Online car buying

[JeffC]

Hi All,

Has anyone out there ever bought a new car completely online. I mean going thru the whole process without going to a dealer until you pick up the vehicle. My DS totaled his truck; no injuries, just spun out on a wet road and hit a guard rail. He's currently in the Navy attending the nuclear power school. Between school and duty he's got very little time. I've been trying to help him out as much as possible but he's in Charleston and I'm in NY. Since the truck is being scrapped he's got to remove the plates and all his personal items, which he can't do til Monday. His superior officers told him they might be able to get him one day off to take care of things.
My question is, How did you find the online buying process? I'm old school; I like to look at a few vehicles at different dealers, take them on test drives and get the general feel of who I'm buying from. Obviously price is important but the ease of the transaction matters also. His current shift is 7:30 pm to 7:30 am so he's pretty wiped by the time he gets home. I told him to look into financing online and check the inventory at local dealers. He's got a rental car to hold him over but he's pretty anxious about getting everything done soon. He should be done at the school sometime around new years and then he'll be going to Groton Ct for sub training. The school is pretty intense and I think its got him mentally worn down. I'd be interested in hearing from anyone who's been thru the online buying process and what they thought of it.

Thank You

 

[AwayWeGo]

We bought a newish 2002 Chrysler PT Cruiser & a used 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan (former rental car) via eBay.

Both transactions & both cars were OK.

The prices were great.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[JeffC]

Thanks. I never thought of ebay as a car buying medium. How long did the process take? Did you have to pickup the cars or were they delivered?

 

[elaine]

I had a firm price from the dealer's online sales and just went in to sign the papers. no upsell, etc. you can also using a car buying service like Costco, USAA, etc. for a firm price. You can still test drive, etc. and are not committed until you sign.

 

[AwayWeGo]

Thanks. I never thought of ebay as a car buying medium. How long did the process take? Did you have to pickup the cars or were they delivered?

We picked'm up.

The Chrysler came from an independent dealer in Upper East Tennessee. We drove there in 1 car & drove home in a 2-car convoy, with the new car in the lead.

The minivan came from an independent dealer in Orlando FL. We paid by cashier's check & received the car's Florida title certificate by return mail. We got a new title & tags from Virginia DMV & took the new tags along when we flew to Orlando. The car dealer picked us up at MCO & took us to get the car. We bolted on the Virginia tags & drove our newly bought car to our PriceLine hotel where we stayed 1 night before checking in at our timeshare the next day. After a week at our timeshare, we drove home in our new/used car.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

 

[JeffC]

I had a firm price from the dealer's online sales and just went in to sign the papers. no upsell, etc. you can also using a car buying service like Costco, USAA, etc. for a firm price. You can still test drive, etc. and are not committed until you sign.

Thank you. I'll let him know. Is the USAA service available to bank customers only? He's military, but he uses BOA.

 

[louisianab]

We have twice completely online handled a purchase and then picked up from a dealer, I think it's easier if you know what car you want, as we did. They have no problems with someone showing up, signing the purchase paperwork and leaving. We did the car loans completely online from the credit union and they overnighted the check. I think you could even use DocuSign and get a car delivered with little effort.

 

[Ken555]

I bought my last car on eBay. I knew exactly what I wanted, negotiated the price, hired a third party company to evaluate it (test drive, ~100 pictures), and since it was still under factory extended warranty I wasn't worried about much. Saved a bundle and still drive it today (though admittedly my driving has reduced to ~100 miles a month or less right now, so this car may last me even longer than I had originally thought).

Actually, the hardest part was selecting a company to truck it out to me (it was in Alabama).

 

[kwelty]

USAA is a great insurance company (I'm a 42 year member) and a good bank available only to military and family, that has an auto buying service. For financing, it's hard to beat Navy Federal Credit Union. Another military only service. Costco has a good buying service too that uses TrueCar as does USAA for their service.

 

[easyrider]

We have bought many vehicles through other online auctions in all types of conditions. All of them were good deals. A few of the Jeeps were insurance salvage that we restored. I think the best of these vehicles was the Infinity which was 2 years old with low miles. We bought this at an auction in Cleveland. A couple of the Pontiac Grand Prix's were really fun and fast. We bought these a few years apart at an auction in Phoenix. Now I'm looking at Canadian vehicles but the Covid dealio has put that on hold for now.

There really isn't many problems with buying a vehicle site unseen now days, imo.

Bill

 

[elaine]

Thank you. I'll let him know. Is the USAA service available to bank customers only? He's military, but he uses BOA.

I'm sure he can just set up an account without being a banking customer. They have great rates for cars 18 months and under--USAA gives the loan a "new" car rate. I called and got the car loan online and gave the name of the dealer and they sent me a check to print off and take--they can also send directly to the dealer. It's quick and easy. There new car rates are OK, but not the best rate you can get, and currently lots of dealers have great low financing deals due to Covid.

 

[Passepartout]

Bought my 2010 Tundra through Cars.com. totally painless and saved a bundle and got a better vehicle than the local dealer could produce. I'll do it again.

 

[uaremymuse]

Hi All,

Has anyone out there ever bought a new car completely online. I mean going thru the whole process without going to a dealer until you pick up the vehicle. My DS totaled his truck; no injuries, just spun out on a wet road and hit a guard rail. He's currently in the Navy attending the nuclear power school. Between school and duty he's got very little time. I've been trying to help him out as much as possible but he's in Charleston and I'm in NY. Since the truck is being scrapped he's got to remove the plates and all his personal items, which he can't do til Monday. His superior officers told him they might be able to get him one day off to take care of things.
My question is, How did you find the online buying process? I'm old school; I like to look at a few vehicles at different dealers, take them on test drives and get the general feel of who I'm buying from. Obviously price is important but the ease of the transaction matters also. His current shift is 7:30 pm to 7:30 am so he's pretty wiped by the time he gets home. I told him to look into financing online and check the inventory at local dealers. He's got a rental car to hold him over but he's pretty anxious about getting everything done soon. He should be done at the school sometime around new years and then he'll be going to Groton Ct for sub training. The school is pretty intense and I think its got him mentally worn down. I'd be interested in hearing from anyone who's been thru the online buying process and what they thought of it.

Thank You

The first Mercedes that I leased involved my being at the dealership for 5-6 hours. When I left that day, I said to myself, I'll never do that again. For the ensuing 23 years, and my family is now on its 23rd vehicle lease, I've never set foot in a dealership again. I do it entirely by phone, internet and by fax. After reaching an agreement, the dealer rep delivers the vehicle to my home, along with the documents to be signed. My advice is that if the sale's rep refuses to accommodate your request, politely tell them that you have a wide choice from where you can take your business. At that point, the sale's rep will know who they are dealing with and will usually acquiesce. Nowadays is easier to do this because of Covid and the expanse of online buying opportunities but back when I started this, I had a little bit of difficulty.


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[DeniseM]

I bought my last 2 cars online and just went in to sign the paperwork and pick it up. I didn't use any special process: I just did my online homework, found what I wanted, contacted the dealer, and negotiated via email. I paid cash, so didn't have the complication of financing.

 

[TheTimeTraveler]

I too have bought a few vehicles on line.....

My advice? If it's a used car then try and find a used car that still has the remaining FACTORY warranty. This way, no matter where you are, the Manufacturer "should" resolve the issue (assuming it's still covered).

If it's a new car then just go for the price and convenience (to pick up). As a new car your warranty should be the same regardless of where you buy it or where you get it serviced.



.

 

[Wyominguy]

I purchased a slightly used (8,000 miles) Audi Q7 online through AutoTrader a couple of years ago which was posted by a Cadillac dealer in Texas. It worked out great. I flew down and they picked me up at the airport, signed the final papers and drove home, 1200 miles.

Neil

 

[Bucky]

We’ve purchased two over the last few years done totally online. One was a new a Toyota Highlander that we never went to the dealer for. Everything was negotiated via emails and the vehicle and paperwork were delivered directly to us at home. All new car dealers are capable of thisw.

the other was a used BMW we bought off of Vroom. This one actually had a trade involved also. They trucked the BMW to us and picked up our trade and took it back on the truck.

Buying online could not be any easier considering we are in the middle of a pandemic. Being retired military myself I wouldn’t worry about who the dealer is. He’s probably not going to ever use them for anything other than any needed warranty work. I would stay away from EBay. I’m a power seller on them but I would never but a vehicle from them. You can find almost anything you need on the internet from researching prices to pay to reading expert views on all the vehicles. Most new car manufacturers have some type of special rebates for military personnel. Auto buying services such as USAA (which I have been a member of for over 40 yrs) and Costco leave a lot of your money on the table. They are good for researching only. He can negotiate a better deal directly from the dealer on his own. Even though I was referred to the Toyota dealer by Costco and was offered their Costco pricing, I was able to negotiate another $2K off that price.

 

[Talent312]

About 20 years ago, I bought a new red Pontiac Grand Prix that I found online.
Communication was thru early email - maybe America Online (AOL) or Prodigy.
I was dropped at the dealer, presented a bank draft, and signed the papers.

A few weeks later, the salesman called to ask how I liked the car.
I said the car was fine, but that it goes too fast... I'd gotten a speeding ticket.

More recently, I found a good price on a new Rav4 online at a distant dealer.
I took a hardcopy of it to my local dealer who wasn't happy but matched it.
.

 

[VacationForever]

If your DS wants a new car and knows what he wants, it is super easy. Costco offers much discounted price for many brands of make and model. It is much cheaper than you can even obtain using "internet" price offered by the dealerships. If you are looking for a used car, I would go with Carmax even though you will pay a little more but it comes with Carmax warranty.

 

[Beachclubmum]

No truck advice but we have a family friend who followed the same duty path a year ago! Wishing him the best.