Buying a car...Anyone used Costco/Sams?

The Coffee Shop
1

I need to buy a new car. Never done it before, and I’m totally ignorant. Need some help. Here’s some info…

  1. Anyone used Costco or Sam’s (or a credit union)? How was the experience?
  2. Looking at either an SUV like a Pilot or Sedan like an Accord. Not tied to Honda, just using as an example.
  3. I have a 2000 Infiniti G20 that I could probably sell for 2500 or so. Want to use that as a trade in
  4. can float ~300 or so a month.
  5. Not tied to BUYING a NEW car. Very open to a lease, or buying used.
  6. Anyone used swapalease.com? How was the experience?

Thanks in advance for help!

MP

2

good time from buying a SUV right now. Check for the repo auction or just go to the car lots, they usually make between $3500 to $4000 profit so you can easily negotiate for $2000 off the asking price

3

I used Costco as a bargaining chip. The Costco offer isn’t negotiable, but it is pretty good. First figure out what you want. If you need to get some idea of price to figure out what you want, then look up what people are paying on Edmunds.com. You should be able to get well under this price, but it is good for comparing one car vs another.

One thing you will learn is that for most cars you won’t be able to get only the options you want. Well you could, but the dealers don’t stock those cars and they would have to special order them which means that you will pay. Instead you will need to pick from a standard options package. What is standard varies depending on where you live. For example, I wanted roof racks, but couldn’t get them without a 6 disk CD changer in the radio.

Once you figure out what you want, then ask Costco what their offer is. The next step is to send out an email to as many internet sales managers as you can find in like a 100 mile radius. Tell them what you want and ask them for their offer. Pick the lowest offer and repeat with a new email seeing if anyone is willing to beat that price. Sell you Infiniti to CarMax.

4

x2 on selling your current car to CarMax. I’ve also had good experiences buying (used) cars from them before.

5

Make sure you understand dealer holdback. $14.00 to Consumer Reports is usually money well spent.
+++++++++