Costco Pricing Experiences?

Could you folks kindly share to me your Costco new car buying experiences with detail?

thank you!

 

If you can't negotiate on your own, Costco is probably the next best thing.

 

Super easy and straightforward. If you want a "good deal" with minimal effort or stress, it's a good way to go. Only so many dealers do the Costco program. I almost got one through the Costco program but the dealership had only one manual truck and it was an access cab. I ended up finding mine (better color, double cab, stick) for a better deal. Your results may vary.

 

I'm nearing the end of my Costco Auto Purchase Program experience. After lurking on these forums for almost 3 months, my TRD Sport 4x4 DCSB in cement should be delivered within the next two weeks. For me, the Costco program worked like this: I visited the participating dealer who looked up the pricing. For my region in Michigan, the Tacoma price was Invoice plus any dealer incentives. Right now, the dealer incentive for a purchase is $1,250. I used this information to shop around at 3 other dealerships to see if anybody could beat the Costco deal or deliver earlier. I found a dealer who matched the Costco price, but will deliver a month quicker.

I should also mention that I wanted a very specific trim and tech package so my truck had to be allocated from the factory. This is the reason for the delay. Had I wanted to drive a truck home that day, the Costco program would have had me paying invoice plus a $500 manuracturer incentive (the deal from October). Overall, I think the deal is pretty strong, especially when you factor in that you can avoid the haggling process. Some like to haggle.............others don't............I'm indifferent. Either way, the Costco pricing gives you a good jumping off point for any negotiations you want to engage in. Hope this helps.

 

Similar for me. I didn’t use the Costco program, but used the price to see what dealers were willing to deal, and them who would make the best deal on a truck they had to get made (also wanted a specific build, including the 6MT, so no chance of finding one in stock).

 

I have bought two vehicles with the Costco program. I think the advice from others is right on - you can probably do better if you want to negotiate. It's a decent price that you can get without work but there is only one dealership per brand in each city. I really don't enjoy the haggling.

 

i took the costco pricing and went to another dealership and said "beat this" and they did so i gave the costco dealership an opportunity to match but they didn't so i went to the guy who did better. in a way, they made the purchasing experience much faster than usual.

 

I got $2k off of my 2020 SR. and a coupon for 50% off of parts.

Next time I'll build to order off Toyotas site, as to avoid the added crap the dealer charges you for. ie, floor mats, pin stripes, trailer hitch, ect.

 

I used Costco when I bought my truck. Originally I had found a dealer in LA who was offering a great price on a model I was interested in. He was able to give me an exact out the door price including all taxes and fees and would be able to ship it at no charge to my local dealership.

I decided to check out Costco for comparison so I filled out their online form. The "quote" it gave me said something that was a bit confusing like the price was not guaranteed, or it may have listed a price range, I don't recall. What I do recall is not really knowing what exactly price I was being offered. So I clicked submit to find out. Less than 2 minutes after that I got a phone call from my local dealership asking when I would like to stop by to sign papers and pick up my truck. I said hold on a minute, tell me what price you're actually offering first and then I'll think about it. Turned out it was actually pretty close to that the LA dealer was offering. Something in the range of 10% below MSRP. I asked for out the door price and was told they're not allowed to provide that over the phone. After some prodding, she gave it to me. I asked and she confirmed it included all fees and taxes.

I ended up going to a different dealer who had a manual transmission model in stock as I wanted to test drive that. When I sat down with them and told them the pricing I had from the LA dealer and costco they told me straight up they couldn't match it. No further discussion, their finance manager just got up and walked out. A bit strange, actually.

So I called up the dealer in the Costco network and went in. Truck was what I wanted and price was good. When I showed up to sign papers what they put in front of me was about $5k higher than the out the door cost I was told over the phone. The extra was all the BS add ons they try to push on you as well as the extended warranty plan at full price. I hadn't really thought about whether I would want to go with that. I had them take all the other charges off and then talked them down to just above half on the warranty with extra miles and years. Given all the electronics I'm fine adding that. But don't think you won't have to do any negotiating via Costco because they're definitely going to try and tack on a bunch of stuff at full cost. While I was annoyed about that, I was pretty happy with the deal overall. Included was a coupon for 50% off parts, up to $100 discount, and I believe you get lifetime discount on some parts and service at the Costco affiliated dealership as well.

I believe there is only one Costco affiliated dealer in each city so it may not be one that is convenient for you. I'd definitely fill out the Costco form and see what price pops up though. As some others have done you can use it in negotiations at other dealers.

 

My experience involves buying multiple GM vehicles that came with $700 Costco Cash Card. I dealt my own deals (minimum of 20% off, some were 25-30% off MSRP) or went to a volume dealer (no haggling 20-25% off). At some dealers, I didn't mention Costco pricing. After delivery, I submitted the VIN and filled out a survey. Cards arrived a few weeks later. A pretty easy process in my opinion.

 

I had a good experience going through Costco both times. I have a legal background and now run sales teams for software companies so I have experience in negotiations.

I feel both times the Costco experience cut the bs and then allowed me to negotiate from a lower starting point with a better sales rep.

Just my experience ymmv

 

Remember, every thing is negotiable. I just bought a '21 T4R ORP for my wife last week, had $1800 worth of "features" like that, pin stripes, tinted windows etc. I told them take that $1800 off or kick rocks. But you gotta be willing to walk if they wont play ball.

 

I ended up paying $31,600 for the truck. after 6 hours of going back n forth, I would have signed over my first born to get out of there.

 

Costco itself was pretty straightforward. The dealerships they have are another story. I kept getting ghosted by one of the dealerships until I asked Costco to refer me to another toyota dealership. The other dealership gave me several quotes and I took those to another dealer and bought from them since they had inventory arriving the next week instead of waiting for it to be delivered after a month or two wait for the costco dealership.

The other dealership beat Costco's price as well.

 

so are Tacomas part of the Costco pricing? Two dealers have both told me they are not... frustrating out west

 

I suspect that the program is regional. I am in MIchigan and the Tacoma is included.

 

I just had another dealer tell me they are excluded but we can offer $500 off MSRP. That's the best I've come across these few months......

 

Yes they are, but it takes Costco some time to add every model.

 

I used the Costco price for starters and then used it to get two dealerships internet sales department in a bidding war and got the color I wanted for lower than the Costco price.

 

Bough back in July, inventory was almost nothing. Went through Costco because I hate dealing with car salesman. Had a very good experience, the offer was about 10% off MSRP which was good at the time. No negotiations and extremely straight forward, will definitely use them again in the future.