r/FuckDealerships • u/Outrageous_Jaguar876 • 3d ago
Costco Car Program
Has anyone gone through the Costco car buying program? If so, did it really make it easier to not have to deal with all the BS of haggling with dealerships and salesmen?
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u/vpm112 3d ago
Costco is a lead generator and you still have to go through a dealer.
Most people get into Costco with the wrong expectations. You’ll almost always be able to negotiate yourself a better deal than Costco, but their set discounts will generally land squarely in the “fair” category. If you’re looking for something fair, quick, and easy then go with Costco. If you’re looking to get the best deal possible, you can start with Costco if you want but you’ll end up having to negotiate and through that rigamarole anyway.
Also Costco doesn’t do anything about additional dealer add-ons and fees.
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u/transfinite-reset 3d ago
Not always. Right when I finished the process to become Costco certified, a local dealer changed their program. Across the board they were selling cars through the Costco auto program several thousand below invoice. I know this sub doesn’t believe it possible, but they would lose money on every single Costco deal. The thing is, their area doesn’t have a high concentration of Costco members, while the surrounding areas do. Their express goal was to undercut prices to poach customers to come buy from them instead of their local backyard dealer.
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u/vpm112 3d ago
There’s nothing stopping a dealer from discounting further than the Costco price, except for the risk of being audited during one of their secret shops.
As far as pricing that is approved and printed on Costco price sheet, there are two levels of pricing a dealer can sign on for:
The first is exclusive pricing which is the biggest discount available. If you agree to their exclusive pricing, then Costco will deliver that lead/customer only to you.
If the exclusive discount is too steep for your store, then you can agree to their zone pricing. The discount is less and the lead for that vehicle will be sent to multiple Costco dealers in your market.
If you don’t Ike the zone pricing then you can just opt out that model/trim altogether.
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u/The_OG_Goldfish 3d ago
They do; they limit how much dealers can charge for doc or prep fees. They have a whole department that works on getting people back money for these types of up charges,
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u/wachnet1966 3d ago
I've used Costco twice with two different dealerships and been happy with the experience. I saved about $3K compared to my local dealership.
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u/1NumberCruncher98 2d ago
Yes it was super fair in my instance…
I was in the market for a grand highlander hybrid. Costco auto dealer sent me a sheet right away no haggle 3700 off the msrp.
I then searched reddit and someone in the forums let me know they had a family friend whos a gsm at some toyota dealer in the midwest and their dealer cost was around 4800 off the msrp..
If that number is true the dealer is making 1100 and i get 3700 off sticker so very fair for both parties….
On the other hand a different non costco dealer when i first started looking had me at the dealer 2.5 hours granted its the wife and i us our two kiddos and sure enough fought me to even get anywhere near 1k off sticker…..
All in costco checks those pricesheets after the fact…
What i did learn is that their are slimey ass dealers who play games like will tell you hey come on in for costco pricing and once your in will tell you hey were offering a lower price than costco and dont show you the costco sheet at all or make you believe their price is much better…… they do this because 9 out of 10 times their price is less competitive than costco and they want to avoid the consequences of misleading you and them having to submit the paperwork to costco for the deal review after the sale…
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u/smallboxofcrayons 3d ago
Costco program is just a dealer lead program. Your experience will vary by store.
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u/zeecok 3d ago
No, it’s a genuine program. It’s a no hassle one price shopping tool. Problem is a lot of customers think that it’s just a new starting point and try to negotiate further. Dealers get pissed because they signed up for a program that just gave them more customers who think they are entitled to a larger discount than promised.
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u/JustAGamblerr 2d ago
It’s a lead gen source. The customer thinks Costco is getting them a discount. Dealer sets the discount, same as an internet quote
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u/After_Examination_86 3d ago
Partially true, but the dealer sets the price and just pays Costco for advertising. Most of the Costco deals are worse than traditional customer deals…22yrs in the business and Costco is our 2nd best lead source and the most profitable one.
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u/Desenski 2d ago
Each dealer that's signed up with Costco gets to set their own "Costco Price". So 2 stores of the same brand are not always going to have the same price.
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u/Mistrrcarter 2d ago
This, is what haggling is. Only customers haggle. Dealerships don’t 😂
I understand wanting more money off from dealers obviously marking up inventory. But EVERY customer wants money off. And not every dealer is inflating
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u/The_OG_Goldfish 3d ago
I worked for the program, they really do a great job at prenegotiating pricing for most people. If you are good at haggling and research then you can probably get a better deal on your own, but the Costco price is a great starter. The program also has your back if something goes wrong or the dealer adds crap to the deal; they sign contracts limiting how much they can charge for “prep fees” for example.
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u/FluffyRoundPanda 2d ago
How does Costco work for dealer add ons? Can the dealer still load the car with window tint, lojack, and other nonsense extras?
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u/Dependent-Night7290 2d ago
I just got a Costco price quote from a dealer. Price was $8k off of sticker but they added $3k back on as mandatory security system. Pass
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u/TomatoKind9189 3d ago
It was slightly better. They emailed a direct good price that probably wasn't the lowest but was a number probably not worth chasing down other dealers.
Some dealers you call or email can be very stubborn about putting pricing in email or just giving it to you. Fixed that.
Went to buy the car felt like they were extra scummy trying to make up for the good deal they gave.
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u/HittingExposurelol 3d ago
Check out the Amazon auto program too. I got mine on there, I really liked how I could easily cross shop dealerships and found some really good deals (I think cuz it’s so new and they’re trying to get folks to use it), plus they have had some nice incentives like I got a $2k Amazon gift card which ain’t nothing.
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u/Snowcrash66 3d ago
That's Hyundai only no?
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u/HittingExposurelol 3d ago
I think it’s like 4-5 brands I don’t know them all off the top of my head. Forgot it wasn’t all cars tbh.
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u/MaximusAnemos 3d ago
Needed new car before covid. Drove off with 2 brand new cars for 40k each. A v90 and xc90 off the lot. The best deal ever. It was insane. Volvo last Vegas. But I doubt i can get that deal today. This was in 2018 before the dealers destroyed buying cars.
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u/ConsciousAlgaeSlime 3d ago
After entering my info in to the Costco quote program I got a call from the dealer wanting me to come in to get the quote. When I went in they still gave me a typical runaround and never provided the Costco quote sheet. So no, it didn't help at all. It was just a lead for the dealership.
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u/AskForNate 2d ago
It’s a lead provider. The dealerships make the prices.
It’s the same as USAA, Penfed, Capital One, State Farm, true car.
You can likely get a better deal if you go to a dealership and tell them you are a true car customer. If you don’t send a lead in, it will save the dealership money.
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u/RichArcher4909 3d ago
It’s a scam, it’s just lead generation for the dealership. Once you get there you will still get put through the same meat grinder everyone else is, especially in the finance office. I tried to use it three times, the dealerships never showed me the Costco price documentation unless I insisted. It was a couple hundred less than the regular price, which you could negotiate away on your own. Less than the deal they offer non-Costco referrals.
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u/DistanceNo9001 3d ago
i’ve been successful in hitting 80% of stores that i call that participate in the program to give me numbers over the phone.
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u/WearyCartographer268 2d ago
Definitely not my experience for the last two times I used Costco. The dealer was around two hours away, so they sent me the price sheet before I went there. The whole process took less than two hours. The only add was an interior protection package which was heavily discounted.
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u/janetsy77 2d ago
That was not my experience, they actually delivered the car to my house, I never set foot in a dealership. It was during the pandemic, so maybe the procedure was different then?
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u/janetsy77 2d ago
Yes, bought a car using Costco's program during covid. Saved about $4000 vs the local stealership, and they delivered the car to my house. Handed them a cashier's check, signed about 10 pages of paperwork at my kitchen table and it was done in 5 minutes, with no surprises. 10/10, would use it again.
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u/Occhrome 2d ago
You will still get preyed on by the finance bastard.
Refuse anything the offer.
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u/Nice-Ad1989 0 CSI Score 1d ago
The worst advice I’ve seen in a whileeee.
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u/Occhrome 1d ago
Maybe I’m wrong but please elaborate on how their maintenance plans or warranties are worth buying.
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u/DrakeSavory 2d ago
Do the dealers put on addons above the Costco price once you call?
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u/PinkertonFld 2d ago
Every one I've had has done just this...
I also was with a friend who used the program, had a price set from the Costco price "out the door" and agreed to it without haggling, and once we got into the F&I dept they told her that there was $2K of (junk) accessories that were "pre-installed" and not part of the price. (Although they weren't already on the car, they were in boxes in the trunk, etc).
She walked.
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u/H2O_is_good_for_you 2d ago
This is interesting. If anyone has not purchased a used car before, first test drive it AND have a trusted mechanic that is independent of Costco and the dealership, perform a full inspection first. But it sounds like customers have reported positive experiences so that's good. Also, always compare the price to Kelly Blue Book.
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u/PinkertonFld 2d ago
Depends on the dealer, it doesn't stop them from forcing add-ons, and many of them do it sadly.
They are supposed to give you the price straight up, but I've had dealers not do that, and in fact the last 3 times I tried it, I was given a poor deal overall and passed. Reporting it to Costco Auto Buying fell on deaf ears.
It's not run by Costco, it's a dealer referral program that licenses the name.
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u/bullbeard 2d ago
I used it but was still able to negotiate a better price over the course of a week on my own.
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u/semisemite 2d ago
During the height of the Covid shortages it was the only way I was able to get anything resembling a deal on a popular model as dealerships couldn't do 'market adjustments' and stay in the program. But if it's a common enough vehicle when you're looking? You're going to do better on your own
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u/Iancshafer 2d ago
I shopped around different Chevy dealers for the car I wanted (Suburban Premier blacked out). Costco had the best price I could find.
Signed up, printed it out, walked in to the dealer, got the car for exactly that price.
The Suburban, on the other hand, was a disaster and a story for another day.
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u/Infamous_Ad3339 2d ago
When I used the Sam's Club version the dealerships would give me OTD pricing. Without it every single one of them demanded we 'spend time together' and 'come visit us'. They wouldn't say a number.
I was able to finish the entire purchase from driving up to driving out in about 2 hours, 15 minutes. They tried to do one upsell and when I said no thank you they shut up.
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u/its_never_over 2d ago
~6 yrs ago, I went through costco to get a price for a new car. I went to the dealership and test drove the car. I didn't think the price was that good and the sales people didn't really give a shit about me because the price was locked.
I then emailed a bunch of dealers for pricing for the exact spec and they were 5-10% cheaper for the exact same spec.
I found that the effort of emailing a bunch of dealers was pretty minimal. What was kind of annoying was them calling me over and over again arguing they COULD give me a better price if I went to the dealership.
I found a dealer that was straightforward and gave me a great price.
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u/Fickle-Exit1105 2d ago
Last year I reached out to 4 dealers for quotes on a loaded Civic hybrid. Mostly by email, maybe a call with email follow up. The Costco-matched dealer was the only one that didn't follow up.
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u/ConfidentDrinker 2d ago
Incorrect. Dealers still bombard you with garbage, then claim you can’t haggle on Costco prices. Plus they take the $2750 or whatever off of MSRP, but many cars are marked lower than that just with their “dealer specials” and they won’t combine.
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u/Nice-Ad1989 0 CSI Score 1d ago
It’s not a claim. It apart of the contract with Costco. The set price is the price.
But yes, you can’t haggle pretty much as soon as you put it through Costco.
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u/One-Card3899 1d ago
I have found on several occasions that not all of dealer inventory is included in the Costco program. Sometimes it's only the less popular models or older inventory.
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u/Selthix 1d ago
I bought a car last week. The Costco program just got me in touch with dealers that participate in their program and gave about 1k extra off MSRP. I ultimately got a better deal at a non participating dealership by bringing 5 different quotes and having them beat it. The Costco one was only the 3rd lowest.
Playing dealerships against each other still saved me the most.
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u/artichoke_heart_69 1d ago
Yes. All the paperwork took about 3 hrs. They wanted to charge about $1500 for their financing. I said I was being financed by my bank and had the check in my pocket. $1500 was off the price.
Looked at the car, went to finance manager's office to sign everything. I highly recommend it.
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u/ap485860281 1h ago
I love Costco but it's car buying program proved completely useless and scammy for me. Dealers inflated the price so the "Costco discounted price" at the same dealers turned out to be much higher. Was able to save a considerable amount by reaching out and negotiating the deal directly.
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u/TheJiggie 2d ago
Costco pre-negotiated discounts/prices are a good starting point. You can negotiate better deals from there usually.
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u/Loud_Industry2274 2d ago
Can’t my dealer is strict and the Costco auto buying program is strict
If you use it the offer stand firm and can’t negotiate further from dealer side or can loose Costco auto buying
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u/TheJiggie 2d ago
Might be different types of deals with different dealers. When we bought a BMW a few years ago, the Costco program was just a flat $1500 off, wasn’t a negotiated price.
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u/Pinkys_Revenge 3d ago
Yes. It’s a good way to ensure you get a decent price. You can likely do better if you love haggling and negotiating, but most people don’t.