so long I forget the particulars, but I was limited in the number of states I could select from because of that requirement. (I live in NY and the vehicle I found to price compare was in southwest PA, but I could not purchase a vehicle sold in Ohio as it would not meet NY (California) requirements.)

 

[Brat]

In August DH & I purchased a new Subaru Forester. I obtained the Costco price from the area dealership (Costco has only one in the metro area for each manufacturer). I took that price to other dealerships (without showing the paperwork) and asked if they could do better .. and they did by a significant amount. It might have been the end of the model season or some other factor but honestly, you can do better.

I didn't want to invest more money than necessary so I opted for the version with cloth seats. There is a business in our area that reupholstered those seats for $1,500 which we included in the purchase.

We were offered 0% financing which included the reupholstering.

 

[copyright1997reloaded]

I shopped new Ford and GM pickups in December but didn't buy yet (maybe won't). My Costco price guarantee deal got me what's called "supplier" pricing which turned out to be thousands ( $$$$) more than what most dealers would give you if you walked in off the street.

Does Costco get a kickback from the car dealer if a member buys through their service?

Duck, good luck with the Subaru as they appear to be good cars. SIL has a WRX and it's a fun car.

This is x-plan pricing (for Ford). It is:
(Invoice - Invoice*0.4%) + $275 program fee + shipping charge, where the Invoice is Invoice w/o the shipping charge. (That is the 0.4% off of invoice does not include the destination/shipping charge.)

A-plan pricing is for Ford employee's. It is:
Invoice - Holdback - Advertising Fee + $275 program fee
where holdback = 3% of MSRP (I can't remember if MSRP in this calc that includes the destination charge or not.)

Z-plan is for retiree's, it is the same as A-plan.
D-plan is for dealer's and their employee's and family members: A-Plan + $100.

I believe GM also has a 3% hold back (they did as of 2016).

As Midpack mentions, Invoice is somewhat meaningless these days. The manufacturers can have special programs for dealers, e.g. $ volume bonus's and other ways of providing revenue to the dealer. In addition, many dealerships make much more on vehicle service than on sales.

Hope this helps.

 

[ckelly78z]

The Costco price is a no haggle price that can't be improved on. You may be better off trying to get the dealership to discount an additional $1000, so you end up buying from them instead of Costco. I think you will get better service at the time, and in the future if you buy from a dealership.

I have a 2017 Outback as a company car, and love it.

The best I can describe it is as follows;
Subaru sets the price on the car, Costco offers the car for that price plus $2000. The dealership may be able to sell that same car for that price plus $1000 if they do a big volume. This would save you $1000 for buying from the dealership.

 

[Nick12]

Invoice doesn’t mean what it used to, sometimes it’s possible to buy below “invoice” nowadays. Dealers aren’t paid by manufacturers the same way they used to be when MSRP, Invoice and “hold backs” were the norm. All three have changed now. MSRP is completely meaningless now, I hope no one pays anything like that these days.

Invoice to some can come in many variations however the 2 guys that I know that picked up their Foresters at a tremendous price in all cash buy in Miami also treated themselves to a weekend in South Beach.

 

[Brat]

I ended up buying from a high-volume dealer with a fantastic reputation, offered a cash purchase which is when they offered a 0% car loan.

What I didn't know at the time was that the dealership, which was a multi-generation business, was being sold Sep 1 (I was shopping in August). There may have been some incentive for sales to book business before the sale closed.

When you buy through the Costco program I don't think you are buying from Costco. One incentive for me to continue to look is that their contract dealership was in the suburbs and I live in the city center. LONG drive.

 

[CowgirlUp]

My sister just bought a 2019 Impreza 2 days ago. She said the list price was $32,000 and she got it for $27,000.

 

[upset264]

Car buying is generally considered a miserable experience. For what it's worth (not much) when I buy a car I shop around, but I do not run from dealer to dealer trying to get them to beat each others price. I was in business most of my life and I don't do business that way.

I think its because of the way buyers behave that car salesman have such a poor image.

 

[RunningBum]

Car buying is generally considered a miserable experience. For what it's worth (not much) when I buy a car I shop around, but I do not run from dealer to dealer trying to get them to beat each others price. I was in business most of my life and I don't do business that way.

I think its because of the way buyers behave that car salesman have such a poor image.

I think the way buyers behave is because of the way car salesmen have treated people. Not all salesmen. A few, some, many, not sure how to quantify.

eta: group the dealership in with sales people.

 

[Just_Steve]

Bought this Subaru for DW last year.

 

[COcheesehead]

Others will disagree with me, but the easiest car buying experience I've had at a price that I thought was very good based on everything else I saw online, was when I used the Costco car buying program. Your time is worth something too. I didn't want to spend days trying to save another $100.

 

[Midpack]

Others will disagree with me, but the easiest car buying experience I've had at a price that I thought was very good based on everything else I saw online, was when I used the Costco car buying program. Your time is worth something too. I didn't want to spend days trying to save another $100.

To each his/her own, but in my case I saved $1600 vs the Costco price with a couple hours work online and at a dealer. If it was only a $100, I wouldn't waste the time either...


But if you want a decent discount with zero effort, the Costco price isn't bad. However, there are major metro areas (population 2.1M that I know of first hand), and obviously minor areas, where no dealers participate in the Costco program.

 

[COcheesehead]

To each his/her own, but in my case I saved $1600 vs the Costco price with a couple hours work online and at a dealer. If it was only a $100, I wouldn't waste the time either...


But if you want a decent discount with zero effort, the Costco price isn't bad. However, there are major metro areas (population 2.1M that I know of first hand), and obviously minor areas, where no dealers participate in the Costco program.

The car you buy matters too. For the one I bought, which is in high demand, the only way I would have gotten the deal I did was through Costco. Every dealer told me they wouldn't discount off MSRP until I got Costco involved.

 

[Midpack]

The car you buy matters too. For the one I bought, which is in high demand, the only way I would have gotten the deal I did was through Costco. Every dealer told me they wouldn't discount off MSRP until I got Costco involved.

It’s true dealing is very brand and model specific, even regional factors. I know in Nov in TX you could get a great deal on an Outback, much smaller discounts on a Forester then for the example.

My point was simply Costco may or may not be a great deal, and it takes very little effort to find out.

 

[travelover]

..........
I think its because of the way buyers behave that car salesman have such a poor image.

Yea, that's it.

 

[Lakewood90712]

I never finance or trade in, so it is a clean deal. The internet is the worst nightmare for traditional car sales. last 3 out of 4 new cars, walked on the lot cold , knowing about the lowest poss. price.

Then the painful pitches for dealer installed crap, 3rd party warranty, and supplemental insurance.

Next time, when we sit down in the closer's desk I WILL PULL OUT AN EGG TIMER AND TELL EM, " OUT THE DOOR PRICE WHEN THE TIME IS UP OR WE WALK "

 

[Jerry1]

Next time, when we sit down in the closer's desk I WILL PULL OUT AN EGG TIMER AND TELL EM, " OUT THE DOOR PRICE WHEN THE TIME IS UP OR WE WALK "

That’s what I do, sans the egg timer. I basically allow for three numbers and a respectful conversation. I come in with a number, they counter and then I firm up a number, counter and say it’s that or have a nice day. They’ll either accept that number or come back with what I believe is their bottom line, but either way, I’m done. If they’re very close, I may accept but if they’re jerking my chain, I’ll know buy then. Firming up a number shouldn’t take more than 1/2 hour even with basic pleasantries.

I agree that it’s model and vehicle specific. I think I got a good deal on my truck, but it was year end and model year close out. If I’d have wanted a 2019, I don’t think I would have come close to the deal I got. Either way, the only way I’d use Costco for a car is if I had no desire to haggle and wanted to make sure I was at least getting a fair deal. Frankly, I don’t like to haggle, but a car is too much of a purchase not to try. It’s one of the few transactions were you can save a thousand+ if you’re willing to play the game.