Costco Purchase: Be Careful

Is there a way to report them to Costco? I'd do that. Not every Costco member would think to say no and try another dealer.

 

you CAN call Costco CS (1-800-556-4730)

As stated on their site "Our Member Advocacy Group was created to assist you whenever you have a question or concern with one of our participating dealers or any aspect of your new vehicle purchase. We address all member issues. The Costco Auto Program goes to great lengths to ensure our members have a no-haggle, no-hassle car-buying experience. Our member advocates can answer any questions you may have and are here to assist you before, during, and after your purchase so please don’t hesitate to contact us. You can reach us at 1-800-556-4730, Monday through Friday, 6 am to 7 pm, Saturday & Sunday 7 am to 5 pm PST."

 

Definitely report them to CostCo. I've spoken with the guy who runs that program, and he relies on feedback to know which dealers are upholding the agreement.

The system works like this (if memory serves and they haven't changed it):
1. Dealers pay a flat fee to be approved by CostCo; the amount doesn't vary by the number of referrals.
2. CostCo negotiates a fixed price with each dealer; I believe this price can vary by dealer; all models might also not be included, but if the Prius wasn't included CostCo simply should not have referred you
3. The dealer cannot sell the car for more than the agreed price; they can sell for less, so you can still negotiate these prices
4. The trade is totally up to the dealer--a large loophole.

 

I will NEVER trade in my old car. That gives the dealer too much control over me and pricing. He can low-ball on the tradein and give you a "better" price on the new car. The dealer always wins! I always sell my car on the open market using the various internet sources to make my own appraisal.

That way, I know if I am getting a deal on the new car. I am in control of the deal. I can go from dealer to dealer and negotiate. I saved about $2000 when I bought my Prius early this year.

 

We ordered our Prius about a month ago through the Costco program. We were offered first a good price and then a great price on the Car we wanted. Then they offered a far to low amount for our trade, so we declined to trade in and have found an alternative disposition for our current car. I can see where this method of getting more of your money could be a problem for some people who just need to get rid of their old car and don't want to be bothered with selling it themselves, but we were able to work it in our favor this time.

 

I believe you are always better off selling your old car privately, unless it is such a POS that you in good conscience just can not sell it to anyone. Then trade it in and forget it. But I always prefer dealing with no trades at all. More control over the numbers and you know what you are really paying for the new car.

 

The catch on selling your old car instead of trading is that you lose its value in sales tax on the new vehicle (unless you live in Michigan, California, or Virginia where they charge sales tax on the entire price of the new car, regardless of whether there's a trade-in or not).

Still, if a dealer low-balls the trade-in badly enough, it does make sense to sell the old car outright and eat the sales tax on the new car.

 

Too late !
. . . welcome to PC. And welcom to the 'Got rid of my Exploader for a high mpg car' subset. I unloaded the same thing, but sold private party. You get more cash that way. Then, we bought our '04 used, in '04. Again, letting someone else absorbe the initial hit.

 

Wish I could say the same thing.

When I bought my 06, it was about 2800 dollars cheaper to buy new then used (because of the tax credit).

Prius hold their value so well, I still wouldn't buy a barely used one. What would be the point of saving a couple of hundred dollars when I could get a brand spanking new one!

 

And just how does this qualify for the Main Prius Forum????
[man, there has been a rash of these things since the PriusChat software upgrade.]

 

Tell her to just drive it, as though it was an automatic. While there are things you can do to improve mpg, you do not need to do any of those things. It was designed to be just driven like a normal car.

Unless, of course, you are afraid that once she starts driving it she'll never let you drive it again. Then you might want to tell her it's really complicated.

When I got rid of my 1976 CJ-5 Jeep and bought my 1989 Honda Civic wagon I asked the salesman what he'd give me for the Jeep. He told me what he'd give me, and he also told me what he'd sell it for, which was a pretty big split. So I put an ad in the paper and sold it myself for much more than he'd have given me. So there are honest and upright car salesmen! (He also said, "If you like, I'll add $500 to both the trade-in amount and the new-car cost, so it will look as though you're getting more for the trade-in.") But I suppose when you're selling Hondas you can afford to be honest. An honest Ford or GM salesman wouldn't sell many cars.

CU recommends negotiating the new car price and the trade-in separately. Then you can decide whether to accept the trade-in or sell it privately, considering the price difference and the hassle.

I drove my Civic for 15 years and never had a single problem with it. There were some big repairs of things discovered during maintenance toward the end, but it never left me stranded. I sold it to a friend, and the following morning she could not start it. I voluntarily paid half the repair cost because I felt bad about it. She continued to have problems, and I offered to buy it back for what she had paid me, but she declined. A year later she junked it.

I will never again sell a car to a friend. I am also intensely prejudiced against buying a used car.

 

glad to hear everything worked out for you. but you can go two ways on this. the supply and demand for the Prius is not very balanced imho.

many places have them sitting on the lots (although not as much anymore) while other places like where i live has consistent 6-8 week waiting list.

i dont blame the dealer for not wanting to bargain with you. around here, there is no deals to be had but that is because there is 3 buyers for every available car and it is market driven economy.

my sister works for FORD!! and they jump at any chance they can to buy and sell Priuses because they know they can make bank on them. u would choke if you found out what they get for used Priuses with 25,000-30,000 miles on them (seems to be the time that rental agencies and other places tend to get rid of them at)

for a few thousand more, you can buy a brand new Prius... but they still sell like crazy... its completely unreal

as for trading in your old vehicle, yes it would be tough to sell that car, but i think if you dont need the money, you can get a better price, although the dealer you went with i think did give you a decent price... around here, you would have problems selling it for much more unless it looked immaculate.

 

Do you have this as an auto-responder to new threads?

 

No, just the semi-auto-responder for the rash of threads misplaced into the Main Prius forum. . . . just making a point.

Would now be a good time to point out that DaveinOlyWA's new-as-of-today OP Oil demand from Within is also misplaced by being in the Main Prius Forum?

 

Costco Auto Buying-be Careful...not all that cheaper

Costco auto buying is not all that better as they advertised. The authorized dealer assigned to us would not negotiate for lower purchase value ($500.00) over than other offers). Took advantage of credit union auto buying search and have successfully got the lowest offer for 2008 package#2 $21,970.00(before tax and license).

Yesterday, we picked-up our brand new 2008 Prius #2. OTD = $24,351.00. Paid in cash and off we go.
We think we got a good deal considering most quote we got ranges from $22,800 to 23,900.00.

Concord Toyota look for Gino Genrikh he'll give you a great deal...