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Car Forum / Nissan / Nissan Altima / January 2004is carsdirect.com a good way to buy a car?
i'm torn between 2004 accord and altima. Looked at carsdirect.com and their prices seem too good to be true. Anyone had any experience buying from this site? Any hidden fees, gotchas, etc that i should know about??? because they're quoting about 250 below invoice.. - amazing.. Even when you factor in holdback.. thanks.. I used them as a guide and I still got my truck below there price and Consumer Reports price at a local dealership. Personally I will rather deal with a person but not pay more than CarDirect price. -- Team EuroMeko ------------------------------ http://iBuyMinis.Us > i'm torn between 2004 accord and altima. Looked at carsdirect.com and their > prices seem too good to be true. Anyone had any experience buying from this [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > thanks.. > i'm torn between 2004 accord and altima. Looked at carsdirect.com and their > prices seem too good to be true. Anyone had any experience buying from this > site? Any hidden fees, gotchas, etc that i should know about??? > because they're quoting about 250 below invoice.. - amazing.. Even when you > factor in holdback.. Is carsdirect.com any better or worse than autobytel.com? Andrew >> i'm torn between 2004 accord and altima. Looked at carsdirect.com and their >> prices seem too good to be true. Anyone had any experience buying from this [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > >Is carsdirect.com any better or worse than autobytel.com? I don't know.. But we were very successful with our Murano.. Local dealer didn't want to deal or get us the car we wanted. Quick trip to carsdirect.com, price was about invoice and in the week between picking the car up and telling them we wanted it, they dropped the price $100. The final result was a far better deal than I could get locally. Only downside was the 100 mile drive to go pick it up. But it was the car we wanted, and no mornic salespeople to play games with. It was too easy.. No hidden fees, no gotchas, nothing. __________________ Note: To reply, replace the word 'spam' embedded in return address with 'mail'. N38.6 W121.4 "no moronic salespeople to play games with" Universal City Nissan. Even after speaking with the internet/fleet Manager Manny on the phone many times and we agreed on $18,600 for an 03 Nissan Frontier Crew Cab, when I got there with my check book I was still made to sit down to start haggling down from $26,995 - lol. But yes, moronic is the correct word to use. -- Team EuroMeko ------------------------------ http://iBuyMinis.Us > >> i'm torn between 2004 accord and altima. Looked at carsdirect.com and their > >> prices seem too good to be true. Anyone had any experience buying from this [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > Note: To reply, replace the word 'spam' embedded in return address with 'mail'. > N38.6 W121.4 >"no moronic salespeople to play games >with" [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > >But yes, moronic is the correct word to use. For top posting, you mean? On 11/2/03 11:27 AM, in article fe59qv059pnnp3vtfcjp6odl5cbv6r3n7r@4ax.com, >> "no moronic salespeople to play games >> with" [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > > For top posting, you mean? Oh, God. He changed his return address, now I'll have to update my dizzy filter. >On 11/2/03 11:27 AM, in article fe59qv059pnnp3vtfcjp6odl5cbv6r3n7r@4ax.com, > [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] >Oh, God. He changed his return address, now I'll have to update my dizzy >filter. Sorry... i went through carsdirect and saved $2,000 off original price. the only downfall is you have to put a $250.00 down payment to carsdirect to hold the car...you are doing this w/o even seeing the car. when i went to the dealership there were only minor cosmetic damages, i.e plexie glass scratched (they did replace), window buttons scratched and fiber hair found inside windshield. "Zoltrix" <fakemail@mail.com> wrote in message news:Tktob.25839 > i'm torn between 2004 accord and altima. Looked at carsdirect.com and their > prices seem too good to be true. Anyone had any experience buying from this > site? Any hidden fees, gotchas, etc that i should know about??? When I bought my car through carsdirect.com in 2001, I had a great experience. There were absolutely no hidden fees besides what you would normally have at a dealership (sales tax, vehicle destination fee, etc.) The way they work is that they are just a broker for dealerships. So if you decide to purchase a car, they direct you to a local dealership. You will then go to the dealership, inspect the car, and take it for a test drive. If everything checks out, then you sign the paperwork and pay the dealership. I assume the dealership will give carsdirect a commission fee afterwards. So you're actually buying from the dealership, it's just that the "negotiation" took place online. For sure, you should not pay more than what carsdirect quotes. I got my Civic under invoice through carsdirect when the dealership was marking them up $5000 above MSRP! interesting... > "Zoltrix" <fakemail@mail.com> wrote in message news:Tktob.25839 > > i'm torn between 2004 accord and altima. Looked at carsdirect.com and [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > what carsdirect quotes. I got my Civic under invoice through carsdirect when > the dealership was marking them up $5000 above MSRP! In rec.autos.makers.honda Dean <noreply@fakeaddress.com> wrote: > "Zoltrix" <fakemail@mail.com> wrote in message news:Tktob.25839 >> i'm torn between 2004 accord and altima. Looked at carsdirect.com and [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > what carsdirect quotes. I got my Civic under invoice through carsdirect when > the dealership was marking them up $5000 above MSRP! My wife bought her 2003 Civic through carsdirect. I'll agree with all of the above. It was pretty painless (neither of us like the whole song and dance of negotiating). Only thing is that the local Honda dealer sales guy (Continental Honda in LaGrange, IL) seemed kinda resentful that we didn't buy it directly from them - didn't seem to give us the best service. But we didn't really care that much since we don't ever plan on using them again for anything (we're closer to another Honda dealer that she'll use for anything that she needs done by a dealer). brian  SignatureIf you want to reply to this message by mail, you will have to change the reply address to beuchaw@beuchaw.net > i'm torn between 2004 accord and altima. Looked at carsdirect.com and > their prices seem too good to be true. Anyone had any experience [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > thanks.. I purchased my 2002 Honda Accord through Carsdirect. It was hassle free and the price paid was below the MSRP. As others in this thread have stated, you may do better by using Carsdirect price as a negotiation tool with the dealers. OTOH if you want to avoid going from one dealership to another and hate negotiating with salesmen, then Carsdirect is an excellent choice. Once you place an order with CD, the agent will attempt to buy your car from the nearest dealership to you. After you agree to the price and other legal matters by e-mail, you will be given the name of the person at the dealership who will act as a proxy for CD. He will present you with all the papers that you need to sign, take your deposit (check or CC) and then give you the keys, manauls, etc. The only thing to be cautious with Carsdirect is to make sure that the sales person does not talk you into buying an after market product (such as Lo-Jack) that you don't want. If you change your mind later, getting a refund from these guys takes a while. Good luck. I got the quote from CarsDirect for Honda CRV EX 03 and it came out more than TMV from Edmund and I told me them but they said that's it. I took the TMV price from Edmund to local dealer and got better price close to Edmund's price. Carsdirect: $21,910 Edmund: ~$21,600 Local Dealers: $21,800 + free 9 times oil changed + lifetime inspection free + road hazard for tires free. Hai from PA > > i'm torn between 2004 accord and altima. Looked at carsdirect.com and > > their prices seem too good to be true. Anyone had any experience [quoted text clipped - 26 lines] > > Good luck. > I got the quote from CarsDirect for Honda CRV EX 03 and it came out more > than TMV from Edmund and I told me them but they said that's it. I took the [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > Local Dealers: $21,800 + free 9 times oil changed + lifetime inspection free > + road hazard for tires free. Well, obviously, don't buy from Carsdirect if the price is higher than you can get at a dealership. Their prices (relative to invoice, Edmund, etc.) vary on each vehicle. Sometimes, they'll be higher than local dealership, sometimes lower. The point I'm trying to make here is that if carsdirect has a lower price, you should always buy from them. There is no advantage from buying from a local dealership for the sake of "dealing with a real person" or "convenience of service", because you are still buying from a local dealership. So you could still get the 9 oil changes, lifetime inspections, and road hazard for tires if you bought from carsdirect (if it had business association with your local dealership). Dean, I agree with you but sometimes Cardirect may send you some places further or did not have the free stuff. The reason I asked Cardirect for the quote since my cousin got the good deal from them. Only thing I don't like about this is Cardirect told me I need to select the 2nd color since the Honda CRV was "hot" but actual at that time I knew it wasn't. I also got a letter from Vice President to state that the reason I cancel the order from them due to the timing and I wrote back to him and said it was not the reason. I did not receive any response back. Anyway, do you think it is OK to have the "recall"/warranty service at any dealers or should I go back to my dealer? Hai > > I got the quote from CarsDirect for Honda CRV EX 03 and it came out more > > than TMV from Edmund and I told me them but they said that's it. I took [quoted text clipped - 21 lines] > and road hazard for tires if you bought from carsdirect (if it had business > association with your local dealership). "Hai Pham" <haipham@yahoo.com> wrote in message news:cZadnZYWoJ-qFziiRVn- > Anyway, do you think it is OK to have the "recall"/warranty service at any > dealers or should I go back to my dealer? I had my recall done at a different dealer, didn't make any difference to me. well, the thing is, they say, at the bottom, price excludes taxes, titles and other customary fees. When pressed, they said the "other" fees may include documentation fee (????! -> total BS) to gather all docs, etc.. 100-300usd.. when i told them to go take a hike, they said "its negotiable." OK. So, I'm prob. going to buy a car this weekend, thru CD but ppl have to watch out for fees like that.. in my zipcode (Brooklyn, NYC), their price is 300 below invoice and 100 below edmunds TMV, which is not a PRICE anyway, its a mere average of those who have submitted. > > i'm torn between 2004 accord and altima. Looked at carsdirect.com and > > their prices seem too good to be true. Anyone had any experience [quoted text clipped - 26 lines] > > Good luck. >well, the thing is, they say, at the bottom, price excludes taxes, titles >and other customary fees. > >When pressed, they said the "other" fees may include documentation fee >(????! -> total BS) to gather all docs, etc.. 100-300usd.. when i told >them to go take a hike, they said "its negotiable." OK. About ten years ago, the State of IL put a $40 cap on doc fees and stated that it must be negotiable. They later raised the cap to allow for inflation I guess. Kind of like passing a law to limit the amount a pickpocket can take out of your wallet. The part about being negotiable is even more goofy. Everything relating to money is negotiable. You could even negotiate that the dealer pay some or all of the sales tax. >So, I'm prob. going to buy a car this weekend, thru CD but ppl have to watch >out for fees like that.. [quoted text clipped - 33 lines] >> >> Good luck. in a way its better to buy a Saturn. Price will be the same everywhere. who invented this nonsense anyway? > well, the thing is, they say, at the bottom, price excludes taxes, titles > and other customary fees. [quoted text clipped - 40 lines] > > > > Good luck. In article <SRSob.89215$7B1.75909@news04.bloor.is.net.cable.rogers.com>, > in a way its better to buy a Saturn. Price will be the same everywhere. > who invented this nonsense anyway? Translation: price will be overpriced everywhere. With Saturn you pay 13% over invoice. Almost anyone could negotiate this for almost any car (typical markup is like 15-18%). And for an undesirable car like a Saturn, right now, you could easily get it for invoice. > > well, the thing is, they say, at the bottom, price excludes taxes, titles > > and other customary fees. [quoted text clipped - 44 lines] > > > > > > Good luck. > well, the thing is, they say, at the bottom, price excludes taxes, titles > and other customary fees. [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > So, I'm prob. going to buy a car this weekend, thru CD but ppl have to watch > out for fees like that.. Local dealerships have the same "documentation fee" to jack up their profits. This is well-documented in Consumer Reports tips on negotiating car purchases. The bottom line here is, there is no difference between buying through carsdirect and the local dealership. By the way, I was not charged a documentation fee when I got my car in 2001 (can't guarantee they won't add one now though). Oh and you don't want me to start about Damien at Douglas Nissan of Orange. A true con artist, he represented himself as the fleet/internet Manager when he was just a moronic salesmoron with absolutely no authority to make a fleet deal. -- Team EuroMeko ------------------------------ http://iBuyMinis.Us "iBuyMinis.Us" <flymini@ibuyminis.us(remove)> wrote in message news:... > "no moronic salespeople to play games > with" [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > > >Zoltrix <fakemail@mail.com> wrote: > > >> i'm torn between 2004 accord and altima. Looked at carsdirect.com and > their > > >> prices seem too good to be true. Anyone had any experience buying from > this > > >> site? Any hidden fees, gotchas, etc that i should know about??? > > >> because they're quoting about 250 below invoice.. - amazing.. Even when > you > > >> factor in holdback.. [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > 'mail'. > > N38.6 W121.4 > i'm torn between 2004 accord and altima. Looked at carsdirect.com and their > prices seem too good to be true. Anyone had any experience buying from this > site? Any hidden fees, gotchas, etc that i should know about??? I bought two cars with Costco. They trigger a call from the local dealer that is particpating in the program, and the price is from a pre-negotiated list. Costco called after the deal to ask a few questions about how it was handled. It was a good way to go for me. Signature--- Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley (Lake County) CA USA 38.8-122.5 I handily beat Costco's price on my new truck. -- Team EuroMeko ------------------------------ http://iBuyMinis.Us > > i'm torn between 2004 accord and altima. Looked at carsdirect.com and their > > prices seem too good to be true. Anyone had any experience buying from this [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > --- > Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley (Lake County) CA USA 38.8-122.5 > I handily beat Costco's price on my new truck. I've heard great stories about someone beating some price or another. Sometimes I just don't believe it, other times I think that they did a wonderful job of haggling... more work than I want to do. The Costco price on a Honda Civic Hybrid was lower than andersondirect.com, lower than Edmunds, lower than one other online source, I forget if it was autobytle or someone else, and nearly effortless on my part. I did a little shopping. The price happened to be the lowest, but it was also the dealer closest to my work. No work at all. I got the Costco price, the CarsDirect et al prices, and told the fleet/internet Guy at my chosen dealership that he has to do better. I just don't want others to think the Costco and company prices are the lowest, they are just guidelines. I even beat Consumer Reports lowest invoice price even with buyback and dealer incentives. -- Team EuroMeko ------------------------------ http://iBuyMinis.Us > > I handily beat Costco's price on my new truck. > [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > I did a little shopping. The price happened to be the lowest, but it was > also the dealer closest to my work. > No work at all. I got the Costco price, the CarsDirect et al prices, and > told the fleet/internet Guy at my chosen dealership that he has to do > better. > I just don't want others to think the Costco and company prices are the > lowest, they are just guidelines. I even beat Consumer Reports lowest > invoice price even with buyback and dealer incentives. I shopped a couple. If the Costco price had not been the lowest already, I might have gone directly to that dealer, since he was the one I wanted to use. I tried the AAA member service. That wound up being a good thing on the car that I bought, but I got the "come on down and we'll see what we can do" from a few dealers in the area. One said "I have one coming in Friday, here' my invoice, here's your price." When I got there, they handed me off to some new kid who started at sticker + a bit. He was really confused a the "low" price that I had. My wife thinks they just sent him in to do the paperwork and he got confused. I just want to buy a car without feeling like I've been to the flea market at the one extreme, or paying extra because I don't posess someone else's great haggling skills at the other extreme. >> i'm torn between 2004 accord and altima. Looked at carsdirect.com and their >> prices seem too good to be true. Anyone had any experience buying from this [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > >It was a good way to go for me. I bought a CR-V through AutoByTel and the fleet manager told me that all the buying services (Costco, internet sites, etc.) pay the same price. > >> i'm torn between 2004 accord and altima. Looked at carsdirect.com and their > >> prices seem too good to be true. Anyone had any experience buying from this [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > all the buying services (Costco, internet sites, etc.) pay the same > price. pretty much true. i told my sister to go the costco route, and she did... but then the fleet guy told her AAA offers an extra $100 off, or something like that. shes a AAA member, so she did it that way. whichever way you go, just go that way... AAA, costco, autobytel. why? salesmen HATE it! its prenegotiated, and you never have to talk to them. just walk on by with your printouts, and watch them glare at you :) you still have to run past the finance guy at the end, who will try their best to get you to sign for a warranty, paint sealant, scotchgard, etc... be firm, tell em NO! > pretty much true. i told my sister to go the costco route, and she did... > but then the fleet guy told her AAA offers an extra $100 off, or something > like that. shes a AAA member, so she did it that way. When I went in as an AAA member, the paperwork said Costco, but the price was what I agreed to when I called on the phone and talked as an AAA member. > why? salesmen HATE it! its prenegotiated, and you never have to talk to > them. just walk on by with your printouts, and watch them glare at you :) The salesman did whine that he only got a $50 commission. He didn't say what his commission normally was, but he didn't do much work either. > you still have to run past the finance guy at the end, who will try their > best to get you to sign for a warranty, paint sealant, scotchgard, etc... Yep. I bit on the HondaCare "refundable" 100,000 mile warranty. > The salesman did whine that he only got a $50 commission. He didn't say > what his commission normally was, but he didn't do much work either. his commission would have been a percentage of however much he could have gotten over the prenegotiated price > i'm torn between 2004 accord and altima. Looked at carsdirect.com and their > prices seem too good to be true. Anyone had any experience buying from this [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > thanks.. Here's how I went about buying my Civic last week. First off I went and test drove the models I was interested in (corolla, protege/mazda3, civic, elantra) and each time they tried to sit me down I told them I had to go to competition and I'd be back. So once I had it down to the Civic I looked at carsdirect price, which seemed pretty good (about 500 under invoice). I then took that price and called a bunch of the local Honda dealerships (there's a crapload in Atlanta, GA area) and asked to speak to internet manager. A few refused to match, a few did, and two dealerships in the boondocks of metro Atlanta started beating the price. It got to about 800 under invoice + tax (no junk fees) and I took it. The only number I ever threw out was the carsdirect number, after that it was a matter of just asking these people over the phone to match or beat. From first call, I was done in about two hours with a bunch of phone conversations, only stop into dealership was to get my car. So, moral of the story, if the carsdirect price is low, use that as a starting point. Also, the price comes from a local dealership, so if you can call them directly they'll probably drop the price since they don't have to pay a referral fee. I did exactly what you did in buying my truck. I used CD price as a guide and was able to beat it by $500. But in all reality there price is excellent for folks that don't want to hassle, it's low enough. Does anybody even buy cars by waltzing into dealerships without guides? SignatureTeam EuroMeko --------------------------------------------- http://blackie.bounceme.net > > i'm torn between 2004 accord and altima. Looked at carsdirect.com and > their [quoted text clipped - 27 lines] > call them directly they'll probably drop the price since they don't have to > pay a referral fee. |Does anybody even buy cars by waltzing into dealerships without guides? Every day. That's what keeps them is business. Rex in Fort Worth > Does anybody even buy cars by waltzing into dealerships without guides? Yes. And they are happy with the deal. I would rather go to this nice middle step, of using carsdirect, or costco, or AAA, and get a pre-haggled price that I assume is reasonable. Sigh, it's a shame though. SignatureTeam EuroMeko --------------------------------------------- http://blackie.bounceme.net > > Does anybody even buy cars by waltzing into dealerships without guides? > [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > I would rather go to this nice middle step, of using carsdirect, or costco, > or AAA, and get a pre-haggled price that I assume is reasonable. > Sigh, it's a shame though. Why? People will pay what they feel is an acceptable price for a vehicle. Someone paying MSRP for a new Mazda3 allows the dealer to sell another one to someone like me for over $1K under invoice. Lee Cao We recently bought 2 hondas, 2004 cr-v ex and 2004 accord ex w/ leather. They both came with the mud flaps and wheel locks. We used mycar.com. This is where the delaers bid against each other for 7 days and then you can choose. We got the cr-v for 21,300, which is invoice and the accord at 22,050 which is about 30 below invoice. The winning bids were actually abotu 100 miles away and a little bit lower, but we went local. Anyone else use mycar.com? Have a great new year, Hugh Graham > > i'm torn between 2004 accord and altima. Looked at carsdirect.com and > their [quoted text clipped - 27 lines] > call them directly they'll probably drop the price since they don't have to > pay a referral fee. Never heard of it. The fact that dealers are involved makes me leery though of price fixing. Just my opinion and I have been accused of being paranoid before - lol. SignatureTeam EuroMeko --------------------------------------------- http://blackie.bounceme.net > We recently bought 2 hondas, 2004 cr-v ex and 2004 accord ex w/ leather. > They both came with the mud flaps and wheel locks. We used mycar.com. This [quoted text clipped - 50 lines] > to > > pay a referral fee. > Never heard of it. The fact that dealers are involved makes me leery though > of price fixing. Just my opinion and I have been accused of being paranoid > before - lol. Yeah, this is somethin I'd think dealers would stay out of. They probably have set reserves they bid town to so they don't cut eachother's throght's too much.
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