Costco auto program

[Updawg 2239]

I know there is the informative sell me a car thread but I just want to know about experience with Costco's program. I just started looking at it and got a quote that seemed pretty good via email so it seems pretty painless. Anyone have any other experience with it?

[Bat Guano 359]

I've used it a couple of times. Maybe it's possible to beat the Costco price by a small margin with a lot of hassle and PITA work, but it wasn't worth it to me. I'll use it again next time I buy a new car; good enough on price, and hassle-free.

[ShaggyBevo RIP 3827]

Get the quote to know the price to beat as you can get $500-1K below that but as mentioned is it worth the hassle?

 

[Godzillatron 292]

I think it depends on the car and availability. I used it for my last purchase, but I wanted a specific option package on a new model that had barely hit production. I knew it would be a beating trying to haggle a fair price, and I was right. Had to have a car shipped in from out of state and I think the Costco program saved me money.

If you are looking for a make and model with widespread availability I’d expect you can beat their price with decent research. That’s if you want to spend the time and effort of course. If you want to have a relatively hassle free buying experience and are ok leaving a little money on the table then Costco is easy.


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[NotActuallyALonghorn 4956]

You have to have a Costco membership? Closest one is two hours away, so that would be a deal killer here.

[William_Cannon 86]

Get the quote to know the price to beat as you can get $500-1K below that but as mentioned is it worth the hassle?

 

Yup. Depends on how hard you want to work for the extra coin. The last two cars I bought I emailed every dealer within a 200 mile radius, gave them the specs of what I wanted, gave them less than a week to give me their lowest price, and advised them I only deal with the sales manager. They had one shot. Half didn’t have inventory or didn’t want to play, a quarter had crappy pricing, and a quarter were hungry. If dealers tied each other, I pushed the envelope again. For this to work, you have to have your ducks in a row - down payment, easy to get financing, straight cash deal, etc. you can’t be a pain. It’s got to be a quick deal for them.

 

It’s not very hard especially towards the end of the month.

[Gil Bang 25509]

You have to have a Costco membership? Closest one is two hours away, so that would be a deal killer here.

 

Yeah, Costco is funny like that. They only do that service for their members. And since it’s two hours away, I would hate to think you would spend 50 bucks on a membership they could save you several hundred dollars on a new car

[Updawg 2239]

Thanks and pretty much what I thought. I'll use it if I go the new car route.

[Armybrat 40465]

We used their service two years ago. Very painless, no hassle, and what I thought was a good deal. Will use them again if I live long enough.

(caveat: We just bought a Honda Accord, so don’t know how good a deal you would get for a fancy car). 

[texasjacket 289]

Their quote wasn't competitive for me the time I tried last fall. I was searching for a F150 Lariat and I got a way better deal from the internet sales department at local Ford dealer. Also, only certain dealers participate in their program, it may not be the closest dealer to you either.

[Nueces River Rat 5485]

3 hours ago, texasjacket said:

Their quote wasn't competitive for me the time I tried last fall. I was searching for a F150 Lariat and I got a way better deal from the internet sales department at local Ford dealer. Also, only certain dealers participate in their program, it may not be the closest dealer to you either.

That's what I found as well back in '17 when I bought my F-150.   But I think one of the issues during that time is Ford cut back on their rebates and other incentives because demand was up which means in the car business you can reduce the bait like rebates and incentives to get customers on the lot.     The price I was getting here locally in Corpus surprisingly wasn't much different than what I got quoted from Costco program participants in San Antonio or dealers who are known for "good deals" like Bluebonnet in New Braunfels, so I stayed local for this one.    I wasn't necessarily shopping for a Lariat or a King Ranch, so pricing for those might have been better.

 

[Junior Miller 1502]

On 4/27/2019 at 12:35 AM, Gil Bang said:

 

Yeah, Costco is funny like that. They only do that service for their members. And since it’s two hours away, I would hate to think you would spend 50 bucks on a membership they could save you several hundred dollars on a new car

Not to mention if you ever need to rent a car for any reason they are almost guaranteed to be the lowest price you'll get. I've yet to find lower anywhere else, and mostly by a huge margin. Rented a luxury car for vacation this month and got $270 a week opposed to the next lowest I found which was hertz at $400. Everyone else was higher

Edited April 28, 2019 by Junior Miller

[Nueces River Rat 5485]

Not to mention if you ever need to rent a car for any reason they are almost guaranteed to be the lowest price you'll get. I've yet to find lower anywhere else, and mostly by a huge margin. Rented a luxury car for vacation this month and got $270 a week opposed to the next lowest I found which was hertz at $400. Everyone else was higher

Very true. Just one bit of advice. Be sure to join all the VIP clubs or whatever they call them which allow you to skip the counter and go straight to your car and link them to your Costco reservation. That saved our bacon last summer when we flew to Denver. We got a great deal on a Tahoe, but when we got to the rental car terminal which is a giant cluster bleep at DEN to begin with, the line at the counter was unreal. I’m glad I signed up for what they call Fast Break, so we walked back across the parking lot to where they had those vehicles set aside and 20 mins later we were on our way to Breck.