Costco Auto Program worth it for Prius Prime?

Be careful they (COSTCO) don't send you to a stealership as they did with me. They were willing to take $1,200 off the list price, but then demanded a similar amount for "required" VIN-Etch and fabric treatment (in a car that doesn't have fabric). Wasn't worth it. Went back to my somewhat trustable dealer and ordered the car from them with no hassles, but a few hundred more dollars.

 

I've spoken with Costco Auto Program people. They want to hear about rip offs like the one David mentions. That would be well worth a phone call when it happens.
Costco Auto Program
1-800-755-2519

 

One of the in-laws used the Costco program to purchase a new Rav4 hybrid and encountered a similar delivering stealership mark up of 2k or so. She called the stealership person back to complain, he explained it was required for whatever reason (and that was that), she then asked if she needed to make contact with Costco.. at which point the sales person did a complete 360 apologizing profusely for any confusion and adjusted the price to what it was originally.

 

We are members of Costco. Inquired and was quoted a price on a car, found the car online through the in network dealers site, had my son inquire direct (not through Costco) about price, and the public price was $26 more than Costco price. Not worth it to me to travel to a dealership 2 hours away over $26.

 

Hello, The Costco Price for the Prius Prime Advanced With incentives is $29,900. They must show you the Costco sheet, then you get the Toyota incentives and that's around where you will be for a 2018. I got mine 3 weeks ago and the games were awful. I flew to MD and drove it back. They were no nonsense and it saved me tons of frustration.

 

Is that nationwide, or just what is negotiated locally?

From my checks last year, it seemed that local or regional Costcos negotiated with individual area car dealerships. No local (to me) dealerships agreed to any Costco deal for the Prime. I eventually expanded my search range, and was put into contact with an Oregon dealership.

But by that time, I'd also dug deeper into my taxes, and figured out that me getting the Prime plug-in credit required cannibalizing another tax incentive, resulting in a wash. So I punted my Prime to this or next year. And it looks like it probably won't be this year either.

 

My understanding is that Costco works with certain dealers so you have to verify the dealer(s) involved offer the Prius Prime since not all dealers do.

 

I am a Cosco member and always wanted to look into using them to buy a new car but it seems when the time comes they never come to mind. Oh well, maybe next time.

 

I would compare using the Costco Auto Program to trading in your old car at a dealer instead of selling it yourself. Neither will get you the best value, but in many situations they certainly can be the most convenient and stress free.

Costco only works with one dealer per brand in a geographic area, their selection is based on customer complaints and other factors. Also only a small number of sales personnel at a particular dealer are allowed to handle Costco sales, again partially based on customer feedback. It doesn't guarantee a perfect experience but it greatly reduces the chances of having to deal with shenanigans.

People report getting maybe up to $1,000 off of MSRP, some have gotten more but it's often less than that. Usually you can get a better deal if you are willing to spend time haggling and playing dealers off of each other. But again, similar to trading in a car, for some people as long as they are getting some kind of discount it's worth it to them if they can go buy a car just as easily as picking up a twelve pound box of laundry detergent at Costco.

However there are times, like the end of the 2017 Prime model year when dealers were easily giving $2,000 or more discounts on top of any Toyota incentives, at times like that unless you really don't care about saving money it's better to skip the Costco program and go at it on your own.

 

Costco's system also has to show the exact car you want in stock.
My preferred dealer deals with Costco but Costco would not send me to them because Costco said they did not have my car in stock. I spent the extra $300 and bought from my trusted dealer. I am glad I bought from a Gen 1 Prius owner.

 

We contacted multiple Toyota dealerships in Colorado ~ Jan 2018, and mentioned that we are Costco member. We got multiple offers ranging $2500 - $5000 discount ...We brought a highlander 2018 XLE with several hundreds options from a Toyota dealership with ~$5000 discount. The dealership was NOT direct link to Costco program... I guess they would know what the costco program is ...

We are planning to purchase 2018 Prius Prime, as Costco member, you would get invoice prices minus additional $1000. The math would be MSRP - $600 - $1000. The total would be ~ $1600 discount from MSRP on either Plus or Premium model.

 

If you purchase through Costco, you specify exactly what vehicle you want. They then refer you to a dealer they Costco says has it in stock.

I tried to get them to change to my preferred dealer who deals with Costco. They would not change because their system said the car was not in stock. I elected to buy from my preferred dealer anyway without the additional few hundred dollars Costco discount in order to get a great buying experience.
As always, YMMV.

 

I called and emailed 14 NJ dealerships and my final price was lower than Costco. You have to be a tough negotiator. Do not go in person until a price has been set.

 

"They then refer you to a dealer they Costco says has it in stock" ... in my experience, you could use "Costco Member" pricing to negotiate better price ... be a smart consumer.

"Do not go in person until a price has been set" ... agreed .... I got email offer confirmations before stepping in to the dealership.

As shopping for prius prime, one dealership told us that they could sell it $2000 OVER the MSRP because the high demands ... then again, you could just order a new one with Costco price... it just take time to get it build.

 

Costco will only refer you to a dealer that they think has your expected car currently in stock. Unless that dealer sells that car before you buy it, there would be no waiting to build.

Been there, done that, bought the t-shirt.