My impression of the buying services (Costco is another one) is that they’ll get you a fair deal, but maybe not as good as if you’re willing to do a lot of research and go in and negotiate yourself. For example, I doubt** iamthewalrus(:3=** would have gotten a below invoice price with a buying service.
The thing with at least the Costco service is that it’s pretty much an across the board “MSRP minus X%” deal for the whole brand. Whereas when you’re negotiating for yourself, the amount of room for negotiation varies enormously based on the individual model you’re looking at. If you’re looking at a car that tends to sit in inventories for a while, you can beat the Costco/whoever price pretty easily. If you’re looking at something that’s in high demand, you might not and may even get a slightly better deal than you’d be able to on your own.
I bought a Subaru model through Costco a couple years ago that at the time was flying off the lots and I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have done better on my own. The dealer even briefly considered not selling me the car at the Costco price. I also attempted to buy a motorcycle once through the program and actually did have the local dealer say they wouldn’t sell me the bike at that price.
(Oh, also Honda is pretty notorious for fudging the invoice numbers, so while I’m sure a price below invoice is pretty good, it’s not necessarily astoundingly good like it might be for some other makes. With brands like Honda that pull invoice shenanigans like that, the Costco price often is below invoice.)
I put “invoice” in quotes for a reason. I’m sure the dealer still managed to make a profit on me.
I don’t think I got an incredible price by any means. But I got an ok price. Certainly enough less that it was worth negotiating and timing things for the end of the month.
OK, I’m supposed to be going car shopping again sometime today with our car-knowledgeable friend. I wish I’d had the time to get my Jeep detailed. We’ve got a bad storm bearing down on us and I need to find an indoor bay where I can vacuum before we head to the dealership!
I looked at the dealership’s website and emailed them for their “special internet price” on a few of their SUV’s. I’m not expecting any of them to be in my price range, but once I’m there we could talk them down? I’m also looking at their lower-priced sedans because those are in my price range. It’s just…wow, I’ve been driving a Jeep for the last 11 years and going from that to a car is a mindf*ck. But you gotta do what you gotta do.
Handy hints if you’re buying a new (or new to you) car:
RUN if, upon meeting the sales manager with whom you’ve been emailing re a couple of vehicles you saw on their website, asks you how much you can afford to spend BEFORE even showing you any vehicle.
RUN if sames sales manager expects you to fill out a form and present your license “for our records” while your friend (whom you brought along as a bulls*it detector/moral support) is in the rest room.
RUN if the sales manager ignores the two vehicles you were interested in and tries steering you to another vehicle which didn’t pop up on your radar. Humor him by taking a test drive then tell him AGAIN “I’m not interested in this vehicle.”
RUN if you witness a mother/daughter duo speaking to another salesperson and the mother taking the daugfhter by the arm and walking out upon hearing that if the daughter finances through them they’ll charge her 21% APR “because of [the daughter’s] bad credit score EVEN THOUGH the mother [who has great credit] is cosigning”.
This happened at a decades-old dealership in my area which is regarded as one of the better “no bulls*it” places. My friend and I walked out when the sales manager refused to give us a firm price for the vehicle I test drove and insisted on concentrating on what he thought I could afford. FUCK YOU.
Gah, I just want a magic wand so I never have to buy another vehicle ever again.