Has anyone used Costco’s car buying service before and what was your experience? We all know buying a new car at a dealership sucks, but these guys claim they make the process easier for members. They claim on their site:
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“Costco Auto Program has been providing prearranged pricing and a stress-free car-buying experience to Costco members for more than 30 years. We’ve developed a proven formula to maximize value, streamline the process and remove the hassle normally associated with buying a car.“
It depends; if you're someone who is good at negotiating and knows how to deal with stealerships then definitely do it yourself. But for someone who doesn't know how to then yeah definitely Costco is a good option. The one issue I have found with Costco car buying service is that not all dealerships participate in it because not all of them want to commit to the rules Costco has for them so you have less options or a longer wait time.
Another positive side of it is that Costco doesn't allow the dealership nonsense for their customers; they even their hidden employees shop the dealerships at times to make sure they are offering the service they should be.
Thanks for that feedback! I have never been to a dealership and absolutely hate negotiating. I prefer fixed pricing in general, but that’s another discussion for another time.
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My credit union also offers a car buying program where you tell them the vehicle you want with all the options, and they supposedly go and get one for you - with pricing already negotiated via their dealer network. I will have to try that out as well.
You're welcome. If you hate going to dealership then yes the Costco auto program is the right choice. The Costco program is basically like the service your credit union is offering; if you have a Costco membership already try both and see which one can get you a better deal.
I do the negotiating myself so I haven't used the service personally, but I do know a good number of people who have used Costco and they were happy with it.
It doesn’t hurt to try. I’ve heard mixed stories. Some say it’s great. And some say the dealer gave them the run around, that it was not available for that specific model they were trying to get.
I hate dealers. I love Costco.
Thanks for your post. I have never heard of this car buying program, nor have I read about it on this forum. I will check it out. Are you still interested in a new Lexus ES350? I think that it was you who mentioned this in a post a couple of weeks ago. I hope that you will keep us updated on your experience as I am also considering this vehicle. While my 2004 Avalon still runs great, at age 68 I don't know how many more years of driving I have remaining and it would be nice to spend those years enjoying the performance, craftsmanship and ride quality of the ES but also dislike the thought of negotiating the price of a new vehicle with a dealership.
Yes, I am still pursuing a final model year Lexus ES 350 before they sunset the naturally aspirated V6 for good.
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Part of me keeps pushing it off waiting for the final model year (2024? 2025? Which one is the final year?). And part of me puts it off because I don’t want to deal with a dealership. Yuck! However, whether 2024 or 2025 is the final model year I need to get my butt moving sometime in 2024 before the order books close.
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68 years old is still relatively young. You may be driving another 20 years.
@daywalker Thanks for the thought but with all of the ailments I have now, I don't want to be here 20 more years, much less tooling down the highway at 75mph. 😯 Ya know, the sooner you get one... the sooner you can enjoy driving it!
I'm pretty sure we had some topics about this way back.
Not about this topic nor Costco specifically.
Not about this topic nor Costco specifically.
Yes. Specifically. And you participated. You're as forgetful as Kaizen 😆
And Scotty made a video
https://carkiller.com/scottykilmer/qa/cars-from-costco/
I stand corrected.