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Online Services Experiences (Carsdirect.com, Carwoo.com, etc.)

769 messages,  Last post on Mar 16, 2013 at 6:18 AM

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Messages Page 73 of 78

#713 of 769 lisa19 by nortsr1

Jul 31, 2005 (5:29 am)

Why didn't you go to your "local" dealer first?????

#714 of 769 Experienced Help please? by mastaboywonder

Aug 10, 2005 (1:49 pm)

Hello everyone, I've been reading through this thread and have found it quite interesting. Right now I'm searching for a 2005 Toyota Camry LE V6 or V4 with an automatic transmission. The best pricing I have gotten so far is about
$19,873 on a V6 which is after a $1000 rebate offer 17,777 for the V4. I am very new to the online internet car researching area and I was wondering if anyone could help me do better then this?
 
Your help would be greatly appreciated

#715 of 769 Re: Experienced Help please? [mastaboywonder] by qbrozen

Aug 11, 2005 (6:24 am)

Replying to: mastaboywonder (Aug 10, 2005 1:49 pm)
What kind of help are you looking for? Where did you get your pricing? From dealers or from carsdirect? Have you tried the Camry prices paid discussion?
 
By the way, its not a "V4." Just an inline 4-cylinder.

#716 of 769 ...carsdirect... by ezshift5

Aug 27, 2005 (2:02 pm)

..proved to be a standup choice for a new car......
 
...called the 20th...coupe in my garage the 24th......
 
..they beat hell out of the local folk, coming in close to 1.3k under invoice.....
 
..dealer jammed me unmercifully for EW...online availability just kills that option...........
 
...I started to feel low when the salesgal said "We're not making very much on this deal................" After the EW session, I felt even lower (knowing I could get the same product online for about 1/2 what the Honda dealer wanted).
 
Internet = great tool.....now if I can just figure out the clutch...................
 
all the best, ez
 
 

#717 of 769 carsdirect.com by minaldo1

Nov 08, 2005 (2:26 pm)

Well, I just dealt with carsdirect.com, and I did not have to give any "committment", other than my job and credit info. Now, I am working with them on a lease deal, and while their purchase prices are good, I suspect they are trying to make some "extra" money on the monthly lease price they are quoting me. When I enter their inputs (purchase price, money factor, residual, etc.) into a Quicken lease calcuator (which has proved accurate in the past) I have, it turns out that the monthly lease payment should actually be about $70 per month lower (according to Quicken). So, while I think carsdirect.com is good for negotiating a purchase, I think I can do better negotiating a lease on my own. Also, you can use carsdirect.com as a starting point in your own purchase neogotiations with a dealer. E.g., I got $yyy price from carsdirect.com, I'd buy right now if you can do better, etc.

#718 of 769 06 Sienna CE purchased through Carsdirect by 70z

Dec 30, 2005 (9:59 pm)

Greetings Forum!,
      Today we purchased a 2006 Toyota Sienna CE, w/factory mats and speed-control options. The purchase-price quoted by CarsDirect, seemed too good to be true, and I was waiting for the "catch" all the way to signing-paperwork. This is my first experience with web-enabled vehicle purchase. The car is parked in our driveway - and I'm _still_ waiting for the catch.
 
Verbose details follow. I hope this level of detail is in the spirit of this forum and thread. Apologies if not.
 
MY EXPERIENCE with CarsDirect (your results may vary)...
 
(Dec 25, 06) Contacted cars-direct via web, and heard-back from a Cars-Direct contact-person ("CD") soon after.
(Dec 28, 06) Procrastinated for a couple of days until CD called again when I was home. He gave me a number (which I didn't fully appreciate) - I told him I wasn't ready to commit because I'd done little/no homework. He seemed a bit annoyed (in a restrained way) and said, since I wasn't ready, he'd cancel this purchase - but that I was welcome to contact them again when I was ready. After hanging-up, I thought screw-it, his number looked pretty good (based on available "Invoice") and I needed to go through with this _before_ wife's car broke again. So I emailed him that I was ready to commit. Received instructions (by phone & email) how to log-in and accept web-based "agreement". NOTE: BEFORE agreeing, I attempted to get a quick "reality-check" from "carquotein60seconds.com" - no joy: was informed that a local-dealer would be contacted on my behalf, then presented with an impossibly low "quote". A local dealer did reply, see THE DEALER (below.)
 
The CarsDirect agreement-page was vague regarding how long they had to locate the car and how long I was obligated by the "agreement", but it did say they "expected" to locate a vehicle by Dec 30th.
(Dec 29) CD called to say where the vehicle was and the purchase procedure.
(Dec 30) Drove with spouse to the dealer and contacted a specific sales-person ("SP") who was to handle purchase. He brought us to our car to check-out/test-drive. Then back to his desk to provide personal info. for paperwork. We weren't financing, but they wanted enough income-info. to trust a personal check for a few days (until money is moved into the account.) Then on to the the Finance Person ("FP".)
 
THE FINANCE PERSON: I wish I'd taken delivery at home. (didn't realize that option was available/cheap.) FP was really good, she had a cogent argument for every reason I had for not spending money on extra stuff, and in the end I agreed to two Security options, including "Lojack". I managed to stay firm on not opting for the 70K/7yr extended warranty - though THAT probably WAS a deal. Anyway, beside the security stuff, the numbers presented by FP were exactly what CD initially quoted.
 
After signing, SP gave us an obligatory tour to describe why it would make sense to have our vehicle serviced THERE (and I may, but it's a drive...) Then we drove home (in Two cars.)
 
CD seemed very professional (knowledgable, responsive, etc.) We called about four times during the process, he only picked-up once, but phoned-back otherwise.
 
THE DEALER we purchased from was about 36 miles from our house, though several others were much closer. As it happens, we received a quote from the fleet-manager (handling web-sales) of the nearest dealer - $800 more than CarsDirect.
 
I haven't read enough posts to know whether my experience is typical. Based on info from the dealer and [later] Google, it looks like a Mr. Penske runs CarsDirect AND a ton of dealerships. I was lucky to live "close" to one of those dealers. Based on _my_ experience, I would encourage anybody purchasing a vehicle to do a bit of homework, then contact CarsDirect.
 
Cheers.

#719 of 769 Re: Extremely Bad Experience with CarsDirect.com [lisa19] by cjmacchia

Jan 10, 2006 (11:56 pm)

Replying to: lisa19 (Jul 30, 2005 2:31 pm)
I'm currently in the midst of an extremely bad experience with carsdirect.com. The rep is completely unprofessional, doesn't return phone calls, gives misleading information, and after not delivering the car on time offers only a handful of double talk and excuses. I even contacted the manager who also did not return e-mail or phone calls. They're an internet company whose only customer contact is via phone and e-mail and they can't seem to reasonably handle either task. Upon giving my deposit, it was stated that the car should arrive in six weeks and after waiting that six weeks, I'm now told it will be another five weeks. What's going to happen after that five weeks? In addition, the rep would not tell me when the car is now expected, but two separate customer service people read the rep's notes dated 1/5/06 (just one day prior to the conversation), and told me it would be another five weeks. Why wouldn't he give me the information when he put those notes in his system one day prior? Someone is not being straight. I've wasted too much time already, and it seems that I either need to waste more time or pull out of the deal and fight for my deposit back. I also locked a loan rate and the lock will run out soon so this may actually cost me money as interest rates are going up. I was hopeful that I would avoid the typical car buying pitfalls by going with carsdirect, but my experience thus far has been absolutely horrible.

#720 of 769 Re: Extremely Bad Experience with CarsDirect.com [cjmacchia] by qbrozen

Jan 11, 2006 (8:40 am)

Replying to: cjmacchia (Jan 10, 2006 11:56 pm)
can you share what car this is?
Just curious what kind of vehicle is taking so long.
 
Also, did you try working with any dealers prior to going through carsdirect? If so, was carsdirect quoting you a significantly better price than the dealers?

#721 of 769 I did a price quote from carsdirect last week by cutehumor

Mar 13, 2006 (7:47 am)

only one dealer responded. he quoted me a car with different packages that I asked for with a higher price. so I did price quote through edmunds instead. Out of the four dealers, three responded, two gave me prices, one just said "I got your car, come on down to test drive" had no price quote.

#722 of 769 Re: I did a price quote from carsdirect last week [cutehumor] by rroyce10

Mar 13, 2006 (7:49 am)

Replying to: cutehumor (Mar 13, 2006 7:47 am)
.... What type of model and make ........?
 
                                              Terry.

Messages Page 73 of 78

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