This is an easy way to buy a car. Costco makes sure of that.
Written: Mar 19 '04
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I’ve done research and contacted online car buying services for my last 3 cars. I have found that this is by far the easiest way of doing things. The salesmen treat you differently, you get a set price, and it is a fairly quick process. The salesmen know not to mess with you because they don’t want to upset Costco.
As an added note, several of my friends and co-workers have gone this route and not one of them had a complaint.
The Process
You first go to their website and fill out a questionnaire. They then give you the contact information of a dealer they contract with. Some time after that a salesman contacts you. via e-mail or phone, and will set up an appointment. Some salesmen will tell you the price over the phone so it doesn’t hurt to ask.
When you arrive at your appointment time, the salesman shows you an offer sheet, takes you out to see what they have on the lot, and closes the deal like normal. (see below, our experience was a little bit different.)
You may not get the closest dealer. We actually had to travel about 25 mins to get to the dealership (Rotolo Chevrolet) where the closest dealership was 15 mins (Singe Chevrolet.) I also put in different zip codes and still got the same dealership even if the zip code was 40 miles away from the dealership. This just shows how few dealerships are participating with Costco.
What to look out for
Remember to look out for…
-Added fees.
-They will still hassle you about your trade-in. Do yourself a favor and sell it yourself.
-If they try anything funny, contact Costco immediately. Costco doesn’t mess around (or so I was told by the manager, see below.)
My Experience
When I bought my Avalanche I went online and filled out the questionnaire. They listed Rotolo Chevrolet as the dealership they contract with. They also contacted the online salesman at that dealership and he sent me an e-mail within the hour. I called him and set up an appointment for that Saturday at a specific time so my wife and I could take care of the deal. When we arrived, the salesman was dealing with another customer, so he asked a regular salesman to show us some trucks until he was ready. As it turned out this salesman just handled the deal to the end and I never saw the online salesman until after the deal was made, which was fine for me. Online business seemed to good for them at the time.
The salesman showed some avalanches on the lot and even took us to the back lot to see if any others were in stock, since I was looking for a 4wd with leather (apparently hard to come by at the time.) In the end we bought an Avalanche and installed leather in it (which ended up being a better product than what Chevy gives you.) As for the salesman, he was very experienced. He knew what type of customers we were and was not about to pull the usual salesman routine. I asked him later about that and he said he knew what was expected from the Costco relationship, but had we not been from Costco he certainly would have tried the usual traps.
They showed us the offer sheet of 300 over invoice with no additional fees and I began negotiating for the trade in of my Z28. They said the usual salesman things like we’ll give you a good deal on the trade in and stuff. I already knew what it was worth and what they should offer for it. They missed my estimate by about $1000. Their excuse was they don’t make much profit off of the Costco deal they were offering and they couldn’t do the same thing for me in the trade-in. I told them that wasn’t acceptable and stated the price I would sell it for, or I’ll bid them good day, sell the car myself and come back at another time. They accepted my offer and closed the deal. Obviously they were not losing money. This was the sour point of the whole experience.
The paperwork portion was normal and time consuming. It was busy so it took about two hours to get out with our vehicle. But overall it was a pretty good experience.
I ended up having an interesting conversation with the sales manager. I asked him about the Leather Upholstery service and what guarantee I had. He said to me that you’re a Costco customer and there is no way they are going to tick me off. Costco sends them a lot of business and in return they treat these customers very well. With only 2 complaints, they could lose this added business. And in return he would lose his job as a sales manager.
The good:
- It’s simple and easy
- Most dealers want to keep Costco on it’s good side, so they will not mess with the customer
- You usually see a specially trained salesman
The bad:
- You may have to drive 30+ miles to find a participating dealer
- Costco doesn’t not sell the cars
- An unscrupulous dealer could still try to screw you over
- It’s difficult to get a good trade-in price
- Financing is not done through Costco
- You still need to do your homework
- You don’t get a discount on a Corvette
Summary: This is definitely the way to go if you are looking for the same kind of experience as a Saturn dealership. I’ve found that you will get a good price as long as you do the homework and double check what they say, but then again you can do the same thing at another dealership if you are willing to fight with salesmen. I personally felt very good about the experience, I just wish they went by the same blue book that I use.
Recommended:
Yes
What product did you purchase or try to purchase? Chevrolet Avalanche
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