I’m considering buying a new car. A very good friend has a cousin who is an auto broker and can, he says, locate a car for me. Apparently I just tell him the make, model, and package/color I want and he can locate it, arrange financing, complete all the paperwork, and even deliver it to me. All for a competitive price. I trust my friend, who uses this cousin whenever he buys a car.
But the dealerships he works with, I’ve learned, are pretty far away. I’m thinking it might be unwise to buy from a dealer who is not local.
So, two questions.
Have you used an auto broker? Can you tell me something I may not know about such an arrangement?
Should I shop closer to home, on my own? For the record, the dealerships he deals with are about 45 minutes away from me.
Why are you thinking it’s unwise to deal with a dealership 45 minutes away? You can get warranty work done at any dealer- it doesn’t have to be the one where you bought your car. My son bought a certified pre-owned* hybrid Honda and picked it up on a Saturday. The very next day, he couldn’t start it, but the dealership he bought it from was closed. He went to another dealership and they replaced the battery under the warranty. Even if you want to have service done at a dealership to avoid warranty issues, it doesn’t have to be the dealer where you bought the car. The only reason I can think of to have the service done at he dealership where you bought is if there are additional benefits- for example, the dealership where I bought my current vehicle provides a loaner only for cars purchased there.
It was pre-owned because it was a couple of model-years old, and the dealer had to take title. It hadn’t actually been sold to a customer
I can’t comment of the usefulness or benefits of using a broker, but if the car you want is cheaper through him and you don’t have to drive super far to go get it, I’d say go for it.
As for getting it from a dealership that is not local, I wouldn’t worry about that one bit. Provided it’s an authorized dealer, you’re going to have no problem getting warranty work and other needed services through your local manufacturer-authorized dealership. Hell, I’m driving an Audi and a Dodge in Germany, both of which I purchased in the states. Getting warranty work/services on the Audi is simple, and for the Hell Cat… well, it’s not impossible. The nearest Factory-Authorized mechanic is only about 20 minutes away. In the states, I’ve lived in Alaska driving cars (a Tahoe and a Mini Cooper) purchased in Georgia. There was never any issue or difficulty driving into any dealership to get the factory support I needed.
A dealer sometimes has special services they offer to people who buy cars from them. For example, they may offer free oil changes for life or free loaner cars. But other than stuff like that, the warranty work will be the same at any dealer.
If you decide to get an extended warranty through the dealer, you can actually get it from any dealer. It doesn’t have to be the dealer who sold the car. I’ve heard of people calling dealers around the country to get good savings on the price of the extended warranty.
I’ve used a broker to buy my last 3 cars. I will never go back to negotiating with a dealer. The broker process is so easy and painless. My broker works with the commercial dept of the dealers, and gets really good prices, better than I’ve been able to get at Costco or anywhere else, and I’m sure better than I could get by negotiating on my own. And the car gets delivered to my house. You do have to know exactly what you want. I’ve never had any concerns or issues with the selling dealership being far away. In fact, I’ve never taken any of my cars back to the selling dealership for service; I just take them to the closest one and AFAIK they treat me just like the selling dealership would. I’m getting 2 years of free service on my latest car, but that’s a deal from Toyota, not the dealership, so any Toyota dealer will honor it.
Pardon my ignorance, but when you all say “broker”, are you talking about places like Carvana, etc?
I’m not averse to negotiation at a dealeship. I do my homework and drive a pretty hard bargain. But as time goes by, I’ve less and less patience for the process. It’s just such a waste of time. So if there’s a better way through a ‘broker’, I want to know more about it.
I’ve done it. I live in western New York and I once bought a new car in Vermont. I had no trouble getting my warranty servicing done at local dealerships.
no, Carvana is actually a dealer. A “broker” is someone who- for a fee- will do the “leg work” in finding the car you want configured how you want it, and be the one doing all of the haggling with the dealer.
Two cars back I sort of acted as my own broker and found a good deal a couple states away; took a bus and drove the car home to save transporting and all that. And I got terrific service for a few warranty issues from the local place because — hey; at some point I may want to have something done not covered and I’ll know them and the quality of their work. With new cars get the best price you can - everything else will even out in the end.
(And in terms of 45 minutes – back with Saturn most people in Erie came to Pittsburgh for service. And that has a bit more than 45 minutes involved. Don’t worry about it too much.)
I have an extended warranty on my car that I got from the dealership. If I go to any other dealership, I have to pay a $100 deductible for repairs covered under it. Bad deal, yeah. But worth it for me since the dealership is walking distance from home or a 10 minute bus ride if need be.
no, it’s not because you go to another dealership. if you buy an extended service plan, it replaces your factory limited warranty and you have to pay the deductible whether or not you bring it to the dealer you bought it from. Now, if you bring the car to the dealer you bought it from they may offer niceties like a free loaner.
I also have HondaCare which I think covers the first three years, so 10 year extended warranty doesn’t really kick in [for anything major]until year 4. For those who are screaming “Never buy an extended warranty!”. I had it on my previous two trucks and they more than paid for themselves over the years. Plus it’s nice not to have to worry about unexpected expenses.
I keep my vehicles for a long time, 10 and 14 years for my trucks. Only out of pocket expenses were oil changes, brakes and tires. I plan for this to be my last car, as I’ll stop driving in my 70’s.
Interesting. I never knew that about Honda. I figured most extendeds were with the issuing company and not usually linked to the dealer. You learn something new here every day!
I don’t think it has anything to do with Honda - it seems to be a third party service contract. Hondacare is the extended warranty/service contract sold by Honda and as far as I can tell, the benefits are the same no matter which Honda dealership you go to.
