Car Buying Services

[Icemaster]

OK, so maybe this is somewhat anthema here, but I (mostly) trust you guys and wanted your thoughts.

Has anyone ever used or considered using a car buying service to purchase a new car? If so, what was your experience and would you do it again?

I've looked at a couple and the fees don't seem to be unreasonable for the amount of time and PITA that they seem to offer in return.

Situation is this: I'm looking at a new Jetta TDI and not many (none, in fact...) of the dealerships I've looked at are selling them for less than sticker given market conditions. If that's going to be the case, rather than go through all the BS of trying to pit dealer against dealer, I'm thinking of using a third party service to do the leg work for me. If they get me a discount, great. If not then they've still saved me time which I don't have a lot of right now.

On the surface, it's not a bad looking idea. It's what's under the surface that makes me nervous.

What're your thoughts? Any feedback would be appreciated.

[Dottore]

What is it you are trying to achieve?

I just went out and bought one of these for my father - and certainly no dealer in this area is giving discounts from sticker price. The demand is simply too great given their phenomenal mileage and current fuel prices.

How would a buying service get you a discount when people are lining up to pay sticker? Maybe I don't get it.

[Icemaster]

I'm trying to buy a car the same way I buy computer equipment, point and click.

Point is, if I'm gonna pay sticker, I see it like ordering a book from Amazon or a shirt from LL Bean.

If I'm going to pay a non-negotiable price, I might as well do it with as little time committment as possible. I'd rather pay someone to do the busy work and deliver me the car.

[Icemaster]

Originally posted by SoCal911SC
Costco?

Seriously?

[Icemaster]

Never seen any new cars parked at mine, but I'll look and see if they got info. Nice tip, thxs.

[Icemaster]

Any other input?

[RallyJon]

One thing to try is contacting the "Internet Sales Manager" at various dealerships. Unlike most car salesmen who seem to have trouble communicating even over the phone, I've gotten prompt responses from those dealers forward thinking enough to give a smart salesman an e-mail account. When I bought my Subaru, I got seriously abused by the local dealerships when I showed up in person. Best I was offered was $500 over invoice. I checked the Subaru web site's inventory tool and found the color and options I wanted in stock at a dealer about 75 miles away. Then I set up financing privately and e-mailed their internet salesman: "What's the best you can do and can I pick it up tomorrow?"

Paid invoice. I saved money. They still made a fair profit. I'll never buy a new car in person again.

[David McLaughlin]

I used to be in the Auto-by-Tel department for a local VW dealer. it was advertised as the easiest way to get the best price for a given car. Go to Autobytel.com to see if they're working in your area. As a internet salesperson, I would even go so far as to deliver the car to the buyers door. Much of the paperwork was done via home visits or fedex. Shoot I even drove a few hundred miles to deliver a car out of state and did all of the paperwork on site.

DO NOT PAY SOMEONE to buy the car for you, you are waisting your money. My dealer wouldn't even deal with a shopper. If you can go through Auto-by-Tel or a look a like, then go straight to the dealers internet department. Though, most of those are just the regular sales people. The other idea is to call the dealer (owner). Many will put their most gentle people on direct contact customers.

[Neilk]

I'll echo what RallyJon wrote and it was with a VW dealer too.

Sent them a request for a car, Internet sales manager called me back. He gave me such a good offer compared to all the other dealers that I made a weak counter offer which he promptly accepted. Total negotiations: about 1 minute.

Another time, a friend was corresponding with a VW salesman via e-mail and got a firm quote. When he went in to order the car, the rookie salesman tried to force him to get the extended warranty and lots of dealer add-ons, but with a firm quote in hand, they had to honor the price.

[Icemaster]

You guys hit it right on the head. That's exactly what I'm looking for, quick in and out.

I've hit the Autobytel site earlier this week, waiting for a call back from a dealer.

Thanks for the input.


Edit: I did hit the Sam;s club deal, they didn't have any VW dealers on their list within 200 miles. Costco only deals with domestic makes it appears.