Has anyone had any experience with this service? I’m thinking of using it when the time comes to get rid of Mrs. LeBeef’s behemoth Mountaineer this spring.
Do they deal in used vehicles, or just new?
Thanks for any info!
I don’t know if they deal with used cars. I bought a new car through the service about 10 years ago, and I was very pleased. Here’s the reason: no haggling. There is a pre-set markup with the CostCo deal. The dealership shows you all the numbers and there’s your price. Period. For the lack of headache of hassling, it was worth it. I also feel I got a good price (could I have gotten better through haggling ? unclear).
I don’t think it works for used cars… but I could be wrong.
I have used Costco mutliple times for new cars and trucks with good success. It basically hooks you up with the fleet manager so that you avoid the typical back and forth most buyers hate. As far as I can tell every large dealership has a fleet manager and there is nothing stopping you from dealing with them directly without using Costco as middlemen. It’s usually a “take it or leave it” price that’s between $500 below and $500 above the published “invoice price”. Check the internet first to make sure you know what the real invoice price should be.
Do they allow you to pick and choose dealers to work with? There’s one dealer that I outright refuse to deal with here, but it’s right next to Costco and I know they deal with Costco. I didn’t go that route because I didn’t want to give them any money at all. I might try it next time, but I’m hoping the next time will not be for a good 7-8 years.
You can pick which dealer you want to work with by changing the Zip Code you enter on Costco’s website. I was able to work with a dealer 50 miles away by doing that and it got me the best price. And yes, you can deal with multiple dealers at the same time by putting in different zip codes and having them compete against each other. I don’t think Costco cares since I believe they get a commission based on whoever you eventually buy the car from.
I’ll add my 2 cents… I’ve used the Costco service for my last 4 new cars and would highly recommend it. No haggling is great. Not feeling like you’re getting ripped off is great. Not feeling like you have to go home and take a shower to remove the slime is also great. 
J.
Thanks everybody…I think I will give them a call when the old girl (the car, not the wife) is ready. If they can do used cars, that would be great, but it can’t hurt to ask, now can it?
You might want to check with CarMax while you’re at it. I know they buy and sell used cars. It’d be worth it to try multiple sources. I bought my Charger Daytona from them in April, and was on location for less than 30 minutes. I found it online, and had them ship it from Chicago. I would have been on the lot for even less time, but the paperwork with my credit union hadn’t yet gone through, so I had to get a temporary loan from them. As long as I secured financing within 3 business days, there were no fees involved in that part of the process.