topic Re: Costco and Cars in Community Chat

Costco and Cars

coffee drinker — Thu, 13 Feb 2020 22:51:59 GMT

Has anyone bought a car through Costco's Auto Program. Any thoughts, information or recommendations?

Re: Costco and Cars

Mindy D — Thu, 13 Feb 2020 22:58:31 GMT

@coffee drinker wrote:
Has anyone bought a car through Costco's Auto Program. Any thoughts, information or recommendations?

Yes, I tried to buy one years ago. The price quotes I was getting weren’t lower than I could get without them. The company makes a deal with local dealers. You can check and see what deals are available before you buy.

Re: Costco and Cars

september — Thu, 13 Feb 2020 23:13:01 GMT

Yes, one time. It knocked off a small amount. I think we could all get that discount if we negotiated.

I bought a car another time and asked the dealer if they participated in the Costco program. They said they didn't, but would give me their discount anyway.

Re: Costco and Cars

Pearlee — Thu, 13 Feb 2020 23:47:00 GMT

@coffee drinker, I tried it 5 yrs ago when buying a car and did not like the experience for 2 reasons. As stated above the "deal" wasnt any better than I could get myself and in some cases worse, yet I had a hard time getting rid of the salespeople I got hooked up with thru Costco who kept persistently calling. Even worse the place I had to go through to get hooked up with car dealers had and was going to keep my Costco membership number. It wasnt Costco but a place that contracted with Costco. I had to raise a big stink to get my membership number deleted from their system --who knows who had access to it? Never again, esp since I would not save anything pricewise. The deals were not good. And some of the dealerships they hooked me up with were out of town, even though I live in a very large city. It was not a good experience at all.

Re: Costco and Cars

Wsmom — Fri, 14 Feb 2020 00:50:31 GMT

Personally we did not have good luck with it. The dealership didn't have what we wanted, yet continued to call and email non-stop.

On the other hand, a friend got her Lexus through the car program and had fabulous luck and got a great deal. She lives in the same area I do. So totally hit and miss. Worth a try.

Re: Costco and Cars

VaBelle35 — Fri, 14 Feb 2020 01:44:28 GMT

It was like $500 off a Camry.

Wasn't worth it.

Re: Costco and Cars

mac116 — Fri, 14 Feb 2020 02:28:22 GMT

We bought a car at the end of last year using our Costco membership. We have gone to the same car dealer for our previous 3 cars, so we asked if they were part of the Costco program. We bought from the same salesman that had helped us in the past. No hassle at all. We saved about $600.

Re: Costco and Cars

aubnwa01 — Fri, 14 Feb 2020 03:52:56 GMT

Yes, I bought my 2017 Subaru Forester thru the Costco program in late 2016. I ordered the car in Sept. & it was delivered a week before Christmas. I paid a fair price & didn't have to haggle & was treated wonderfully by the dealership & also got a $1K Costco gift card & some other added goodies from Costco.

Re: Costco and Cars

Travone — Fri, 14 Feb 2020 12:33:31 GMT

I purposely joined Costco two years ago just to use their car buying program. A Costco sales rep came to my work trying to get people to join. She told me that you go online and put in what kind of car you want and they will give you the price and the local dealers to give you that price.

That is not how it works. You go online put in the car and where you live and then they give your information to the local dealer to contact you with a price. But, they don't give you the price over the phone or online so you have to go to the dealership and listen to their sale talk before you know if you even think the price is fair. Then they keep calling you. This is not what I wanted. I wanted to know in advance if I thought the price was fair and then go in and get the sale over with.

I did not buy a car using the Costco membership because I can negotiate lower than what I was quoted. I also did not renew my Costco membership.

Re: Costco and Cars

dex — Fri, 14 Feb 2020 13:22:08 GMT

My dh researches deals online.He has found some amazing prices but sometimes the car is a few hours drive away.He found the car of our DIL dreams at a steal price in Texas and they live in OKC so they had to drive a bit to get it but saved so much money.

Re: Costco and Cars

novamc1 — Fri, 14 Feb 2020 14:05:27 GMT

We belong to Costco and also are members of USAA , both of which have car-buying assistance programs. No way would DH or I ever even think of using them.

No middeman is needed beween a customer and a car dealership salesperson. It's a good sign that a buyer's reluctance or price-resistance is getting somewhere when the salesperson calls for help from the manager.

DH is the most persistent, annoying and eventually successful car-price negotiator most car salesmen have ever met. When the deal finally gets done, the dealership manager, assistant manager and the salesperson have all jokingly told him they hope he never comes back again. It is an ordeal that can last hours or days.

For years, I have been both bored and embarrassed in car showrooms by the time that DH is getting down to arguing over the last $50 on a car--$25 on the Cadillac I bought back in the 1980's.

I often leave the room and go strike up a friendly conversation with any dealership person who isn't working with a client at the moment., just to pass the time and get away from the drama.

The lesson is.........it's amazing what discount or free or special stuff you can get if you're willing to hang in there and keep asking for it. There's more to buying a car than the car's price--there can be freebies for service, warranties, extra trim on the car, oil changes, car washes, etc. etc.

It's a little easier to play this game when you're paying all-cash for a car, but it can work even if you're not. If you're not paying cash upfront for the car, get a loan from your bank--NOT from the dealership, so you then become a "cash buyer" to the dealer and have more leverage.

ETA......and don't do a trade-in of an old car with the new-car dealer. Get an all-cash offer from another place such as CarMax. Dealers play around very effectively with trade-ins. It's best to start negotiating on a new car with a clean slate, your own budget, and no extra room for the dealer to play price games with your current car in the mix.

Re: Costco and Cars

Nutzy — Fri, 14 Feb 2020 14:21:42 GMT

We used our Costco membership when buying a car about a year ago. I thought their process seemed cumbersome (pick out your car then they refer you to a dealer, etc.) so decided not to use it. But after we negotiated our best price with the dealer and were doing the paperwork (and as kind of an after-thought), I asked if they participated in the Costco program. The saleswoman said they did and we got an additional $900 or so off on a Subaru Outback.

Re: Costco and Cars

msgb — Fri, 14 Feb 2020 14:33:03 GMT

I have yes. I bought one for myself a bit over 8 yrs ago and then when my parents needed a new car I helped them because I have the Costco membership.

The dealership --you are directed towards certain dealers--they have built a relationship with Costco and have a book or a sheet with the price that they will sell the car to you.

Both Costco and the dealership ( two different makes of cars so two different dealerships) try to help you thru the process. Of course they can only go so far because they do want to make some money. Also I turned down different makes of cars when I was looking because the dealership that has the relationship with Costco was WAY too far for me to go.

There are other car buying programs in each state too so I looked into them, but for me Costco allowed me to have the best price.