Anyone use Costco Auto Buying Program?

[Ignatius]

There are so many silly statements here I don't know where to start. Price absolutely matters. Dealers like to mitigate the price by saying "What monthly payment do you want?" Hence sell price can be high-by extended length of term of the loan. You guys are not selling many cars at cost. There is a formula available that Costco has for dealers selling cars to their members. Your agenda is to say there isn't so you can sell cars at a higher price. There are very few reasons to buy a car at MSRP-with all the resources available to buyers. Discounting/rebates, the usual games will be in place once this pandemic is over. Let me know if you are still in the business-and where you work at so I don't go any where near your dealership.

Nope I have not been in the car business for a few years. It is obvious to me that you do not understand the inner workings of the business but rather speculate based on common misconceptions, misinformation, and disinformation that is repeated ad nauseum by "car buying experts" on the internet and elsewhere.

I'll make it simple for you, contact Costco and demand that they (not a dealership) give you pricing on any vehicle. I 100% guarantee that they will not provide any such information but rather ALWAYS direct you to a dealership to obtain that information. I don't care if a dealership has a spreadsheet with pricing for Costco referrals, I could literally take five minutes to create a spreadsheet with the same kind of information with Costco logos attached and people will think it is perfectly legitimate. If you haven't figured it out, that is the game.

Getting people to believe something in order to get them to spend their money at your business is at the heart of the car business, Costco's business model, and I daresay any capitalistic enterprise. I think the real issue here is inherent trust placed in Costco's perceived do-gooding versus the inherent wrongdoing perceived by default by the car business. Here's a little secret, they are both working together to make money off of you

Have a nice day

 

[JeffKeryk]

Nope I have not been in the car business for a few years. It is obvious to me that you do not understand the inner workings of the business but rather speculate based on common misconceptions, misinformation, and disinformation that is repeated ad nauseum by "car buying experts" on the internet and elsewhere.

I'll make it simple for you, contact Costco and demand that they (not a dealership) give you pricing on any vehicle. I 100% guarantee that they will not provide any such information but rather ALWAYS direct you to a dealership to obtain that information. I don't care if a dealership has a spreadsheet with pricing for Costco referrals, I could literally take five minutes to create a spreadsheet with the same kind of information with Costco logos attached and people will think it is perfectly legitimate. If you haven't figured it out, that is the game.

Getting people to believe something in order to get them to spend their money at your business is at the heart of the car business, Costco's business model, and I daresay any capitalistic enterprise. I think the real issue here is inherent trust placed in Costco's perceived do-gooding versus the inherent wrongdoing perceived by default by the car business. Here's a little secret, they are both working together to make money off of you

Have a nice day

Businesses are in the business of making money? What a concept!
Costco offers tremendous value to their customers and employees.
Some dealers will not touch a Costco deal; others will beat it.
That's my experience.

 

[Ignatius]

Businesses are in the business of making money? What a concept!
Costco offers tremendous value to their customers and employees.
Some dealers will not touch a Costco deal; others will beat it.
That's my experience.

I'll give you a tale of a few different dealerships in two different regions that I am familiar with:

Two of the dealerships are in a major city, one happens to be the top dealership in the state and they previously participated with the Costco program with the other being the top Costco dealership in the state but still far behind the other in profitablity and volume sales. The Costco affiliated dealership is willing to sell every vehicle at the same fixed price, it does not matter if you are a fresh walk-in, online quote shopper, or Costco referral everyone gets the same price quote. The non-Costco affiliated dealership makes waaaay more money and sells far more cars doing things without Costco.

The other two dealerships are in another major city, both are in the top ten for volume sales for their brand and one is Costco affiliated. The non-Costco affiliated dealership will beat the Costco affiliated dealership's pricing right off the bat to any customer that makes contact with them. The pricing of the Costco affiliated dealership is no better than anyone else within a 50 mile radius and more often than not is higher with little to no flexibility.

So if a Costco affiliated dealership is selling vehicles at a higher price than their competitors and it takes no anxiety inducing effort to get a better price quote at another dealership nearby, someone can hopefully explain to me how the "Costco price" is "fair" and somehow this is a more worthwhile means that contributes to vehicle acquisition for the customer?

 

[JeffKeryk]

I'll give you a tale of a few different dealerships in two different regions that I am familiar with:

Two of the dealerships are in a major city, one happens to be the top dealership in the state and they previously participated with the Costco program with the other being the top Costco dealership in the state but still far behind the other in profitablity and volume sales. The Costco affiliated dealership is willing to sell every vehicle at the same fixed price, it does not matter if you are a fresh walk-in, online quote shopper, or Costco referral everyone gets the same price quote. The non-Costco affiliated dealership makes waaaay more money and sells far more cars doing things without Costco.

The other two dealerships are in another major city, both are in the top ten for volume sales for their brand and one is Costco affiliated. The non-Costco affiliated dealership will beat the Costco affiliated dealership's pricing right off the bat to any customer that makes contact with them. The pricing of the Costco affiliated dealership is no better than anyone else within a 50 mile radius and more often than not is higher with little to no flexibility.

So if a Costco affiliated dealership is selling vehicles at a higher price than their competitors and it takes no anxiety inducing effort to get a better price quote at another dealership nearby, someone can hopefully explain to me how the "Costco price" is "fair" and somehow this is a more worthwhile means that contributes to vehicle acquisition for the customer?

I have dealt with Honda sales through the Costco program. You can't throw a rock 50 feet without hitting a Honda dealership around here.
Costco beat a huge dealership; I gave them a chance. The way the deal worked out, the Costco sponsored dealership even beat the Costco price by a few hundred. Unfortunately, I THINK (I was not there) the dealership added some bogus charges on at the end. Not sure.

That's my experience. I'm sure there are others.

 

[CKN]

I'll give you a tale of a few different dealerships in two different regions that I am familiar with:

Two of the dealerships are in a major city, one happens to be the top dealership in the state and they previously participated with the Costco program with the other being the top Costco dealership in the state but still far behind the other in profitablity and volume sales. The Costco affiliated dealership is willing to sell every vehicle at the same fixed price, it does not matter if you are a fresh walk-in, online quote shopper, or Costco referral everyone gets the same price quote. The non-Costco affiliated dealership makes waaaay more money and sells far more cars doing things without Costco.

The other two dealerships are in another major city, both are in the top ten for volume sales for their brand and one is Costco affiliated. The non-Costco affiliated dealership will beat the Costco affiliated dealership's pricing right off the bat to any customer that makes contact with them. The pricing of the Costco affiliated dealership is no better than anyone else within a 50 mile radius and more often than not is higher with little to no flexibility.

So if a Costco affiliated dealership is selling vehicles at a higher price than their competitors and it takes no anxiety inducing effort to get a better price quote at another dealership nearby, someone can hopefully explain to me how the "Costco price" is "fair" and somehow this is a more worthwhile means that contributes to vehicle acquisition for the customer?

The difference that's been quoted is less than $1,00000-often only $500.00. It's the Carmax theory. People will pay a little more without the bull of dealership games. It doesn't take much for many to have anxiety going within 50 feet of a dealership. Remember BITOG is it's own little world and doesn't represent the real one.

What information gives you the profit/loss/volume statements of the (dealership) examples you mentioned? I have seen dealers sell the biggest volume right to the day they shut their doors or are sold.

 

[Cujet]

I recently tried to purchase an Accord Hybrid using the Costco plan. Not only did the dealership fudge the numbers but they did not follow the Costco prescribed pricing plan. They provided a lower, "non Costco" price, but then added in everything under the sun and the 'Out the door' quote was utter rubbish.

I did try, but there was no way that dealership was going to follow the Costco plan.

 

[Ignatius]

The difference that's been quoted is less than $1,00000-often only $500.00. It's the Carmax theory. People will pay a little more without the bull of dealership games. It doesn't take much for many to have anxiety going within 50 feet of a dealership. Remember BITOG is it's own little world and doesn't represent the real one.

I get what you are saying but my experience as someone working in auto sales, as someone who has bought countless vehicles, and as someone asked by a lot of different people for help in acquiring a vehicle doesn't reflect that as being anything other than an exception to reality.

What information gives you the profit/loss/volume statements of the (dealership) examples you mentioned? I have seen dealers sell the biggest volume right to the day they shut their doors or are sold.

Well for one I worked at one of those dealerships as well as know people who work at the other ones as well as have good relationships with the regional corporate representatives for the brands, any and all of whom have shared said information with me. I have a pretty good track record in the car world over the past 17+ years and have a made and maintained a lot of good connections

 

[silversport]

If you try to buy under the Costco plan, the dealership must follow the rules set up by Costco to qualify...when you deviate from the Costco plan by getting a lower or different "non Costco" price, the dealership can follow whatever rules they want to...if you report this to Costco they should drop that dealership from their plan...