I purchased a 2023 Corvette Stingray on-line in Jan 2025. It was listed by a large BMW Dealership in Texas. It was a very fair price. They didn't try to mark it up. I believe they just wanted it gone. I called them. We agreed on their advertised price and I bought it.

quote:

Originally posted by vthoky:

quote:

Originally posted by Powers77:
I go home, get on line and find what I want 4 hours away. Make the deal on line for a slightly better price.

At this point in life, I'm definitely NOT afraid to make a road trip to pick up a car I want. The last one I bought was just an hour or so away, primarily to avoid my local dealer.

Several years ago, my "other brother" and I did a 15-hour round trip to pick up a vehicle he wanted. If you're the sort who keeps a vehicle for a long time, there's no sense in settling for something that's not exactly what you want, if what you really want can be picked up elsewhere.

Exactly!

I’ve bought several cars out of state and every time the deal was as negotiated. One in Texas and one in Florida. Both Porsches and I live in N.C.

I love me a good road trip especially when the ride home is sweet!

Yeah, on three different occasions I've driven 4-5 hours to places like Dallas and Kansas City to buy cars. Worth the drive for the right deal. Each time I've saved thousands over closer dealers.

You can negotiate everything online beforehand, then spend a day on a road trip, and get to know your new car on the way back.

Update to the story. Being a Costco member, I signed up for the Costco car shopping service as a previous poster suggested. I didn't know about it until I read it here. So I filled everything out and received the programmed email listing the dealer in my area for new Honda vehicles, along with the names of the salesmen at that specific dealer who were approved to run the negotiation in accordance with the Costco rules.

Turns out the dealer was a bad one I had already run into before, who told me there was NO negotiation, which I thought odd since it was a regular haggling type dealership, not one of the no-haggle dealerships that operate on a different business model. Anyway that visit started out normally until the saleswoman brought over the Sales Manager, who took over the whole engagement, and after trying to see where I could work a deal, he told me everything on the paper was non-negotiable, and after asking for clarification since there was more than a few lines of charges with dubious meanings at best, he refused to answer any of those questions, except they were required and were not negotiable. I said Ok, so could we work on the bottom line in a different way to get a better price, because he was asking about 3K more than everyone else for a regular daily driver, which was still very high. He replied that this was his price, along with some variation of "take it or leave it" in no uncertain terms, and rudely so, which was odd since I don't blame any businessman for sticking to his guns, since the market determines the final price regardless of anyone's personal choices. So I left politely but without any intention of returning.

Anyway since then I've received text and voicemails more or less begging me to come back, completely ignoring the previous childish treatment by the sales manager. They also called and texted my wife who was the original shopper at that dealer before I took over the job on her behalf as her buyers agent. Anyway she answered his call and was speaking to the same aforementioned sales manager, and she pretty much unloaded on him. I learned later he had insulted her as well during her own visit. I was not privy to the call but he told her that what I told her about my own visit with him was not true, and after that the conversation took a short downhill run before terminating, after she let him have it for insinuating that I was a liar. After that the original saleswoman who we had both met with separately called her and tried to get us to come back, and she told her to not to contact her or myself again. I wouldn't have done that myself but I have to give her credit for defending the household from unscrupulous salesman. So they poked mama bear in the eye, not once but twice, she got tired of their BS, so they got what they deserved.

So THAT dealer is done. Maybe the GM or the Owner picked that ridiculous person for a specific reason, though I can't imagine how he could possibly help the success of that dealership, unless the owner or the GM are the same kind of people.

So anyway there's a little comic relief for all in the great Sigforum who have, or will have, or will have again, have to deal with scum like this. Undoubtedly many of us will.

I'm curious about this Costco buying thing, and your situation in particular.

Costco sent you a particular dealer contact, and that dealer turned out to be a dud. Can (will?) Costco offer you another dealer option then?

It's true they have to disclose all the ways they are trying screw you with the fees, but the top number can be reduced such that the bottom is your number.

That was 2004 when I bought my Golf TDI. We came to an agreement on the price, shook hands, they brought the final computer printed sales agreement, and the price we agreed to was on the top of the paper. In the middle of the paper were the bogus fees. I spent 5 minutes telling the sales guy the bottom number was not what we agreed to and shook hands over and then I walked out in the pouring rain. Assholes let me get all they way back to my truck halfway to nowhere before they called me back in. Low and behold, they had a new paper printed that had the price we agreed to on the bottom, all the bogus fees in the middle, and the top number was lowered to make it work out.

Costco did not push us to a specific dealer on the purchase of our two EQEV's last fall, we could go to any GM dealer in the area.

Think I would find the owner of that dealership where the GM treated you that way and write him a letter detailing the treatment...

Contact the factory as well, write them a letter, dealers getting complaints on consumer interactions get hammered by the factory on these complaints.. Enough of them and it can be financially problematic.

WrightD sent you an email....

A dealer has to sign up to be a Costco dealer, there is an agreement on pricing between Costco and the dealer. They can go below that if the dealer wants. Some models can be excluded from the agreement.

GM even offers rebates specifically for Costco members on some models

I will say it again, find out what model and equipment you want. Drive one somewhere and make sure you want it and then leave.

Contact several dealers via email that have the model you want. The manufacturers website has a locater to tell you where these are at. Work your deal by email until you are happy with a drive out price in writing and then go buy. I would get pre qualified, preferably from a credit union for a loan and use that rate to negotiate as well if you are financing. Do not mention or answer if you are financing or not until it's time to buy

quote:

Originally posted by vthoky:
I'm curious about this Costco buying thing, and your situation in particular.

Costco sent you a particular dealer contact, and that dealer turned out to be a dud. Can (will?) Costco offer you another dealer option then?

That would be a negative. After receiving the Costco Email almost instantly after signing up, one of the Costco authorized salespersons on that list contacted me. But I didn't respond because he was at the dealer who screwed with me beforehand, so I didn't answer the Costco rep's communication. There's a possibility a deal through that channel might have worked, but I didn't want to spend more time at that dealership since the approved Costco salesman would likely have to gone thru the same sales manager for approval of a sale who previously screwed me before I learned about the Costco program. And by that time I had moved onto some better prospects. There's a chance I might have saved some $ by starting over with the Costco program at the shady sales manager's dealership, but at this point I'll never know now. If a dealership is hard up to hire a piece of work like that guy to run their sales dept, I'm not sure I'd want to spend real money to support that particular establishment. And if they hire people like that, I would imagine they could have other bad hires running their service dept, their parts dept, and who knows what else. No thanks.

But to answer your question more exactly, I don't think so, because the Costco terms are they only send you one letter for a single dealer, with a Costco authorization code, and so you don't get another chance if the dealership they chose for you, aka the Costco authorization number, doesn't work out. They were clear about those terms before you hit the submit button on their website. If Costco's referral had chosen a different dealership, assuming that one existed on their list of dealerships for my zip code, I may have scored a good deal. Who knows.

quote:

I don't think so, because the Costco terms are they only send you one letter for a single dealer, with a Costco authorization code, and so you don't get another chance if the dealership they chose for you, aka the Costco authorization number, doesn't work out. They were clear about those terms before you hit the submit button on their website.

That's about what I expected. Thank you for clarifying.

Years ago, I was buying a new Corvette from a major big city dealer. I was trading in a chevy 4WD, about a year or so old. Never off road with it, looked like new inside and out. New red Corvette idling out front, driver's door open as I was inside signing final paperwork. Perusing the paperwork, I saw the dealer was giving me $800.00 less than we'd agreed upon for my trade in. Full stop. Had them bring my truck back, never dealt with them again. Guess that new Corvette right outside the glass doors was to distract me from noticing that little $800.00 detail in the paperwork. Crafty devils.

Years later, bought a new Chevy 4WD crew cab truck from a dealer, abut a hundred miles away. Did the deal, no trade in, all was well, or so I thought. Few days later, dealership finance weasel calls me up, indicating a problem with my credit union finance rate, and said I had to give them another $600.00. I declined. He implied they might come take the truck back. Still have the truck, never heard from them again. Good try weasels...

quote:

Originally posted by vthoky:
I'm curious about this Costco buying thing, and your situation in particular.

Costco sent you a particular dealer contact, and that dealer turned out to be a dud. Can (will?) Costco offer you another dealer option then?

Question: are you locked into a specific dealer, can you change?

No, you are not locked into using only that specific dealer.
If you are not satisfied with your experience or want to see if another location has better vehicle inventory, you can easily change dealers.

How to Switch Dealers

• Contact Costco Auto Program: You can call their customer service line or log back into your account on the Costco Auto Program website to request a different participating dealership in your area.

• Get a New Referral: Costco will issue a new referral certificate for the alternative dealership.


We made the deal with the dealership ourselves on both new vehicles, then signed into the Costco Auto web page, picked the dealer, and printed the certificate. I did not use Costco to get me the price, we just stacked their deal on top of the others the dealership provided and they had no problems with it.

Use the dealer locater, find all the dealers in your area you are willing to go to in order to buy, don't get the certificate yet, email them to see who has the best offer, then get the certificate for that dealer.

Costco Dealer Locator

Or, just email all the dealers in your range that you want a specific vehicle and ask them if they are an approved Costco dealer, make you deal then get the certificate changed.

Wow, this is a great thread and I suspect everyone has three or more stories to tell. Mine happened only 10 days ago.

I am approaching retirement (wife is already retired) and decided to buy two new Lexuses (Lexi?) - his and hers. I started at the local dealer. I thought buying two at the same time might give me more leverage. This did not work because one of the two models I wanted was extremely difficult to find (I am in Phoenix, AZ). This is a separate story I will skip for now.

One of the tactics that I learned long ago is never to place a deposit on anything until a final out the door price is agreed to (in writing) and signed by the dealer. Naturally, the dealer did not have the one model equipped the way I wanted (it's an IS 350), but said he could order or trade with another dealer to make it happen. They kept pressuring me to make a deposit, even putting the deposit form in front of me. The form said in large bold letters that deposits are not refundable.

The second model (A TX 500h) was fairly plentiful and there were many available at multiple local dealers.

Anyway, the dealer searched all the inventories within about a 500 mile radius. He found a couple, then tried to get me to make a deposit. I said no deposit until availability of the specific car with that VIN was confirmed, and we had agreed in writing to an out the door price. He went to confirm availability, then tried again to get a deposit. This went back and forth several times - he would find out the model had already been sold, and was no longer available, but he kept trying to get a deposit. He would find another instance with my configuration, then try to get a deposit, then find out it was no longer available.

Finally, I got fed up with the dealer, and decided to take matters into my own hands. The Lexus website lets you search dealers up to a 500 mile radius for the model you're interested in. I found two on my own - one in Albuquerque and one in El Paso, but they were both sold by the time I called. Then I found one near San Francisco. I called the San Francisco dealer to confirm it was available, and it was. They told me they could ship it directly to me for an added fee. They sent me a copy of the window sticker so I could confirm it was equipped exactly the way I wanted (it was). So I negotiated over the phone, we agreed to a price, and started the paperwork (it was a cash sale). No deposit was requested, nor did I give them any money until the vehicle had been shipped. Easy!

So my IS 350 was on its way. Meanwhile, the local dealer said they found another one equipped exactly how I wanted it. He sent me the window sticker. He said it was confirmed to be available. I looked, and SURE ENOUGH, the VIN number on the window sticker was EXACTLY the same as the one I ordered. He had found the same specific car I did. I played along and told him I already saw that one, but I think it was sold. He said his sales manager confirmed it was available. I kept telling him it was already sold (I didn't tell him I was the buyer!)

I then called the dealer that was shipping me the car to confirm there had been no screwup and the car was definitely on its way to me. She assured me it was mine.

Later, the local dealer called me AGAIN and said that specific vehicle was initially sold, but the deal fell through, and it was available again. Once again, I told him it wasn't available and that his information was wrong.

Their tactic is to get you to put down a non-refundable deposit (I think they wanted $3,000). Then, they tell you that after they have your money that the car wasn't available after all. Now, you are their prisoner :-). I successfully avoided this.

I have now had the car for 7 days now and I love it. Meanwhile, we purchased the TX at a different local dealership. Again, no deposit was requested, and none was given. The one I wanted at not yet arrived at that dealer, but was on the way. Once it came, they prepped it, we negotiated a price, and out the door we went.

So, because of their silly tactics, I will never darken the doorstep of the local Lexus dealer again for anything. They lost two sales.

Re Costco auto program: When I was doing the paperwork for the LYRIQ EV lease with the finance guy at Massey Cadillac (recommended by V-Tail), he kept finding ways to reduce the total cost! He asked questions, each "yes" answer dropped the cost below what I had agreed on with the sales guy.

"Are you a veteran?"

"Are you a Costco member?"

Incidentally, I did find out one thing. I had two existing cars that I had to sell.

I have sold vehicles privately before, and decided the pain of selling privately was not worth the added $$ from selling to another institution.

I ended up selling BOTH my used vehicles to Carvana. They gave me a great price, far more than a dealer would give, less than selling privately. In both cases, it was EASY. I made an appointment, and in both cases the transaction was done in less than 10 minutes.

If you have to get rid of a vehicle but don't want to sell it privately, my two CARVANA experiences were excellent.

quote:

Originally posted by btanchors:
Wow, this is a great thread and I suspect everyone has three or more stories to tell. Mine happened only 10 days ago.

I am approaching retirement (wife is already retired) and decided to buy two new Lexuses (Lexi?) - his and hers. I started at the local dealer. I thought buying two at the same time might give me more leverage. This did not work because one of the two models I wanted was extremely difficult to find (I am in Phoenix, AZ). This is a separate story I will skip for now.

One of the tactics that I learned long ago is never to place a deposit on anything until a final out the door price is agreed to (in writing) and signed by the dealer. Naturally, the dealer did not have the one model equipped the way I wanted (it's an IS 350), but said he could order or trade with another dealer to make it happen. They kept pressuring me to make a deposit, even putting the deposit form in front of me. The form said in large bold letters that deposits are not refundable.

The second model (A TX 500h) was fairly plentiful and there were many available at multiple local dealers.

Anyway, the dealer searched all the inventories within about a 500 mile radius. He found a couple, then tried to get me to make a deposit. I said no deposit until availability of the specific car with that VIN was confirmed, and we had agreed in writing to an out the door price. He went to confirm availability, then tried again to get a deposit. This went back and forth several times - he would find out the model had already been sold, and was no longer available, but he kept trying to get a deposit. He would find another instance with my configuration, then try to get a deposit, then find out it was no longer available.

Finally, I got fed up with the dealer, and decided to take matters into my own hands. The Lexus website lets you search dealers up to a 500 mile radius for the model you're interested in. I found two on my own - one in Albuquerque and one in El Paso, but they were both sold by the time I called. Then I found one near San Francisco. I called the San Francisco dealer to confirm it was available, and it was. They told me they could ship it directly to me for an added fee. They sent me a copy of the window sticker so I could confirm it was equipped exactly the way I wanted (it was). So I negotiated over the phone, we agreed to a price, and started the paperwork (it was a cash sale). No deposit was requested, nor did I give them any money until the vehicle had been shipped. Easy!

So my IS 350 was on its way. Meanwhile, the local dealer said they found another one equipped exactly how I wanted it. He sent me the window sticker. He said it was confirmed to be available. I looked, and SURE ENOUGH, the VIN number on the window sticker was EXACTLY the same as the one I ordered. He had found the same specific car I did. I played along and told him I already saw that one, but I think it was sold. He said his sales manager confirmed it was available. I kept telling him it was already sold (I didn't tell him I was the buyer!)

I then called the dealer that was shipping me the car to confirm there had been no screwup and the car was definitely on its way to me. She assured me it was mine.

Later, the local dealer called me AGAIN and said that specific vehicle was initially sold, but the deal fell through, and it was available again. Once again, I told him it wasn't available and that his information was wrong.

Their tactic is to get you to put down a non-refundable deposit (I think they wanted $3,000). Then, they tell you that after they have your money that the car wasn't available after all. Now, you are their prisoner :-). I successfully avoided this.

I have now had the car for 7 days now and I love it. Meanwhile, we purchased the TX at a different local dealership. Again, no deposit was requested, and none was given. The one I wanted at not yet arrived at that dealer, but was on the way. Once it came, they prepped it, we negotiated a price, and out the door we went.

So, because of their silly tactics, I will never darken the doorstep of the local Lexus dealer again for anything. They lost two sales.

Wow, that's one thick layer of scum right there. Good lord...

One of the things I do before starting the car buying journey is to create a google voice number and a gmail email account that I use just to give to the dealerships. Afterwards I drop them so I don’t have to deal with unwanted calls and emails.

Why do we still have a confrontational system for buying cars?

How has Tesla managed to eliminate the middleman and buyers essentially order at a kiosk and have a successful business model?

I'd imagine that dealers make more money on service and parts than sales. If so, why not sell as many as quickly as they can so the customer keeps coming back for service?

quote:

Originally posted by Edmond:
Why do we still have a confrontational system for buying cars?

Saturn tried that, would of worked but GM kept the model stale.

How has Tesla managed to eliminate the middleman and buyers essentially order at a kiosk and have a successful business model?

Building something that pretty much works from the get go.


I'd imagine that dealers make more money on service and parts than sales. If so, why not sell as many as quickly as they can so the customer keeps coming back for service?

No more major 30, 60, 90k services to profit from. Small town dealer service departments might work on just about anything. The new cars are coming from the factory broken, dealership service departments are overwhelmed with warranty work which does not pay as well as customer pay.

quote:

Originally posted by btanchors:

So, because of their silly tactics, I will never darken the doorstep of the local Lexus dealer again for anything. They lost two sales.

If I were you, I’d tell the wife that we are both driving our Lexuses up to that dealership. Park them side by side then go in and talk to the salesman/men that were pulling the bullshit. I’d do it for sport. Say hey we have something to show you, 2 Lexus models, side by side, with paper plates

I’ve done this twice. In 2008, SOA (Subaru of America) had a factory incentive to sell GR STI’s (the only hatch STI they ever made) as the housing collapse was moving in big time, and some hadn’t taken to the hatch version. They were too used to the sedan with the big ghey wing. Went to my closest Subaru stealer with this info in hand and they refused, and accused me of lying. So called 2 more stealers in the metro. Neither believed me and said they’d call corporate. Both called back within 30 minutes “Damn you were right we had no idea!” Oh big surprise there that sales clowns don’t know about a factory incentive. One dealer had the color I wanted (Diamond Graphic Metallic) with the silver BBS wheels package (light wheels for factory), the other didn’t. Bought the car that night in flood rain conditions. Drove to the first dealer the next day to meet the service department as they had Cobb in there so you could modify it (within reason) provided Cobb tuned it. I make it 2 feet in the door and the sales manager dick head says “Hey, you’re back to buy that STi after all huh?” I look at him and say my car is parked out front. I’m here to meet with the service department. Every salesman or woman in that entire place stood up, looked outside, and started laughing at him. I seriously hadn’t driven up there to rub it in. I met with the service department to see if I could stage 2 and have everything covered, and they said sure if Cobb tunes it. Was very fun to see that dude’s staff laughing at him. He was an asshole.

Last time I did this was 2023. GRC. I wanted the Circuit Edition. Local stealer..I tried to put a deposit down even before the car was press released in North America. This was early 2022. I finally got them to admit that they were selling everything they got for $10k over sticker. I offered them $1000 in cash to be first on the list and they wouldn’t even take my money. So I found one stealer in state, and one out of state to put me on a list. One was $1k down, refundable, in writing. The other was just on the arm. While I’m waiting for an allocation same original stealer gets a used Circuit Edition in the color I wanted. Only a few thousand miles. They call me and I go test drive. Then they proceeded to try and sell me a used one for new pricing. I refused and said I want brand new with 7 miles on the odometer. Not some used one that has been beaten on. I do not buy used anything, especially forced induction (turbo). But I gave them a shot. They wouldn’t budge a single dollar. My original deposit stealer only got one Circuit all year so they made me number one for 2024 as I was second on the list in 2023. They gave me a custom order where they call the port and tell them this color, this trim, and it gets fulfilled when one comes off the boat. While I was waiting on that, the other dealer out of state gets exactly what I want. No haggling, no bullshit, no add ons, no nothing. MSRP. But people were paying $10k-20k over because so few are made. I do a prop plane flight, puddle jumper 1.5 hours. I paid a tint guy there to put on temp PPF (track tape) on the front end. I drive it through the mountains and start breaking the motor in. Once home I remove the temp PPF, and have PPF done, ceramic coating, ceramic tint. I get it back, still with the paper plates, and drive it up to the same salesmen dirt bags at the local stealer. I said hey come outside and check this thing out. I can’t even describe how pissed they were. I said “MSRP, brand new, y’all fucked up”. After seeing 2 people as pissed as pissed gets they say “we have to get back to work”. All I said was have a wonderful day, I’m going for a drive.

You should have them both washed and do it. It’s extremely gratifying. Go meet with the service department manager and ask him/her if the service department is more straight up than the sales department because those fuckheads lost 2 sales.