Edmunds dealer partner, Bayway Leasing, is now offering transparent lease deals via these forums. Click here to see the latest vehicles!
Popular New Cars
Popular Used Sedans
Popular Used SUVs
Popular Used Pickup Trucks
Popular Used Hatchbacks
Popular Used Minivans
Popular Used Coupes
Popular Used Wagons
Comments
CarsDirect.com is committed to provide our customers with highly competitive prices on all makes and models.
You call prices over MSRP highly competitive?
And this is what their parent's web site says(Idealab, http://www.idelab.com):
The online way to buy a new car at dealer invoice and have it delivered to your door
I will be sure to check them out when I have to get a new car, but I won't be holding my breath. I like new, exciting cars. But it seems that those are the ones that CarsDirect does not want to sell for a "competitive price". It took them forever to put Jag S-type on their web site (2 months or so), and when they finally did - look at the "competitive price!".
Besides, back a few months ago, over the phone, they promised me a $210 over invoice on this same Jag but then backed out, saying that the car is not shown on their web site yet and therefore they cannot tell me the real price. "Check back in a couple of months when we put it on our web site". All that while the car had already started to be sold by the dealers and pricing info was available on KBB.
- The Merg
Is it the case? If I'm supposed to pay this, I guess I will. But if it is not, I like to know.
The state I live in have three Lexus dealerships. Interesting enough, I was put through to dealerA through CarsDirect, dealerB through ABT, and dealerC through AAA. DealerC is about 2hours drive away and AAA said they won't quote a price over the phone so I haven't tried them. DealerB (ABT) has shown me higher price than CarsDirect. There is no advertisement fee, but they charge document fee of $300 and licence fee of $110.
What bothered me is that CarsDirect advisor told me I could commit myself so he can call the dealership, but when I asked him what other fees the dealer charges me, he said probably advertisement fee but he didn't know how much. He said he'd check with the dealer but I haven't heard from him since then. If he doesn't call me till Monday, I'll call the dealer myself. I wonder most people make a committment before knowing the final price.
If advertisement fee of $300 is the only fee they add, I guess the final price is still good enough although it make it about 6% over invoice, not 5% as I originally expected. But if they add document, registration or whatever they want to charge and those add up to 2-3%, I'll go look further.
HTH,
The Merg
The problem Im having is finding the Explorer with the color and equipment I want. Dealers around here only have a few in stock.
Also regarding financing will Carsdirect honor Ford's 2.9% for 48mths financing for in stock vehicles delivered by 10/1/99? Im already preapproved from Ford.
If I can get this price without the advertising fee, and Ford will honor the financing, I might use CarsDirect. Im assuming that Ford isnt offering additional incentives since Edmunds and Carpoint makes no mention of them.
The other dealer I spoke to through ABT doesn't charge advertisement fee, should I tell CarsDirect about it and if they want to talk to him, should I let them do? Since the dealer I'm speaking to works with ABT, I'm not sure if it's a good idea to give his name to CarsDirect.
- The Merg
If the carsdirect.com price exceeds their own figure for MSRP, laugh at them. If it exceeds MSRP for just the car, check the destination charge factor...
(and in any case, especially if they're quoting below invoice, check the web for incentives: they may change their price if there's a restriction on the incentive that their software doesn't understand...)
All the other prices I've seen are either MSRP, or actually discounted, if not by much. I don't remember which I saw for below invoice, but I'm sure a rebate was involved. For most cars I've looked at, the price they seem to offer is more than 3% over invoice...but that may still be a good deal, as I think demand is still pretty good... 10% on the Acura TL, 4% on the Prelude, ~5% on Lexus ES300 (that last without factoring out the destination charge)...
They are avaliable in the CA market and some other states. Internet site is a little buggy but you can call or e-mail for more info.
Overall the price I paid was satisfactory compared to other offers I received. However, there were a few surprises before I figured the final number.
1. CarsDirect confirmed that this dealership does not charge adv fee, but it turned out that they charge doc fee of $95 which CarsDirect asked me to pay. This fee was taxable, so I assume it's part of the dealer's price rather than service.
2. This is something people may be aware but I was supid enough not to be aware until I was shown the final number. CarsDirect pays the difference of their guaranteed price and the dealer's offer, but they don't pay the tax on the price difference. Larger the price difference, more tax I pay.
3. Since I didn't know the dealer's price, just CarsDirect price which was below 36k, I didn't include luxury tax in my calculation. However, dealer's price was above 36k so I had to pay luxury tax.
Doc fee, tax on doc fee, luxury tax and tax on price difference was about $250 in total. When I called CarsDirect to say I got the deal done, he said `oh, by the way, you should be aware that you pay tax on the price dealer showed, not our price'. I wish they made all these clear from the beginning rather than stressing the guaranteed price, then I wouldn't have felt somehow misled.
Even with this additional cost, I consider it a good enough deal so no major complain. I just hope people who're considering using them are all aware of these additional cost when calculating out-the-door price.
Thanks,
The Merg
- The Merg
believe. I submitted my vehicle request 7/6 through their website, which promises someone will call within one business day. No one called me within that time, so since I wanted to get my car quickly, I called them on 7/7. I paid my $250 deposit (still waiting to find out if you get that back if the deal falls through -- no one seems to know for sure) and was promised by the guy on the phone that I would be contacted by a "service advisor" within 72 hours (did not say business days this time). After waiting until morning of 7/13 and hearing nothing I called them again. Spoke to another person on the phone who said she would have a service advisor call me back within an hour. Several hours passed, no one called. I called them again 7/13 afternoon, talked to yet another person, got another promise of service advisor will call back in an hour. Evening passed, no one called. Just called them again this morning, got still another person with the same answer again. We will see if someone really calls this time.
So far I am hoping they are just temporarily overwhelmed and it won't really turn out to be a bad deal. I have already paid the money to find out, I guess!
So anyway if you want a car quickly you might be better off to go local instead.
Did anyone out there actually buy a car from them recently, within the last couple of weeks? How long did the entire process take you?
hmergler, If your local dealer offers good deals, you will have no problem specifying your dealer, that is what I did. I had found a better deal than they could, and had my deal all arranged before I found them, so they had very little work to do on my deal. Since my deal was better, they took it.
I'm dealing with Carsdirect to find a Mazda Protege Es manual transmission (very rare) and I can understand why they might be slow. Somethings are hard to find so they take a little longer. Also, as with any service to find a new car, people should read the fine print and know what they are getting into. If you don't understand something, ask. No one service has it all.
I'm currently working on a week. I first contacted them last Friday. I may pick up the car tomorrow.
As others have noted, the the buyer must pay sales tax on the amount that carsdirect.com kicks in. Part of this deal on the Protege also included the $1000 rebate (customer cash) that Mazda is offering on the Protege right now, and the buyer also pays sales tax on that. But there were no further "hidden" add-on costs/fees (i.e., no "advertising" fee, etc). I'd recommend anyone else to try out this service ... hard to imagine how they'll be able to keep this up for long, though! :-)
I tried to email carorder with a few questions, but apparently the email address was incorrect since the message was returned to me.
Do you know if carorder will sell to non-Californians if they are willing to pick up the car in California? For invoice price on a TL, the trip just might be worth it.
I sent an email to CarsDirect last week asking 3 questions:
1) Why do some people get charged the $250 and some do not?
2) Why do some requests take so much longer than others before someone calls back? Is there a prioritization system?
3) Why does the 888 phone number throw the caller immediately into "hold" without a greeting (i.e. you don't know if you got the right number)?
Here's the response I got back (edited for brevity):
1. We have tried different ways to do things and have changed our policies to see what works best. We have for the moment settled on the fully refundable $250 deposit. It is now taken on line.
2. We had some trouble with our database and may have had some things slip through the cracks.
3. The 888 number is no longer valid, we have streamlined that process and eliminated that step.
They also provided a real person's phone number to call for more help.
I figured I'd ask here first and then try to contact CarsDirect as it seems fairly hard to get in touch with them.
- The Merg
- The Merg
I called CD yesterday and asked about the deposit. You basically get it back no matter what. Two people I talked to told me if I was unsatisfied for any reason, I would get it back. They also told me if the sale went through, I could get it refunded or apply it towards the car's purchase. One of them told me it's never actually charged to your credit card, it's just held on the card. Then why charge it the first place? Maybe as the service gets more popular, they will end up charging it as a fee, so they're setting up for.
Anyway, I just placed my order. The following message was on the final 'Hold My Car' page/form.
"To confirm your order, hold your car, and lock in your price and delivery date, please enter your credit information here. Your fully-refundable $250 deposit will be applied to the purchase price of your vehicle. There is no charge for this service.
At CarsDirect.com your satisfaction is guaranteed. If you are unsatisfied for any reason, we will fully refund your $250 deposit. In addition, if we are not able to get you approved for financing, we will refund your $250 deposit."
-Bryan
experience with CD (post #137), I too was "charged" the $250 deposit. As others have noted, in my case the charge was never actually posted against my credit card. My CD Sales rep (Stephanie Nice) said they use that just to "filter out the non-serious buyers", whatever that means. Anyway, as I mentioned previously, I'm happy with the deal (and the car), the dealer is happy, and neither of us can fathom how/why CD can do what they do.
IMHO,
- The Merg
Essentially, she said the the car buying public was tired of the "dealer experience" of yesterday and that internet car buying is the wave of the future. She also said that the car dealers that have a pro-active internet strategy, close more deals than those that don't. I think she said that 50% of the intenet leads were closed if they were followed up in a timely manner from the dealer and that customer satisfaction with internet car buying was much higher than with traditional sales methods.
This flies in the face of the dealers/salespeople that say that they don't take internet car buyers seriously.
Is this typical of the site or just for BMW's?
I've been reading that the dealers will allow a $2000 - 2500 discount from MSRP. Why is CD allowing such a HIGH profit?
Any thoughts, experiences? I REALLY think I could do better in person at a dealer!
Thanks
Andrew
andrew
Prices I see are generally invoice, minus any rebates on other makes. Maybe this model is a hot
seller in your area, or the dealer won't play with carsdirect. I intend to use their price as
a starting point, as many dealers here deal from 90 to 100 over invoice. (of course on less exotic
makes, not BMW)
I have a question for anyone who has completed a
deal with Carorder.com or Carsdirect.com...
Did either one of them at anytime request your
Social Security number? If so, then watch out!
That's a sign that you may recieve a 1099 form at
the end of this year.
I dont know if they will do it for sure or not (Im
just speculating), but IRS code requires you to to
file the "gain" as a gift. Certaintly not a big
amount due comparing your discount... But, it is
something you should check into before the end of
the year...
Trust me, I know all about this tax fiasco as I
was caught-up in it earlier this year. This
invoice pricing concept is cool. However, if
either one of these companies cut a check that went
towards your car, then you legally are required to
report it as a gift to the IRS (They may do it
before you...). It sucks, but its true.
Im truly sorry if this is the case, but I thought
I should bring it up. Better to know now than at
the beginning of next year.
If you want, call up the company you dealt with
and ask them if they intend to report the money
that they contribute to the IRS... If they say no,
then ask them to fax it to you in writing. TRUST
ME! You need to cover your butt on this one. I
didn't, and I got burned (not by carsdirect or
carorder...)
Their site is WAY COOL in that they actually seem to have a good grasp on a fair selling price for just about any car.
Examples:
BMW 323i - near MSRP
Audi TT - OVER MSRP!
Honda Odyssey - not even listed!
Most non-rebate cars are a few $$ over invoice.
Most rebated cars are the same few $$ over (invoice minus all rebates). But what's cool is that they've already done all the homework, so you get all the rebates, even the unadvertised ones.
Even if you don't buy a car from them, this is a great tool.
I predict that this one website, if they maintain this approach, will do more to tear down the traditional dealer system than any other!
The check didn't arrive at the dealership on Saturday as promised. In fact, It didn't arrive at the dealership until Tueday. The manager told me he had to call Monday to see what was going on and why the delay. My check (left as a deposit until CarsDirect.Com's check arrived) is supposed to be in the mail on its way back to my possession from the dealership.
I have yet to hear anything from Michelle. She said she would contact me, but I'm still waiting. I'm trying to be patient. I may have to initiate contact again.
This site is also good. Most cars at invoice.
Any information would be helpful.
Thanks
Sam