Possibly a Good Deal
Written: Jul 27 '01 (Updated Jul 27 '01)
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The Bottom Line
A great shopping experience, but remember they don't service the vehicle.
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| Full Review |
I bought my 1999 Grand Am from Cars Direct and the process was straight-forward and easy. Technically, and this is very important, you are NOT buying the car from Cars Direct because they never actually take possession of the title of the vehicle. This is done for legal reason, dealers have signed agreements with auto manufacturers to never sell a car to a broker, if the title goes to a broker the dealer can lose its dealership because auto manufacturers do not want a few large brokerages dictating how much they will pay for vehicles. If they could dictate the price, it would only be a matter of time before they skipped the dealerships entirely and demanded pricing direct from the manufacturer. This means that you still have to go to a dealer to finalize the sale.
There was almost zero chance that I was going to use Cars Direct for my purchase. Their on-line price for the vehicle I wanted was $300 more than the price I had just negotiated myself with a local dealer. Being a little bit of a mean-spirited nag, I emailed Cars Direct and said “Why would anyone buy a vehicle using your service, I just negotiated a deal for $300 less?”. One day later I got a phone call from a Cars Direct representative and she asked what they could do to make me a customer.
Now, before I go any further, let me remind you that this was in May 1999. A period of time when the consensus on how to build an Internet business was to increase revenues, regardless of profit. That said, I told the representative to give me a better price. She asked what if they beat that price by another $300 and I jumped at the offer.
Catch #1 – since the dealer I negotiated with didn’t have a relationship with Cars Direct, Cars Direct wanted me to go to a different Pontiac dealer. Unfortunately they had the same vehicle with one additional option – a V6 engine. Well if I have to get the V6, who am I to complain. The dealer cost for the V6 was about $350, so I figured I’d pay $50 more than the deal I just negotiated with the other dealer, but get the V6. This was a deal I was very happy with.
Alas, the dealer balked on the phone with me and the Cars Direct representative. It seemed I had gotten a really good deal with the previous dealer and he wasn’t willing to match it. In fact he wanted another $700 above the $350 for the V6, and while Cars Direct was willing to make me a customer for $350, they weren’t going to shell out a grand. While this won’t happen to you if you buy the vehicle on-line, it is an important point to show that the dealers are not obligated to Cars Direct.
The Cars Direct rep was extremely apologetic, and she called the dealer I had made the original deal with. He then called me and congratulated me for getting the car for $300 less. He was in shock that they were going to send him a check for $300 so that he could take $300 off his selling price. One week later I went in and finalized the deal.
About a month later I got a package in the mail. It was from Cars Direct and it contained a keychain and a CD carrying case (even though I didn’t get a CD player with the car).
I am now in the market for a mini-van, and plan on making a purchase by the summer of 2002. I have checked Cars Direct for Honda Odyssey’s, Mazda MPV’s, Chrysler Voyager’s, Toyota Sienna’s, etc, and their prices are good, but not the best. Most dealers will come a couple of hundred lower than Cars Direct. My suggestion to you is use Cars Direct as a backup plan. Go to Cars Direct and get a price EXACTLY as the vehicle is equipped at a dealers lot. Then go to the dealer and demand the car for $300 - $500 less. The worst that can happen is the dealer says NO. Then, if the dealer won’t beat the Cars Direct price, buy it from Cars Direct. If you really hate to haggle, and $300 doesn’t mean much to you, then Cars Direct offers an excellent service for you.
I whole heartedly recommend them, but beware, once the sale is over – servicing the vehicle is between you and the dealer, so make sure you check out a dealers customer service record before finalizing any deals.
Good luck.
Recommended:
Yes
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