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

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#728 of 769 Leasing through CarsDirect.com by tbone08

Oct 12, 2006 (7:21 am)

Has anyone has an experience leasing through CarsDirect? I'm looking to lease a 2007 Dodge Charger SXT AWD and want to know what to expect.

#729 of 769 Re: Leasing through CarsDirect.com [tbone08] by cmafit

Jan 17, 2007 (6:16 pm)

Replying to: tbone08 (Oct 12, 2006 7:21 am)
Were you able to lease through CarsDirect? I didn't think this service was provided. If you are still looking to lease a car, let me know.

#730 of 769 What to expect from CarsDirect by jag17

Mar 17, 2007 (10:20 pm)

I'm a newbie and often use Internet when shopping for a car. Have had some mixed if not negative experiences with CarsDirect in the past and would like readers to know my perspective, especially as various readers ask about this service. I bought a Honda through CD a few years ago and the purchase experience was quite smooth, fair price, and we managed to avoid the hassle of the dealership. However, CD did not initialy respond to our requests for working with one of their brokers until I called their corporate office directly and asked them why they did not want my business; then I got some attention about buying a car through them. Afterward, I had to endure repeated sales pitches for GAP insurance and other services that one does not need.
 
A few years later I tried to purchase a luxury model through CD. They pledged to help me get the price listed for the car but subsequently tried to jack me out of an extra $5k through one of their dealers. Turns out for luxury name brands and rare cars in a regional market CD cannot deliver the goods like they promise--but they pretend to promise it anyway. Basically, high volume vehicles such as Camrys and Accords are easier to purchase but not Infiniti, Lexus, Acura, etc.
 
Now I am trying to buy another vehicle and it's CD price is listed as a "Target Price." Read their gobbledygook on what this means--basically they can't gurantee the price quote. However, it also means they will not provide a broker to work with you. They do route you to a dealer they consider a partner and who will meet the price quote, but invariably when you reach out to these folks they fall back on their old sales tricks ("that car is not available," "we need to factor dealer costs, internet costs," "my manager said I can't do that price after all," blahblahblah). Basically, a "target price" quoted by CD is an amount you can more reliably obtain through Edmunds, Kelley Blue Book, or by researching the vehicle's invoice price. CarsDirect only provides you with the price to lure you into their dealership arrangements.
 
In summary, if you're looking for a family sedan or another common model, carsdirect can get it for you at price quoted, but it will be a sloppy process and you may slip through the cracks, then they will still try to sell you a bunch of stuff you don't need. Try to purchase a less popular seller, or conversely, a luxury or high demand vehicle of the moment, and you will only create aggravation for yourself. Me personally, I dont see much value in dealing with carsdirect anymore.
 
Also note, a few years ago CD had to settle a class action suit alleging they were secretly listening to customer conversations without notifying the customer. So if you have to use this service, be paranoid.

#731 of 769 Re: What to expect from CarsDirect [jag17] by tidester

Mar 17, 2007 (10:42 pm)

Replying to: jag17 (Mar 17, 2007 10:20 pm)
basically they can't gurantee the price quote.
 
And, similiarly, you cannot be obligated to buy for more than the stated price.
 
tidester, host
SUVs and Smart Shopper

#732 of 769 Awesome experience buying new Pilot on carsdirect.com by marynator

May 02, 2007 (9:39 am)

Hi forum - I wanted to post my experience for others since I had read many reviews here when doing my research.
 
After some trepidation, I decided to use carsdirect.com to buy a new 07 Honda Pilot (LX front wheel drive). The local dealership was full of smarmy salesmen who had just gotten to my last nerve (for instance, instead of taking my word as final, they started calling my husband! as if my decision was not firm enough- ARGH. And one of them actually quoted me a price that included an "11% sales tax" - what??? do they think I'm so stupid that I don't know that the state sales tax is 7.75%?)
 
Anyway, I'd been window-shopping here at Edmunds for months, waiting for a low APR or some kind of special on the Pilot. I checked carsdirect and was flabbergasted by the price that showed up ($23,134 vs. Edmunds TMV of $26,000ish for my Southern California zip code). I immediately decided to give carsdirect a try- they clearly had access to knowledge about a short term special pricing on Honda trucks and SUVs that no one else had - including Edmunds).
 
So I started the process at 11 pm on Thursday night. The next morning, I received an email and a phone call from my carsdirect liaison. He confirmed the model, trim, and color, and price that I wanted. He called back within an hour to say that he'd found the exact car from a dealership about 120 miles away. A few emails and phone calls later (to take car of tasks like copies of insurance, licenses, registrations, odometer readings on my trade-in, etc), he told me that my Pilot would be shipped to me (for FREE!) on a specific day and time.
 
Then the weekend hit - I admit I was worried. The entire process was utterly surreal. I had done nothing more than email an "I agree" to Carsdirect. I had not written a check nor made any kind of deposit. Was my car really going to show up? My carsdirect person did not work on the weekend so I could not call him and confirm that a car was on the way. Meanwhile, I knew the special pricing was going to expire on the following Monday. If it all fell through, I was going to have to return to the dealership to get a Pilot.
 
But Monday rolled around and I was able to confirm my purchase with my carsdirect person. Also, the dealership that was actually selling me the car (via carsdirect) called to try to sell me an extended warranty. That was when I really knew that I had actually purchased a vehicle!
 
Tuesday, the delivery day, arrived- and so did my Pilot! Right on time. It was shiny from being recently detailed, full of gas, and had all of three miles on it. The driver unloaded my Pilot and loaded my 12-year-old Civic (with 140,000 miles and a big dent in the side- did I mention that I got exactly what I wanted out of that trade-in?). The driver, an amiable retired car mechanic who was outsourced by the dealership, walked me through the paperwork. 45 minutes later, he left. That was that.
 
I won't be going to a dealership again if I have the option of buying a car online. This was EASY. And I saved almost $3K. The price never changed from what I initially saw at the carsdirect website. There were NO extra fees or brokers' costs. Carsdirect found me the financing I wanted at the rate that I expected. They also took care of my trade-in.
 
There were just three things I'd advise a consumer to watch out for:
1) the carsdirect salesperson is not a car expert. S/he is merely the broker. Don't expect the zeal and/or knowledge of a dealership salesperson from a carsdirect person. For me, this was welcome.
2) The carsdirect salesperson is working with a checklist of items - get her/him to give you this list upfront. Several times, I'd complete a "step" only to be told something like, "and now we need you to email copies of yours and your husband's licenses and insurance cards to us." Well, that can be difficult if my 6-month-old is crying and my husband is at work. It would have been much easier if I'd known to have those things ready ahead of time.
3) Be very clear about your down payment and your financing terms. My carsdirect person didn't ask me how much I wanted to put down or how long I wanted my loan term to be. I got the feeling that he assumed I'd be putting down nothing and okay with a 60-month loan. Luckily, I had read online reviews that strongly advised others to be proactive about this very issue. So I did say exactly how much I wanted to put down and then I said what I wanted my loan term to be.
 
Other than that, I'd recommend carsdirect to anyone. I should close by saying that I did take the carsdirect low price to two other local dealerships. They came within $600 bucks of it. But then they wanted to hassle me about my trade-in. In general, they fed me sob stories about commissions and all that... who has the time for all that excessive emotional labor???? Not me. But, just in case carsdirect did fall through, I wanted to have a back-up plan. So I had the dealerships email me their quotes. That made me feel a lot better over that long weekend when I was unable to talk to my carsdirect person.
 
Mary

#733 of 769 ......experience buying new Pilot on carsdirect.com [marynator] by ezshift5

May 13, 2007 (9:30 am)

Replying to: marynator (May 02, 2007 9:39 am)
...I'd like to echo (albeit less comprehensively) Mary's words vis-a-vis CarsDirect.com.
 
My initial e-mail was quickly acknowledged the next day. I then faxed my driver's license/proof of insurance/$500 deposit to CD.
 
A few days later, a brand new AV6 6M was mine. Like Mary, I found the dealer was sort of a pain. For example $2800 (ultimately modified to $1800)..........for a HondaCare Extended Warranty. No way.
 
Much later I went online and for about $585 Hondacura.com sent me an EW (6y80k) from upstate New York.
 
CD is OK in my book.
 
...cheers....
 
..ez..

#734 of 769 Re: What to expect from CarsDirect [jag17] by montalvo

May 27, 2007 (11:19 am)

Replying to: jag17 (Mar 17, 2007 10:20 pm)
As should be apparent from reading the experiences in this forum, "your experience may vary" is an appropriate caution. In reference to some of jag17's conclusions about CD, I'd offer my experiences. I've bought my last two cars thru CD, a 2000 Lexus and a 2005 Jaguar; both are of the luxury type that jag17 says CD won't do well on. In general, my experiences were good ones and when I replace the Lexus later this year, I'll probably use CD again.
 
I live in No. California and discovered that I could save over a grand by buying in L.A. Since I travel there several times a year to visit friends and family, it's actually almost a convenience to buy the car there. With the first purchase, buying in LA was actually suggested by the CD rep as a way to bring the price down. But with the more recent purchase, the dealer told me that they'd have to have a local address before they could sell me a car; apparently the dealers got fed up with "geographic shoppers" like me. It still wasn't a problem because I gave them my friend's address and they still allowed me to register the car at my home address.
 
The 2000 delivery was amazing. Sales rep picked us up at the airport and drove us to the dealership. He gave us a great overview of the car on the way and then made it clear that if we didn't want the car for ANY REASON, we could walk out the door because he was going to get his commission from CD regardless whether we changed our mind or not.
 
The 2005 purchase involved more of the typical dealer-like shenanigans. "Gosh, sorry, but I can't find your car without a nav system." I pushed back, hard. "OK, we'll give you the nav system at dealer cost." I agreed but then, "Oops, the car we found has a dealer-installed walnut trim package and it'll be an extra $500." I pushed back, real hard this time. After a supposed talk with the manager, "OK, OK, we'll eat the cost of that." The day before we picked up the car, "Hey...good news! We just found another car WITHOUT that walnut trim you didn't want so you'll get the car just the way you wanted it!"
 
I suspect that some of the variations between the dealer experience may well have been what you'd find anyway between Lexus (consumer-friendly) and Jaguar (typical dealer slimeballs). I reported my dissatisfaction on the bait-and-switch tactics to CD following my purchase.
 
Hope this helps provide another perspective on CD.
 
Bob

#735 of 769 Re: CarsDirect [Car_man] by habramowski

Jun 14, 2007 (9:40 am)

Replying to: Car_man (Nov 29, 2001 11:19 am)
I have a question for the Host of this Forum: if someone has concerns or just wants to hear about one of the partners of Edmunds, such as Carsdirect.com, is directing such persons to threads that are dated from 1999 and 2000 helpful? In fact, this being 2007, might that information even be currently WRONG?

#736 of 769 Re: CarsDirect [habramowski] by qbrozen

Jun 14, 2007 (10:13 am)

Replying to: habramowski (Jun 14, 2007 9:40 am)
carsdirect is a partner of edmunds? do you have a source for this? i'd be interested in reading about it.

#737 of 769 Re: CarsDirect [habramowski] by kirstie_h HOST

Jun 14, 2007 (10:46 am)

Replying to: habramowski (Jun 14, 2007 9:40 am)
It might, but we do like to keep conversations for historical purposes, even if only for entertainment. Seriously, if someone thinks that every bit of info in the Forums posted in 1999 is still true today, then I don't know how to help that person. For example, in our "post your local gas prices" discussion, I doubt that anyone looks at posts from 1999 and thinks, "Hey, great! I can buy gas in Newark, NJ for $1.35/gallon!" today.
 
We do re-start discussions once the number of posts reaches an unwieldy number, but just over 700 posts in 8 years? Nah. Readers are welcome to start perusing posts at whatever point suits them.

Messages Page 74 of 78

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