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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

#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.

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

Mar 13, 2006 (8:30 pm)

Replying to: rroyce10 (Mar 13, 2006 7:49 am)
2006 Pontiac Vibe base with optional 4 speed auto, preferred package in abyss, moonstone, or neptune in Nashville area.

#724 of 769 Good experience with CarsDirect.com by robcmoody

Apr 07, 2006 (7:48 pm)

Ok, so for several years I have used CarsDirect.com to window shop. Two days ago I went ahead and got my financing arranged and decided to car shop. I went through CD to find an Accord V6 sedan with navigation. Within 5 minutes of submitting my information online I received a phone call from the CD rep. He was very friendly and not overly pushy but of course he wanted to sell me the extras like GAP insurance, and even wanted to try to do my financing. After working with him for about 20 minutes he was able to find the car I wanted at a dealership 15 miles from my house. I went to the dealership that afternoon and first met with their fleet/internet sales guy, then the finance guy to sign the paperwork and say no to a bunch of extras. After about 25 minutes at the dealership I drove home in my new car. The only gripe I have is with the dealership not CD. The dealership spent no time showing me the basics of the navi or the car. My CD experience was great and I am happy with the price they got me. The car was 26812, 29583 with the tax, tag and other fees.

#725 of 769 Target Price? by morey000

Aug 11, 2006 (8:58 am)

Is the 'target price' listed on their web site the actual price that you'll be paying? Or is it some overly low price to get you to start the buying process through CD, which then gets inflated once they hear back from dealers.
 
Or- is that the price of the car, and they call it 'target price' as the vehicle they find might have slightly different options for which they need to compensate for (which is reasonable)
 
I'd rather take the CD price to my dealer and let them know that if they can match it, I'll buy it directly through them, rather than going through a middle man.

#726 of 769 AAA vs Costco by chaup

Aug 30, 2006 (10:46 am)

I belong to both clubs. Would like to try their car purchasing progam for the 1st time. Any recommendation or advice?

#727 of 769 Re: Target Price? [morey000] by nortsr1

Aug 30, 2006 (1:07 pm)

Replying to: morey000 (Aug 11, 2006 8:58 am)
I believe it does not include any added dealer fees, but to check it out, give Cars Direct a call and ask to be certain.

Messages Page 73 of 78

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