Help me help my parents buy a new minivan the easiest way possible.
February 20, 2012 3:52 PM Subscribe
My parents (who are in Savannah, GA) are looking to buy a new car, but recently moved away from where they knew who to go to and who to trust. Now they are looking at those websites that offer to contact dealers around and get you the best deal before you go looking on the car you want, with no haggling.
They are asking me for the names of such places, and while I know the exact ad my mother saw, I can't remember the name either, and on top of that I don't know how worthwhile this sort of method is. I know when I looked into doing something similar through Costco, we found that they could only give us dealers that were too far away to be worthwhile. Is that going to be the case with most of these places? I found two places online that seem to do this. Carsdirect.com and carquotes.com, but I can't see any reviews of carquotes.com and the carsdirect.com reviews are all over the place.
Are any of these sites worthwhile? Has anyone here ever used such a site before, and if so, how did it go? Or can anyone suggest a good dealership in or nearby Savannah, GA for new minivans?
They are asking me for the names of such places, and while I know the exact ad my mother saw, I can't remember the name either, and on top of that I don't know how worthwhile this sort of method is. I know when I looked into doing something similar through Costco, we found that they could only give us dealers that were too far away to be worthwhile. Is that going to be the case with most of these places? I found two places online that seem to do this. Carsdirect.com and carquotes.com, but I can't see any reviews of carquotes.com and the carsdirect.com reviews are all over the place.
Are any of these sites worthwhile? Has anyone here ever used such a site before, and if so, how did it go? Or can anyone suggest a good dealership in or nearby Savannah, GA for new minivans?
Best answer: I looked at both the Costco and USAA options for car buying - they both have the "tell us what you want, we'll tell you what it costs and hook you up with a dealer" plans.
In the end, I went with USAA because I was going to finance through them anyway. I picked the car on Thursday, got contacted by 3 dealers on Friday, and bought a 2011 Subaru Impreza in about 90 minutes at the dealership on Saturday - no haggling, no surprises. Honestly the best car buying experience I've ever had.
I definitely recommend it.
posted by dotgirl at 4:22 PM on February 20, 2012 [1 favorite]
In the end, I went with USAA because I was going to finance through them anyway. I picked the car on Thursday, got contacted by 3 dealers on Friday, and bought a 2011 Subaru Impreza in about 90 minutes at the dealership on Saturday - no haggling, no surprises. Honestly the best car buying experience I've ever had.
I definitely recommend it.
posted by dotgirl at 4:22 PM on February 20, 2012 [1 favorite]
If they are members I think AAA can put them in touch with no-haggle dealers.
posted by brujita at 4:38 PM on February 20, 2012
posted by brujita at 4:38 PM on February 20, 2012
I usually just contact the fleet / internet managers at the dealerships... tell 'em exactly what you're looking for, they'll straight up quote you a price.
posted by ph00dz at 4:54 PM on February 20, 2012
posted by ph00dz at 4:54 PM on February 20, 2012
I usually just contact the fleet / internet managers at the dealerships... tell 'em exactly what you're looking for, they'll straight up quote you a price.
This. We bought our last two cars this way. Easy, easy, easy. Because they're the fleet/internet guys, they aren't competing with the floor sales guys, so the price they quote you is what you pay if you buy.
NB: This really only works if you know exactly what make/model of car you want. If you're not sure what you want, it's not really worthwhile.
posted by devinemissk at 6:36 PM on February 20, 2012
This. We bought our last two cars this way. Easy, easy, easy. Because they're the fleet/internet guys, they aren't competing with the floor sales guys, so the price they quote you is what you pay if you buy.
NB: This really only works if you know exactly what make/model of car you want. If you're not sure what you want, it's not really worthwhile.
posted by devinemissk at 6:36 PM on February 20, 2012
I've purchased my last 3 cars from Carmax, and have had precisely zero hassles. Go on-line, pick the ones you want to check out, test drive. Price is the price.
That said, since I'm now in the USAA family, I'll likely give that a shot if for no other reason than everything else we've done with USAA has been straight up well done.
posted by kjs3 at 10:26 AM on February 21, 2012
That said, since I'm now in the USAA family, I'll likely give that a shot if for no other reason than everything else we've done with USAA has been straight up well done.
posted by kjs3 at 10:26 AM on February 21, 2012
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posted by buggzzee23 at 3:56 PM on February 20, 2012