Anyone use Costco auto program and have issues with the dealer not cooperating?

I sell cars for a living, and my wife does too at a Toyota dealer store. ALL of the auto "buying programs" are just a marketing ploy to get you to join and use whomever for other services. They just cut to the chase quicker with the pricing. THE SAME DEAL CAN BE NEGOTIATED BY YOU ALONE! If you are working with a legitimate volume dealer, and you are face to face to start a relationship with a decent sales person, if you can state your position and review the numbers while you are there, you can get to the same number. Don't try this via text or over the phone or email, it leaves too much open for confusion. You have to interact and negotiate! There is very little profit in new car sales and the dealer knows that. Most get sold at or around dealer invoice. Sam's Club does offer a $500 discount at some dealers like Jeep, Ram etc. but that's off select vehicles and a pure discount (nothing to do with invoice cost).

 

Sorry, but I disagree with the comment about not using email or the phone.

 

I'm offering advice from someone on the other side, someone who has to earn a living (commission only!) by selling cars...my time is constantly leveraged to make a living. There are long days I make absolutely no money! Yes you can get part of the way there via email or phone, yet to get to the best bottom number, and to make the deal right then and there and show the dealer you are serious, you have to be present, face to face. Too many times people make a deal over the phone then wig out and never show up, never call back, never answer their phone, then poof they just disappear. Therefore the sad fact is that the dealer doesn't always take every interaction via phone or email seriously. It's a numbers game for the sales managers, the sales person is the conduit between them and the customer, and the managers are motivated more by what's in front of them before all others. Sorry, its just their human nature.

When you are talking to me for example on the phone or via email, we go over a lot of details, yet you can just stop/quit typing/hang up any time, nothing but a little time lost, and who even knows if you were telling the truth about who you are and what you are looking for; so you may end up with a pretty canned deal, one that we've repeated many times before; whereas face to face both parties are invested, invested enough to try everything to make a deal happen. That's when the little things happen like $500 more for your trade, more free oil changes, discounts on aftermarket parts, free labor on that lift kit you want installed etc. Relationships and trust still make a difference in this business, we look at all influencing aspects, especially for us in a smaller MidWest town. It has not been reduced to Amazon sales yet.

 

Bottom line, what we are talking about here is you controlling the sale. Get the customer in where the well-established sales tactics can be used. They work. That's why you need us in there. Been in the business: sales, finance, and management. Learned at the feet of masters, and ultimately taught the craft. Your business model has to change. We are in the digital era. Social distancing via social media. It's a reality that you must accept. We can deal, but we can do it at arm's length, and I am in control of the sale of anything that I buy. No trade, no additional equipment, give me the oil changes that everyone gets. Not paying for the paint/interior protection I didn't ask for, nor the security measures. I am buying a car, so what is your price. If it is good I might be buying a loan from you too, but you must sell me the car first. Embrace the new age or watch those that do prosper while you falter. Your dealership has a internet manager. If you are truly going to succeed, they should be your first point of contact. No ill-intent meant, but that is just the way it is. Good luck.

 

BUT.... if you had to drive 4 hours round trip to save a couple grand....at least to me would be well worth it.

IF you are going elsewhere... agree on the price pending a test drive prior to going out there.

 

OP, my experience is that hard-nose negotiating beats 'club' pricing every time. I know some people don't like to engage dealers but the reality is what you are experiencing - dealers rarely follow any rules. You end up having to negotiate just to get what you are due!

 

My point exactly, take back the control of the sale by being there face to face and make the best deal happen! if it's important enough a purchase for you, invest in it the best and most productive way to get to the point fastest, show up face to face after your preliminary online/phone interaction. At arms length you are still muddying the water with too many variables. The new age IS digital interaction yet a pure unattached deal will be a canned numbers deal that allows more profit to the dealer, and the same deal/price for everyone eventually, Wal-Mart pricing, no extras, no special deals, even do your own checkout/paperwork and orientation.

There's no more room for sales tactics today, people are too aware. BUT, you have to be in control of your emotions when you enter the dealership, be able to walk away, don't get emotionally attached to the the vehicle or the thought of driving one home today! Maintain control and stay in control of your emotions, practice good self control. Yes there are additional products that the dealer tries to pedal, and be wary of those, yet by not coming into the dealership you are limiting yourself on the opportunities where you can negotiate.

I just spoke to a woman doctor who purchased a new Tesla online and finished the transaction before she got there, because she's a "busy" person. Well she took delivery at a new Tesla store, they handed her the keys and she drove off with little direction or orientation. In the end she hated the whole process, and ultimately knew little about the vehicle in the end, she actually forgot the exact pricing, knew little how the electric drivetrain really worked, why she should buy, she just had the money, thought she should have one, could afford anything, bought it and now may regret it. No face to face interaction or discussion on her needs or lifestyle and if the vehicle fits her world. On line research didn't give the the right purchase experience in the end.

 

Here's the disconnect - you sell cars for a living and understand how the game is played. Most of us here don't. Knowing I can start off at $1,000 below invoice is invaluable to me.

While I ended-up not going with the Costco-related dealer when I bought my Tacoma, I did know what was a reasonable number to offer for my Tacoma. In fact my dealer, Beaver Tacoma in Saint Augustine BEAT the Costco price.

At the end of the day, I am willing to pay what I think is a reasonable price at a dealership I know I can rely on down the road. I'm even willing to pay a premium for that relationship. You always get what you pay for. Some people revel in getting the "best price", but there's more than cash involved in these transactions.

 

Great to hear how establishing a relationship with a dealer you trust worked for you. My point exactly, and the only true way to do that is face to face, my point again.

 

The problem with establishing a relationship with a dealer is that the industry is transient in nature: people move around between dealerships, constantly, and more often, out of the industry. Excerpt, verbatim, direct out of the three-ring binder Sales Manager's Training Manual: "Constantly stir your pot. Your job as sales manager is to make the cream rise to the top." How am I to establish a relationship with a dealership when the person I establish it with decides to go sell carpet, or more often, is fired? I am left with dealing with whatever the personality is of the current sales manager, he too most likely constantly looking for a better situation, and probably AWOL my next visit. The previously cultivated goodwill of which you speak, wasted. I am constant, the dealership interface is not. The personality of the dealer changes with who's on first, and the directive of the management/sales meeting that morning.

Of note, you wrote of establishing a relationship with a dealer that "I trust". Surely, you jest. I trust no dealer. It is a adversarial relationship, created by the industry's business model, and unless that changes (and it's not going to because it works) it must be so. Why? Profit requires winners and losers, and I am okay with that, just as long as I am not one of the losers. The responsibility of the dealer's sales force is to maximize the dealer's profit dollars. My fiduciary responsibility to my family requires of me to keep that from happening: to make sure that I keep as many of OUR dollars from becoming the dealer's profit dollars. You go to war to win those profit dollars every up you get during your sales day, even though the dealership would like to make nice about the process, as you are trying to do now.

Dealerships survive on profit dollars first, volume second, and more profit third. We know that there must be profits "behind the invoice" from which the dealer pays the bill, profit on which he doesn't even include in your commission calculation. I am on your side in that calculus. No dealer can sell at "dealer cost" and stay in business. So much for the concept of "dealer invoice".

So to be clear, if you are to do your job right and maximize his profit dollars then your prime directive is to be a robber baron, and to get as many of our dollars as you can. If I am to do my job right I must necessarily conserve my family's dollars by riding onto your lot and drive you as the dust before the wind in our negotiation. Ask no quarter, and give none. Figuratively, to burn your dealer's crops, ride his horses and breed his women. And we'll make nice during the struggle. I didn't create this social dynamic, dealerships did. A dealer taught me how to do it, and I thoroughly enjoy my role in this interchange. When others sharpen their negotiating skills, they will too. See you next purchase!

 

OP here, if anyone is interested, I just posted an update from my post here a few days ago. It's yet, another bad experience in my local town, so I'm now for sure going to look out of town and stop wasting time.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...ssues-with-the-dealer-not-cooperating.586159/

 

I bought my old Honda Odyssey through USAA’s auto circle program. Same basic principle. They had select dealers/companies you got deals at. You used the usaa program to spec out a car, printed it, and took it to the dealer. By contract/obligation what was printed is what you paid. Most dealers were cool and did it, others were like “for that price? Hell no”. But had to do it. No need to haggle. Loved it

 

I've used the "fightingchance .com " approach for several vehicles since 2004. It all comes down to what dealer will give you a better price at that time. (quotas, stock, etc.)

 

It's not that hard. I'm negotiating with a Chevy dealer on the phone right now on a Cruze LS for my wife. He used the same industry catch phrase on me that is the darling of the industry right now, "Your presence in our showroom is your leverage to your best deal." I explained to him that HE was in his showroom and that he was selling as we speak, so call me back with some numbers tomorrow. That was three minutes before they closed. He took the initiative, and called me back twenty minutes after they closed with hard numbers: $20,465 MSRP. $15,596 drive-out. Awesome pricing, and he didn't wait until tomorrow. THIS is a person who seizes the opportunity when it presents itself, just the kind of person I want to do business with. This guy could work for me anytime. I think we are going to do business, and on his first pencil too. NOW we can talk about free floor mats and free oil changes, but never sooner.

Update, 1/14/19: After waiting them out and doing a reverse take-away close they sweetened the deal. We got a new Chevy Cruze LS with a $20,400 MSRP for $10,459 +TTL. $11,500 out the door. That's almost half the sticker price. All done over the phone. Anybody bought a new car with 17 miles on it for $10,000 lately? Don't let the dealer tell you there is only $600-$800 profit in a car. This is proof. Learn to negotiate. If you don't you are leaving thousands of dollars on the table.

 

Deal sheet

 

Dude you're comparing apples to oranges.

 

Dud, apples, oranges, tacos, it don't matter. If you don't learn to negotiate you are paying too much for everything, including your produce.

 

I get what your saying. I'm saying that 1.) your comparing a car to a truck as far as savings go 2.) I've seen ads for '$7500 off a brand new chevy silverado"
Toyota doesn't do that as much, especially with Tacomas. Same thing with a lot of Jeeps. They are all in demand so they don't have to budge as much to sell them.

But yes, I know how to negotiate and wait it out for a good deal. Just last weekend I had to drive 6 hours to get the Tacoma I wanted for $4000 cheaper than anywhere else I could find.

 

You did good. $4000 on a Taco is excellent! I didn't do as good on my Taco as some guys on here. You can't win every time, but you get three good swings. On my Taco, I didn't hit a home run. I had to drag-bunt my way on base...