Car Buying Service-Any experiences!

I got my Prius in June through Car Solutions, through my Credit Union. Easy as can be. I've bought several cars now using this service and each purchase was a good experience. Never had to set foot in a dealership and play that unpleasant game with the jackals that work in them. And in the case of the Prius, I was probably among the last in this area to pay below MSRP (slightly-but still below).

 

I bought my car through the dealer, but had only email and phone contact with him until the day I walked in and paid for and picked up the car. We had already agreed on the price online, so there was no haggling. It was MSRP, of course. I had to finance, so I had already arranged that and had the check with me. It only took about half an hour at the dealership, and most of that was the salesperson showing me some of the cool stuff about the Prius. Most dealership have an internet sales department, and I highly recommend going that route. Very stress-free.

 

I purchased my last car, a honda crv, using Cars.com. They had you select several dealers in your area and gave you the cost you should expect to pay and then the dealers call with $. This was not available for the Prisu when I decided to buy as all teh dealers in so. cal were charging $3-5K over MSRP or I would have used the site. A friend used a broker service for his Prius but this was in Dec '07, did not pay over MSRP and was very pleased with the firm he used.

 

Car brokers are great, I actually looked into starting a car brokerage.

Really the people they benefit are folks that hate, and are not good at the whole car sales negotiation thing. If you really do your research and you know what the car you're looking at is selling for in your area, you can probably do as well or better on your own. The Prius is a weird circumstance because of the demand, but when I bought the Lexus I went straight through the internet sales department at several dealers. I ordered the car, hammered out the deal and everything over email and never even met the gal until I walked in to pick up the car. It was great.

BUT I had the time and inclination to do all that research, and I know a lot about the car sales industry in general...

For someone who doesn't...car brokers are a great choice

 

You really don't need a car broker of any kind. A computer with Internet access is all you need. Make the emails yourself to find a good price.

 

At the risk of sounding like I'm spamming or adverstising, a guy I know does this. I recommended a neighbor and a co-worker to his website. They had no complaints. I'm not a newbie, nor do I get anything out of this.

http://www.accoladeapbs.com/home.html

Dealing with car salesmen can be a traumatic experience and a real turn off, so I can see why people would use these services.

I actually went through Costco and got $500 off the Prius.

 

Yup. In April '07, I bought my Prius by e-mailing all of the retailers in my area, telling them that I wanted an 07 Package 6 Prius, and wanted the out-the-door price.

I got some form letter "Come on down and we'll talk" responses. I sent those folks a second e-mail followed by a phone call saying: "On this day, I will buy a Prius with Package 6 from the lowest priced dealer. If you're that dealer, I'll buy from you. If you don't give me a best and final offer, you won't get the business."

I got a few thousand below MSRP, and was very happy.

(That was April 07 in CA, just after the DMV stopped issuing car pool stickers, so there was a fair amount of extra stock on the lots).