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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 77 of 78

#756 of 769 Re: Will definitely use CarsDirect again [randyonline2] by karhill1

Jan 13, 2011 (4:57 am)

Replying to: randyonline2 (Jan 12, 2011 4:50 pm)
OK, one must consider that CarsDirect makes money from any car sale it processes. The question is "who pays that money?" The answer is, obviously, the customer. Therefore, the price of a vehicle purchased via CarsDirect must be inflated to compensate for CarsDirect's income from the sale.
 
I suggest a potential buyer use CarsDirect as a source of information and then go to the dealer and negotiate the price of the vehicle at least several hundred dollars less than the price presented by CarsDirect. If one dealer won't deal just go to the next. Perserverence will be worth a few dollars. In the worst case, all one need do is locate the dealer who works with CarsDirect. Without question, that dealer will sell the car for less than the CarsDirect price.
 
Really, the only reason a person should even consider using a service like CarsDirect is if one is uncomfortable dealing with a sales person. But really, why bother with CarsDirect as a person can almost always find a relative or friend who can act as a broker. It is always easier to negotiate when the negotiator is not the one paying.

#758 of 769 Re: No Better than Dealers [Dissedlady] by ken117

Feb 09, 2011 (4:44 am)

Replying to: Dissedlady (Jan 29, 2009 9:17 pm)
The only thing I am certain about CarsDirect is anyone buying a car from CarsDirect will pay too much. Here is a current example, for a 2011 Outback with an MSRP of $29,220 CarsDirect is currently quoting a price of $28,055 in Maryland. Fitzmall, a one-price shop in Maryland, will sell you this same vehicle for about $27,000.

#759 of 769 Carwoo by rming

Mar 29, 2011 (12:11 pm)

I recently ran across a car buying service called Carwoo. According to the site, you input the specifics about a car that you are looking for (I am looking at purchasing a new car) and they solicit offers from various local dealers. According to the site, the dealer only sees your first name and last name initial and the car that you want to buy, no other contact information. In addition it appears that through the site you can correspond with each dealer to get a better price (ie tell the dealer you already have an offer at $xx,xxx, can they beat that?). If you like the offer, then you commit to the buy. I am not sure if this is by the site providing you the contact information for the dealer or if you commit to buy that the dealer gets your contact information. This part of the service supposedly is free. For an additional fee you can set up what they call a reverse auction with local dealers. I am not sure what that is or how it gets you a better price.
 
My questions are these: has anyone used this service?, has anyone bought a car through this service? did you really remain anonymous during the procedure?, did you get the best price using this service?, did you use the reverse auction?, what is the reverse auction?, was the reverse auction worth the fee in the amount that you saved on the car?

#760 of 769 Cars Direct Pay Too Much by karhill1

Mar 30, 2011 (3:36 am)

Here is all one need know about Cars Direct. Today, March 30, 2011 for a 2011 Nissan Rogue, AWD SV with an MSRP of $25,300 the Cars Direct Target Price in the DC area is $23,137. For the same vehicle, with the $25,300 MSRP, the True Car price is $21,267. Why would anyone use Cars Direct?

#761 of 769 CarsDirect by driver2011

Oct 14, 2011 (8:47 am)

I'm not certain if CarsDirect pricing has improved much since the last poster. I'm looking to buy a new Hyundai Sonata and just started shopping for prices. However, I noticed that they have a buying outlook, which seem quite interesting. Thought I'd share this: http://www.carsdirect.com/hyundai/sonata/prices

#762 of 769 USAA and Costco by rming

Nov 16, 2011 (7:22 am)

If you have access I highly recommend using the USAA car buying service. They show you the pricing right on the web site. Just be aware that they do not always show all of the incentives and rebates. So your price could be even lower. The car I bought had an extra $1000 rebate if you financed and the manufacturer also had loyalty rebates and an active duty military rebate if you qualified that USAA did not show. I tried the USAA dealer and he did not get back to me on the car I wanted. It was a 2011 that is in short supply.
 
I tried the Costco buying service to see how they compared on price. They were $100 more than USAA and the Costco dealer found the car I wanted. So I bought it from them.

#764 of 769 Re: USAA and Costco [rming] by darthcharlie

Dec 28, 2012 (11:39 pm)

Replying to: rming (Nov 16, 2011 7:22 am)
Carsdirect is not buying the cars at dealer invoice, they're buying them at the bank invoice price. Most dealerships do not own their cars, they are bank or company owned. That's how they were given such large checks towards down payments, that is part of the difference of the pricing. Dealer and employee invoicing sales are noting special ask for 500 above bank invoice and see what happens, odds are they will laugh at you.

#765 of 769 No Responses from Carwoo [rming] by mikeytp

Jan 30, 2013 (8:34 am)

Replying to: rming (Mar 29, 2011 12:11 pm)
After selecting several dealers, then slogging through the carwoo signup process, I did not receive a single response prior to purchasing late in the day.
 
May have been due to my short time requirement (which was mentioned in my request).

Messages Page 77 of 78

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