A Win/Win Situation. If They Have What You Want
Written: Nov 20 '01
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The Bottom Line
You will either be completely satisfied or walk away with lots of information to ponder before making your decision.
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Costco’s Auto program can best be summed up as a bunch of numbers combined together to reduce another set of numbers—(aka a phone number called to reduce your car payments). Although Costco may display a brand new shiny car out front of their business on weekends, they don’t actually sell any cars. What they to do is get you in touch with a special representative that has been specially trained to treat you like a king/queen when progressing through the act of purchasing a car.
The first step in the Costco Auto program is to visit their online establishment that will get you in contact with a local dealer. Costco’s online site simply asks for your zip codes and then gives you the name and number of a car salesperson in your local area. The website will also ask for your membership number along with the make and model of the car you are seeking. All of this information is passed on to the local dealer nearest to your current location. Once you have filled out all the information you will be contacted by a Costco Representative Car Salesman. They have been trained to forgo the crap that most car salesmen use and realize that they can’t use pressure techniques to trick you into purchasing a car well beyond your means.
After entering all of my information I was contacted within 24 hours by a Costco representative who told me what he had available and asked me to contact him at my earliest convenience. After contacting him back, he told me to come down to the dealership and he’d show me what he had in stock. The only problem I had thus far is that the nearest dealership was about 30 miles away. There were countless Ford dealerships in the area, but this was the only one that Costco had a special relationship with. I’ll admit that I was a little leery about driving 30 miles away from my apartment to visit the dealership when there was one just a mere 5 miles away.
Then again, when shopping for a car, bargains are in and high prices are out. After finding time to trek down to the Ford dealership (thankfully in my case I didn’t have to take time off of work), I was greeted by a car salesman who immediately engaged me in a conversation about buying a new car. He started with his spew before I had a chance to tell him that I was there to see a particular person. Something every car salesman doesn’t want to hear because he would immediately lose all his commission. Anyways, after finally cutting off the motor mouth commission driven “ordinary” salesman, I was directed to the Costco salesman. Initially he looked like any other sales-person, and quite frankly he probably was. But since he was the “Costco” representative, he immediately seemed to change his tune. He greeted me, told me briefly about the Costco program, and then proceeded to show me the car I was interested in. He told me the prices and what savings I was getting by participating in the Costco Auto program.
I did not purchase the car. Why? Simple, no matter what deal he may have had; if he didn’t have the car I wanted, I didn’t want it. Granted he could of ordered the car that I wanted and had it delivered in a few weeks, but I wanted a new car now. I ended up purchasing my car through my nearby dealer because they had want I wanted when I wanted it. The Costco program could of saved me a few hundred dollars off my purchase price, but I wanted to be happy, not simply happy for financial reasons. I know many will look down upon my decision, but unless the cost of the car was cut in half via the Costco program, I would rather pay more to get what I wanted, instead of simply saving a few hundred.
Therefore I can’t tell you about the rest of the Costco Auto program. I shook the salesman’s hand and thanked him for giving me a detailed analysis of the Costco program and what he had available. I don’t know anything else about how the system continued. If I had to guess, I’d say that the paperwork would continue forth including the discount for using the Costco Auto program. I probably would of saved a bundle in the long run, but I’m much happier with my white Ford Focus than my yellow Ford Focus.
There’s not much else to say. As a whole Costco doesn’t sell the car, nor do they influence the sell. They simply set you up with a qualified dealer who will give you a good deal with less pressure because they don’t want to lose the Costco affiliation. The dealer knows they having something good going, since Costco will ultimately send business their way. It is in their best interest to make the process as pleasurable as possible. That’s probably the main reason that the Costco representative can only be found here and there, instead of everywhere. That’s probably why the only Costco representative near me was 30 miles away even though there were eight Ford dealerships within those 30 miles. They have a good thing going and they don’t want to screw it up.
If I had to give anyone one suggestion, I’d say this. Shop around. If you are a Costco member make sure you check out their auto program. Send in your information and call the dealer. Check out what they offer and the financial features they have. But just because it’s Costco don’t automatically assume that it is the best deal out there. Continue shopping around. Weigh all the factors then come to a decision. Costco is known for saving money, but it’s not well known for making people automatically happy (unless they are automatically happy at the mere fact of blindly saving money).
Check out the Costco Auto program. You will either be completely satisfied or walk away with lots of information to ponder before making your decision. No matter what, it’s a win/win situation. And at least from my experience and others that I have talked to that have gone through the same program, there is no losing. How often can you say that about buying a car?
Recommended:
Yes
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About the Author
Location: Las Vegas, NV
Reviews written: 590
Trusted by: 168 members
About Me: So far I'm...brtu jr;[yi;/....error, blue screen, defragment...
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