Anyone use an auto broker?

[Nancy Hummel]

Has anyone used an auto broker? Good? Bad? Worth it?

I know exactly what vehicle I want but not sure how to go about getting the best price.

Thanks.

 

[Philpug]

Has anyone used an auto broker? Good? Bad? Worth it?

I know exactly what vehicle I want but not sure how to go about getting the best price.

Thanks.

There are a couple of good price sites like Truecar which I used. I have more than two decades of car selling experience and I found Truecar to be every good.

 

[Bill Miles]

I used Trucar through my insurance company, USAA, in 2010. Worked fine except I had to go to SLC because they didn't have any Subaru dealers closer. The program has apparently changed though since I see a lot of complaints (dealers not honoring quotes, using it as more of a lead generator) on the USAA forums.

 

[coskigirl]

I used Trucar through my employer and was very pleased. If you have Perks at Work through your employer there are additional great benefits.

 

[François Pugh]

No, but I wish I had during our last car purchase.

 

[RuleMiHa]

My mother used Autobrokers for years in Detroit with really good success. However, recently she started using the consumer reports service (I think that's TrueCar and found the prices equivalent or better.

 

[scott43]

I used a broker to get a better price at the dealer.

 

[graham418]

I have not used one, and am not sure of how it works completely, but my old boss swore by it, and used a broker for every car he purchased for as long as I knew him. I don’t know if was price, convenience or whatever, it suited him.

 

[surfsnowgirl]

I consulted with KBB, Edmonds, Truecar, etc but ended up finding my subaru by going to my local dealership. They had EXACTLY what I wanted. It was a 2018 in the exact color and trim. They 2019's had just come out so I figured they'd want the '18 off the lot. Throw in going in on the last day of the month and they were all about getting rid of that car. I like the idea of using a broker though because I'm very particular about what I'm looking for when I'm on the hunt for a car.

 

[bbinder]

My sister and brother in law live in Florida and have used the same broker to buy all of their cars. They tell the broker what they are looking for and she finds it for the best price and has it delivered to their house with any trade picked up at the same time.

 

[Lorenzzo]

Just bought a new Toyota. I consulted Truecar, US News & WR and Kelley. What I found was US News' program produced better pricing than TC or Kelley. But then I found Costco's car buying program was lower than even US News'. At that point I had a couple of dealers compete against each other and beat Costco by a few hundred.

Just my experience which is of course dependent on model, timing, location etc. My vehicle was in the middle of it's design cycle. But the buzz is pretty good on Costco and you have control you otherwise wouldn't have. If a dealer is participating in Costco's program there are consequences if they go outside the lines.

Also, be sure to think through and negotiate accessories before you sign.

 

[Philpug]

Don’t be afraid of looking at different regions either. With Trucar I found the San Francisco numbers were better than any other region and l looked as far as Denver..or as far as I was willing to fly to and ski on the way home.

 

[Andy Mink]

I had a couple of dealers compete against each other and beat Costco by a few hundred

When we got our Passat we did the same thing. With internet battles you can usually get a pretty good price if you're willing to drive a bit. We lucked out and got it locally.

 

[Jack skis]

Used an in town broker while living in Crested Butte, and while the broker was still in CB. Wanted to buy Audis and the dealers were a 500 mile round trip from home. All the search, haggling, and paperwork were done in CB, and then we drove to Denver to pick up the new car. Twice we had the new car driven to CB for us to avoid the Denver trip. In those circumstances and place it was a positive experience for us.