Buying a car with TrueCar?

AlwaysHitVTEC said:

I realize that we won't actually be able to buy a 10th Civic for some time, but have any of you ever tried TrueCar? I'm wondering if I should try it for my upcoming Civic purchase, or if I should just roll up my sleeves and negotiate with the dealer the traditional way.

Any good or bad experiences with TrueCar, buying a Civic or non-Civic?

Click to expand...

Have you considered a car buying consultant? The thing about TrueCar is that dealers are supporting the business model right now which indicates to me that its not an overt threat. Which then leads me to believe that its just a new sheen for the same game...

liquid squid said:

Have you considered a car buying consultant? The thing about TrueCar is that dealers are supporting the business model right now which indicates to me that its not an overt threat. Which then leads me to believe that its just a new sheen for the same game...

Click to expand...

Doesn't a car buying consultant also "support the model"? How is he/she any different?

AlwaysHitVTEC said:

Doesn't a car buying consultant also "support the model"? How is he/she any different?

Click to expand...

this should help illustrate

Then the dealerships got wise and realized this was hurting their bottom line. They pushed back and pressured TrueCar to alter the model to no longer discuss savings under "invoice" but rather savings compared to MSRP.

Click to expand...

http://carbuying.jalopnik.com/the-truth-about-truecar-savings-1559397086

I tried buying my 2012 Si through Costco, but it ended up being a better deal just haggling. No idea on TrueCar.

i used edmunds and got laughed at by one dealer, who thought the price was a joke. no way he could sell it for that, it was under his cost. so, i moved on....finally, at the 3rd dealer, after some long hard negotiating, i walked out with the edmunds price that was quoted.

I had not even thought of Edmunds or Costco. Thanks for the ideas.

Doesn't Kelly Blue Book do something similar?

DWils said:

Doesn't Kelly Blue Book do something similar?

Click to expand...

I looked on their site, but I did not see anything similar.

I suppose I should arm myself with the TrueCar, Costco, and Edmunds prices before stepping foot into the dealer, and stick to whichever price is lowest.

LOL what, Costco?

be_ryan said:

LOL what, Costco?

Click to expand...

Yup. At my local Costco they'll often have a motorcycle right where you leave to tout their vehicle-buying program that they have. You can find it from the website, but you have to know the secret word combination for the search bar. I don't remember what it is, and even if I did, I still couldn't tell you because I was sworn to secrecy. I bet if you just ask at the Customer Service desk they'll give you all the info. Basically, they contract with local dealerships to offer vehicles at a defined price to avoid you having to haggle.

I used Edmunds before I traded my 12' Si for the 13' Si and went to 3 dealer to see which one would undercut the other...

I bought my '13 Si through TrueCar and it was a pretty good experience overall. I knew what dealer I was going to buy through before I even used it, and sure enough that dealer had the lowest price on TrueCar. They tell you that the prices don't include taxes or other fees, but the given price was what I paid OTD, so I don't know if that is at the dealers discretion to include taxes and all that. I had prearranged via email to go to the dealer, and they had everything in order when I got there.

Poogles said:

I bought my '13 Si through TrueCar and it was a pretty good experience overall. I knew what dealer I was going to buy through before I even used it, and sure enough that dealer had the lowest price on TrueCar. They tell you that the prices don't include taxes or other fees, but the given price was what I paid OTD, so I don't know if that is at the dealers discretion to include taxes and all that. I had prearranged via email to go to the dealer, and they had everything in order when I got there.

Click to expand...

Not bad at all!
Coupe or sedan?

5TAR said:

Not bad at all!
Coupe or sedan?

Click to expand...

Sedan, came out to ~$21k OTD

AlwaysHitVTEC said:

I realize that we won't actually be able to buy a 10th Civic for some time

Click to expand...

You know Honda said it goes on sale THIS fall right?

My dealer told me he expects the base model 10th gens to arrive this fall, with the Si's and R's coming a little later between December and Feb (since that's happened with every other order his dealer has placed).

With this fall being when it'll go on sale, that has me thinking by around mid-summer we could see the ordering process open.