Community Forums

traveler of california · 09-11-2014, 08:02 PM

We are considering a new toad (Equinox to be exact) and I was wondering what experience any of you may have had with buying services like Costco or USAA.

They seem to take the hassle out of buying, but I have never used one of these so what experiences have you folks had. Good deal or should I just do it the old fashioned way and spend hours nsegotiating with the dealer?

Nick

Jamie65 · 09-11-2014, 08:11 PM

Give Car Max a look, we as well as several people I know have had very good experience with them. 5 day no questions asked return policy. We purchased a 2011 Jeep Liberty 4X4. Just put the transfer case in neutral, transmission in park, turn key off and remove, no steering wheel lock. Easy 4 down tow. That is unless you want to buy new and experience the depreciation of a new vehicle.

dons2346 · 09-11-2014, 09:49 PM

After fooling around with car salesmen, we went with the Costco program. Very easy and it was the best deal we got.

mojoracing · 09-11-2014, 09:54 PM

Take it from someone in the business. Carmax pays more for trades and cars off the street than anyone around. That being said they have to sell them at higher prices. Costco is pretty much standard at 200.00 under invoice and then you get any available factory incentives. USAA uses True Car. They are one in the same. True car varies by what each dealer tells them they will sell there car for but you might be interested to know that true car then charges the dealer $300.00 per sale! Thats money you can save as opposed to having the dealer give true car the 300.00. Go to the dealer and work a deal after arming yourself with invoice pricing that you can obtain on many different sights. If you so much as price a car on true car and then go to one of their participating dealers, true car charges them 300.00 whether or not the customer even shows them or talks about the certificate. True car cross references their leads with state registrations and then charges the dealer if they are signed up with true car. Just another scam costing the customer 300.00 that is passed on to them. We would rather give it to the customer in the form of a bigger discount.

traveler of california · 09-12-2014, 11:29 AM

You mean that since I downloaded some certificates but then buy on my own that the car dealer will have to pay True Car or USAA? What if I discard the certificates and then buy in another area?

Nick

Bamaman · 09-12-2014, 12:11 PM

After 24 years in the car business, I'm not a fan of CarMax type dealer operations. And I prefer to stay away from the mega dealership chain operations. They're so often slam and jam operations which can come with a $699 documentary fee--straight profit.
Some will advertise a cheap price on a given car--until you get ready to sign on the bottom line and find out the ad wasn't clear on "add on's."

Do business with your home town dealer--if he's willing to deal. Otherwise, correspond with a number of dealerships relatively close by online. It's pretty easy to figure out who's going to give you the best delivered price.

cochise1949 · 09-12-2014, 01:24 PM

We priced our our Honda CRV via Costco. Told dealer that we wanted to buy through Costco. Dealer gave us a lower interest rate and same number of months and better price. Dealer makes a lot of money on financing. So...indirectly it worked well for us.

ahicks · 09-13-2014, 06:28 AM

I think you have to consider your personality type when it comes to stuff like this. I LOVE the challenge of whatever it takes to find the best deal, including dickering with dealers. Not into splitting hairs over the last dime, but I generally wind up with a good price in the end.

The wife on the other hand, left on her own to get her best deal? She is the perfect target. A salesman's dream. She might just as well hand the first salesman she meets her checkbook. This makes her potential to get what I would consider to be a good deal on her own nearly impossible. She is the one that might be way further ahead with some type of buying service.

Point being, there might be more than one "right" answer here, and somebody using a service should recognize they have to make a profit to stay in business....

Darwin · 09-13-2014, 06:31 PM

We have been towing a Equinox for two years, we love the Equinox. Easy to hook up and tows well. We have towed for over 30 years and the Equinox is by far the easiest to hook up. We use Roadmaster tow bar and Ready Brake.
When buying consider service after the sale.

traveler of california · 09-14-2014, 10:48 AM

What is the procedure for hooking up the Equinox?

In my Saturn you must run through the gears, ending in neutral, run the engine for 3 minutes and then move key to ACC and then remove Ign fuse. The engine must be run after seven hours of driving.

BTW, you have a 4 or 6 cyl and what is your mpg with this car?

Nick

mojoracing · 09-15-2014, 12:44 AM

True car usaa will charge the dealer if that customer downloaded the certificate. Even if you go to a different dealer they will try to charge them is they are a dealer that is signed up with true car. I have successfully avoided this by showing email proof that the customer came to me prior to their contacting true car and a few other ways. I literally have to check the bill every month as they try to charge me for every customer that contacted them in some way shape or form and then bought a car. Costco is a much better option. Simple and a good deal.