Costco Auto Program?

[theo]

Does anyone have any direct, first hand experience actually using this program to buy a new car?

I obtained a "authorization number" for a specific brand / dealer, but then found a relatively new low miles alternative for the exact vehicle I wanted at a dealer much closer to where I live and purchased that "certified pre-owned" vehicle instead. I never actually got to the Costco-affiliated dealer at all (over 60 miles away), as it turned out.

In phone conversation with the Costco-affiliated dealer rep, he claimed their pricing starts at $1K below dealer invoice (I'm not entirely clear on whether or not that figure has any real meaning or value) and that the price can go lower from there with other applicable discounts, rebates, etc. I am always a bit dubious of any and all hungry salesperson assertions anyhow. I would welcome the input of anyone who has actually utilized the Costco avenue to buy a new car.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Elan]

https://tugbbs.com/forums/index.php...-before-by-offering-one-key-perk-cost.270210/

 

[geist1223]

We used it once - to buy Patti's 2009 Subaru. We were told there was only 1 person at the Dealership we were to deal with because at that time (don't know current rules) only 1 person at the Dealership had access to the Costco Price.

Also what is Dealership Invoice? Many times this includes the Dealer Hold Back (which can be $750 or more) Regional Advertising, National Advertising, etc. I think on the average if you subtract 18% (92%) from the fictional MSRP you will be close to true Invoice minus all the add ons.

 

[DaveNV]

I used it once, about fifteen years ago. I saved a boatload on the pickup, but I can't give you specifics at this point. I remember there being a bit of bait and switch on the part of the one salesman at the one dealership I had to work with. He kept saying he could beat the Costco price. I said "Prove it." I don't remember the details, but at the end of it all, I felt I'd saved a lot of money. (But I know prices on paper are pretty meaningless. Timeshares anyone? ) Costco had some issues with that sort of thing back then, and the program went through some changes. I'd expect things are probably more easily tracked now.

Dave

 

[taterhed]

Yup. Several times... Our last time, we used USAA as they were cheaper.

Best price, hands down comes from either Costco, USAA or one of the competitors. This does not apply to those special "got to get rid of this last years model" that has thousands of factory and dealer incentives to get the dang thing off the lot. Those cars are best purchased by threatening the dealer with USAA/Costco and then wrangling a better deal.

There used to be other programs to complete....and you could manipulate the system. They have since (the other competitors and Costco) closed the good-deals loopholes.

The system is not always the best for all purchases new/used, but when compared against the other buying programs (USAA/COSTCO/TRUE etc.) one will almost always be the best price.

IMHO

 

[mjm1]

We used the Costco program last year at Lexus and I believe we got it for $500 over their cost. I don’t know what their cost really was, but we were happy with the deal.

Another thing that we have utilized through the Costco program is the 15% discount on service. We have used it a couple times at the Lexus dealership. We have two dealers in town and only one of them is listed for the Costco program. However, I called the dealership closer to where we live and they honor the discount.

Overall, we are happy with the program.

Best regards.

Mike

 

[Elan]

Does anyone have any direct, first hand experience actually using this program to buy a new car?

I obtained a "authorization number" for a specific brand / dealer, but then found a relatively new low miles alternative for the vehicle I wanted at a dealer much closer to where I live and purchased that "certified pre-owned" vehicle instead. I never actually got to the Costco-affiliated dealer at all (over 60 miles away), as it turned out.

In phone conversation with the Costco program-affiliated dealer rep, he claimed their pricing starts at $1K below dealer invoice and can go lower from there with other applicable discounts rebates, etc. I was (and I remain) a bit dubious about that assertion, but would welcome the input of anyone who has actually utilized the Costco avenue to buy a new car.

Thanks in advance.

I'm not really sure what someone else's experience is going to prove. If I were you, and truly that curious, then I'd spend a few hours and go find out myself as you're seemingly in the perfect position to do a mostly apples-to-apples pricing comparison (assuming you bought the same model car). That's the only way you're going to "know" whether Costco pricing is "all that", with the caveat that, even then, it's only one data point, taken at one point in time, on one model of car, at one dealership. As the thread I linked shows, some seem to have gotten their best pricing via Costco, others clearly did not.

In essence, I think there are far too many variables for anyone to conclude much of anything about car buying services. The most compelling argument to me would be for someone to tell me WHY Costco or any other buying service should be able to get you a significantly better price than you could negotiate yourself. I've yet to hear any reason that was particularly convincing. Furthermore, if any car buying service was that great, word of mouth would have already spread that info to the point where everyone would be using that service, and that's certainly not the case.

Regardless of all this, I would suspect that one could beat Costco's best price now at numerous unaffiliated dealerships by waiting a couple of months when the 2018's are being cleared off dealer lots nationwide.

 

[Bucky]

Costco is a good starting point but one still needs to do their own due diligence. Take this from a person who was in the auto business for many years before retiring.

I’ve bought 3 new vehicles lately and used Costco for two, that being a 2018 Toyota Highlander Limited Platinum and a 2018 Honda Pilot.

On the Highlander even then I didn’t really use their Costco sales reps they tell you that you need to use. Once I found out who the Costco dealer was I went directly to their fleet manager for my negotiations. Ended up getting more for my trade than anticipated plus was able to get the doc fees ($599) waived and free delivery (65mi). This was on top of a selling price below their advertised Costco price.

On the Pilot we used their Costco rep but still negotiated a deal a couple of thousand less than their Costco price. It always helps to know that even if the Costco website shows no rebates are available on a particular model that at this time of the year there are more often than not some type of factory to dealer incentives out there that the general public never knows about. This was the case on the Highlander and Pilot.

Also just bought a 2019 Mazda CX-3 Touring model from a local dealer since there was no Costco Mazda dealer in our geographic area! Ended up getting that one for $1500 less than invoice.

Truecar.com is a good place to start your search from. It will show a typical MSRP and a typical invoice price. Then it will show you an average, great and exceptional selling price. Never purchase above an exceptional price. No dealer is selling a vehicle at a loss, regardless of what they tell you. Between their holdback and any factory to dealer incentives, they are going to make money regardless. Then throw in. their astronomical doc fees that most tag on and they are making their profit, one way or another.

Unless you are buying a vehicle in high demand (i.e., Highlander) you can almost always negotiate a better deal than the Costco offer. But, at least with their price and truecars info you have a good starting point. You’ll know you’ve reached there rock bottom price when they quit calling you back! If they tell you their Costco price is their best price I wouldn’t even waste my time with them.

 

[taterhed]

Costco is a good starting point but one still needs to do their own due diligence. Take this from a person who was in the auto business for many years before retiring.

I’ve bought 3 new vehicles lately and used Costco for two, that being a 2018 Toyota Highlander Limited Platinum and a 2018 Honda Pilot.

On the Highlander even then I didn’t really use their Costco sales reps they tell you that you need to use. Once I found out who the Costco dealer was I went directly to their fleet manager for my negotiations. Ended up getting more for my trade than anticipated plus was able to get the doc fees ($599) waived and free delivery (65mi). This was on top of a selling price below their advertised Costco price.

On the Pilot we used their Costco rep but still negotiated a deal a couple of thousand less than their Costco price. It always helps to know that even if the Costco website shows no rebates are available on a particular model that at this time of the year there are more often than not some type of factory to dealer incentives out there that the general public never knows about. This was the case on the Highlander and Pilot.

Also just bought a 2019 Mazda CX-3 Touring model from a local dealer since there was no Costco Mazda dealer in our geographic area! Ended up getting that one for $1500 less than invoice.

Truecar.com is a good place to start your search from. It will show a typical MSRP and a typical invoice price. Then it will show you an average, great and exceptional selling price. Never purchase above an exceptional price. No dealer is selling a vehicle at a loss, regardless of what they tell you. Between their holdback and any factory to dealer incentives, they are going to make money regardless. Then throw in. their astronomical doc fees that most tag on and they are making their profit, one way or another.

Unless you are buying a vehicle in high demand (i.e., Highlander) you can almost always negotiate a better deal than the Costco offer. But, at least with their price and truecars info you have a good starting point. You’ll know you’ve reached there rock bottom price when they quit calling you back! If they tell you their Costco price is their best price I wouldn’t even waste my time with them.

Agreed!

Also, USAA is very competitive.

@Bucky uses the exact approach I do. Get the prices/paperwork and then go to your fav/local dealers and start the bidding war.

letting them soak for about a week usually starts to melt the 'this is a very hot car and the deals are as good as they're going to get...' ice right off the car.