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I am planning on buying a car soon. Hearing from many in this forum confirmed to me that CD is a reputable enterprise and is a great way to buy a car at discount without haggling.
Any info is appreciated.....
Has anyone else had problems communicating with their sales rep.. sometimes my calls aren't returned and it took 5 days from when I placed my order to even get my first phone call. Also they are making me travel 80 miles to another state to pick this thing up when I have 4 dealers within 20 miles of me. Do they really have that small of a network of dealers or did they shop around for the best deal themselves?
Thanks.
When at their website, at like you are configuring a car. Once at the configuration screen, you'll see their delivery statement. It says "Order today and you can have your car by...". To me, that says that you have taken delivery of the car. I did notice though since they started to re-work their site, they do not have a link from that statement to the explanation of the $500 guarantee anymore.
- The Merg
My story is that after going through carsdirect who said they couldn't find the car, I then randomly got a call from a dealer I contacted through the internet. Cd arranged the deal through that dealer but I then decided that I couldn't live with the color (I was told there were *NO* more coming to New England so basically, love it or leave it so I left it).
Well it actually seems like its more a matter of timing, at least with certain cars. A week later several cars rolled into New England to other dealers and I only found this out because I called every dealer in my area. However, I had done this same thing earlier in the month and no one had it or admitted they were getting any more. After having the dealer provide me with a VIN (he didn't have the car yet) to prove its existence I worked a deal out with him. It was 100 miles from where I lived but I really wanted the car. CD said they would work out the deal but in the end, they took too long to contact the dealer and I got nervous due to the scarcity of this car and worked a deal out myself.
The lesson I think is that if the car you want is scarce, don't leave your fate up to CD. If you find the car, they will work a deal out for you. Personally I think they got taken to the bank on Protege ESs. Their price was too low to begin with and there never seem to be any cars *on the lot*, only in transit, meaning they usually get hosed out of an extra $500 on delivery. If you ask me, once the cars got scarce they should have voided the delivery guarantee on this car but they didn't.
From reading these posts, the impression I have is that you can be most successful dealing with CD when you find the particular car yourself. That keeps them from having to find it for you, and I think that is where the hangups are occurring. In my case, I emailed the VIN to CD about 10am, and I was driving the truck home some 11 hours later.
Chris
The 2000 model I had a deposit on came in last week. CD quoted me a price which was way too high plus a higher financing rate than was on the 1999 model. I balked. She said she would see what she could do and came back the next day with a much lower price. I still balked at the financing rate. She said she would see what she could do. Monday she came back and said there was nothing they could do about the financing; the special rate was for 1999's only. I accepted the terms. Last night I went to pick up my new car and it was fine. Test drove it first, checked it over well, then signed. It turns out the price I got was the no-haggle dealership's normal price! In the end, CarsDirect did not get me any special price or deal of any kind, and even though it took 8 weeks to get the car, and it was not the car I originally wanted, they did not honor the $500 guarantee.
So in the end I would only consider CarsDirect again if they had an exceptionally low price and it was a commonly available car. Otherwise they are just not worth the hassle.
CarsDirect truck delivery guy, Steve, left early
Thursday morning from Los Angeles and was at my
parents' place in the Bay Area in 7.5 hours. He
was actually 2 hours early, so he waited for 1.5
hours before I finally got to my parents' place.
My mom kept him company til I got there. Really
nice guy. After we got the car off the truck and I
signed everthing, my mom made us a big lunch and
we just talked...UNTIL 7PM! I think he knows my
family's life story. I felt like I was in a Saturn
commercial. Of course, I have a much better car
;-)
The car is in perfect condition as far as I could
tell, except for the dirt it had aquired during the
450+ mile drive up to me. It had only 5 miles on
it. The dealer sent up the papers a couple of days
ago. I ended getting a car with a different VIN
than I was supposed to get. CarsDirect wasn't
happy with that either, but it all worked out.
The whole process was pretty smooth. It just took
a while to get the car (I ordered on July 20), but
that was due to Mazda shipping practices, and no
fault of CD or the dealer. I recommend CD because
of my pleasant experience. My CD rep, Lyn, was a
great person--very friendly and upbeat.
Case in Point, a week ago you could order a 2000 maxima at invoice. Now you can't touch one for $1000 over invoice.
Why not goto the fleet manager yourself and cut out carsorder.com. I don't think that they get a kickback from the manufacturer?
How do they make money? I'm not naive enough to believe that carsdirect.com is just giving money away.
When you say that carsdirect is mailing the dealer a check, how's that work exactly? Are they supplying the difference between the dealers price and the online price quote? If so, I again ask, how do they make money? Why would carsdirect give anybody money on my behalf?
Just curious.
Thanks.
I just bought my new Mazda Protege ES from them, and my experience was very positive. If you're thinking of buying a car from them, do it soon, while they're still selling some cars at a loss.
question:
How do they make money? I'm not naive enough to
believe that carsdirect.com is just giving money
away.
When you say that carsdirect is mailing the dealer
a check, how's that work exactly? Are they
supplying the difference between the dealers price
and the online price quote? If so, I again ask,
how do they make money? Why would carsdirect give
anybody money on my behalf?
Just curious.
Thanks.
To sum it up, short term loss for big term gain. Its just that in this case, it involves them subsidizing deals to accomplish this goal.
I picked up a '99 Alero today (it hasn't started
falling apart yet!). The price was about $100
over invoice minus a cars direct check for
$1200 minus a factory to customer incentive. My questions are:
Why is cars direct sending $1200 checks to
dealers? The price before their check was more
or less what I could get from my neighborhood
dealer. Is cars direct picking up something
from the holdback or carryover allowance that
doesn't show up on the purchase order? The
neighborhood dealer actually had the first color
I had chosen on the carsdirect order form. If
there wasn't something going on behind the scenes
they could have sent my neighborhood dealer $1200
and he would have given me the car. So,
does anyone know what is really going on?
Nobody gives away $1200--even Michael Dell,
especially Michael Dell! Anyway, I will buy $1200
worth of the IPO. Thanks, carsdirect....
Please add your insights!
I also noticed that 2000 prices for Accord are available but they are near list price.
I guess they have come down to realty.
Hadn't heard from Carsdirect by 9/9/99 so I fired off an email. Later that evening a rep called and informed me they had found an exact match at a local dealer. My girlfriend and I canceled plans and rushed down to look over the truck. Alas, my exact match was my second color choice (no big deal), an EX instead of an SE (a huge deal), no utility package, and a power package that I didn't order. Needless to say, I have no truck.
I think that they earlier post of good service and good deals may be legit but not the norm.
A couple questions for anyone who has shopped at carsdirect:(1) their price does not include tax, registration, or "document or title fee". I know tax and registration should be standard. but what about so called "document fee or title fee"?It can be pretty stretchy, anywhere from $50 to $200 in my area. What and how much should I expect to pay dealer besides tax and registration? (2) What kind of mileage will be on my new car? less than 50, or near 100 as the test cars at dealers?
Thanks.
Just drop a quick note. If you plan to buy a 2000
Corolla, you will be better off to negotiate
directly with a dealer instead of going through
Carsdirect. Yesterday, one dealer gave me a quote
on a 2000 Corolla CE (Auto,CC, VP) for $14000 which is almost invoice. The same car would be $500-600 higher from CD which I just checked a minute ago.
Wenming
Just drop a quick note. If you plan to buy a 2000
Corolla, you will be better off to negotiate
directly with a dealer instead of going through
Carsdirect. Yesterday, one dealer gave me a quote
on a 2000 Corolla CE (Auto,CC, VP) for $14000 which is almost invoice. The same car would be $500-600 higher from CD which I just checked a minute ago.
Wenming
Corolla are massed produced and you should pick one up at the dealer at invoice.
CD delivered my car to the peninsula (Redwood City) from Irvine. It came on a flatbed truck, and the driver, Steve, was a great guy. I was waiting for the car to come from the factory, so it only had 4 miles on it (Mazda Protege ES). If your car has been on a lot, it might have a few more. Your rep should give you a call to give you a time when the car should arrive. Mine was 2 hours early, but don't worry if you can't get home until the delivery time.
The driver will have you sign the papers (if you already haven't) and will go over the paperwork with you. He/she will also give you a tour of the car to make sure you understand all of the controls, etc. The car will also have a few bugs splattered here and there from the trip up.
Just make sure you go over the car with a fine-toothed comb before the rep leaves. Enjoy your new wheels!
I just have heard people in other topics who got ticked off when a dealer wouldn't give them the dealers incentive and they acted like they were getting ripped off.
<<A HREF="http://members.home.net/furlough">http://members.home.net/furlough>
Also, when does my order become a real order. Maybe when I put a deposit. They quoted me a 1055 under the invoice. Is it enough just to fill out the order or do I have to call somebody at CD to.
My advice is use ANY Internet offerings as a guideline towards a purchase. The best deals are made eye-to-eye.