Has anyone bought their CX-5 online? (or good experiences with dealers in Colorado?)

D

Driving4Truth

Member
:
2004 Hyundai Santa Fe 3.5L LX (AWD)
Hi all,

The last time I bought a car, I had a great experience completing my purchase completely over the Internet with a dealer in Wisconsin, who shipped it to me out of state to my home in New York (no price haggle either, I bought it fully loaded at invoice). Since I'm likely going with the CX-5 this time around, I was wondering if anyone can share similar experiences with a dealer in being able to purchase online, OR if they had good results using sites like Truecar.com, Edmunds.com, etc to get a priced locked in with no haggling?

Since I may be moving to Colorado Springs this year, if I don't purchase online, can anyone report good experiences with dealers in that region (including Denver?)
 
I had a bit of a hybrid experience using Truecar.com. Originally my plan was to do all my haggling via email, and getting a price from Truecar was just a starting place. Well, Truecar returned a really low quote from Hennessy Mazda here in Georgia. I shopped the price around to six other Mazda dealerships here, but no one beat that quote. In the end, I went to Hennessy and got their Truecar price. Pretty painless.
 
Kinda, for me? I was looking through Costco's auto program online and there was one dealership near me that was compatible and I compared it to KBB. They were selling it for less than what KBB listed, so I emailed them, telling them exactly what I wanted (roof racks, HomeLink mirror, etc) and I would go down there that day to buy it if they were compliant. I emailed a dealership that is much closer to me, and told them that I was interested in buying a CX-5 (I had already test-drove the model twice before I decided to bite the bullet) and compared prices to the other dealership that was compatible with the Costco program. They were willing to sell it to me for less than both the Costco program & the dealership farther away.

Does that count? I dunno - it was all done online, technically, since there was no haggling in-person or anything. The only troubles I had was with the dealership's financial manager, but that's about it.
 
gt_cx5 said:
I had a bit of a hybrid experience using Truecar.com. Originally my plan was to do all my haggling via email, and getting a price from Truecar was just a starting place. Well, Truecar returned a really low quote from Hennessy Mazda here in Georgia. I shopped the price around to six other Mazda dealerships here, but no one beat that quote. In the end, I went to Hennessy and got their Truecar price. Pretty painless.
Click to expand...

Did yours involve a trade-in? I've noticed that locked in quotes don't include trade-in values, so I could see the potential for them to cause some grief there, as well as anything you might want to purchase post-factory.
 
dragonteeth said:
Kinda, for me? I was looking through Costco's auto program online and there was one dealership near me that was compatible and I compared it to KBB. They were selling it for less than what KBB listed, so I emailed them, telling them exactly what I wanted (roof racks, HomeLink mirror, etc) and I would go down there that day to buy it if they were compliant. I emailed a dealership that is much closer to me, and told them that I was interested in buying a CX-5 (I had already test-drove the model twice before I decided to bite the bullet) and compared prices to the other dealership that was compatible with the Costco program. They were willing to sell it to me for less than both the Costco program & the dealership farther away.

Does that count? I dunno - it was all done online, technically, since there was no haggling in-person or anything. The only troubles I had was with the dealership's financial manager, but that's about it.
Click to expand...

Sounds like you made out well! Wonder if I should compare Costco prices as a bargaining point even if I'm not a member. I'm awful at negotiating/haggling and try to avoid it like an Egyptian plague.
 
Driving4Truth said:
Sounds like you made out well! Wonder if I should compare Costco prices as a bargaining point even if I'm not a member. I'm awful at negotiating/haggling and try to avoid it like an Egyptian plague.
Click to expand...

I definitely used the Costco program as a way to haggle, yeah. I'm pretty bad at it too... which is why I did it all online. :X
 
Driving4Truth said:
Did yours involve a trade-in? I've noticed that locked in quotes don't include trade-in values, so I could see the potential for them to cause some grief there, as well as anything you might want to purchase post-factory.
Click to expand...

I didn't do a trade in, and I could see how that would complicate things. I negotiated for post-factory accessories via email.
 
I used numbers given to me in a Consumer Reports auto report. It showed the dealer holdback as $400 which dealer also gave me in the deal. No trade-in and 0% interest last summer.
 
gt_cx5 said:
I had a bit of a hybrid experience using Truecar.com. Originally my plan was to do all my haggling via email, and getting a price from Truecar was just a starting place. Well, Truecar returned a really low quote from Hennessy Mazda here in Georgia. I shopped the price around to six other Mazda dealerships here, but no one beat that quote. In the end, I went to Hennessy and got their Truecar price. Pretty painless.
Click to expand...

A friend tried the TrueCar thing, and I think he did end up with the vehicle, but, only after hours of getting them to honor the price. There were no near by dealers, or this best price was the one 4 hours away, but, from what he said, it was far from painless. Maybe that was early on, and TrueCar is hopefully holding the dealers more accountable now!!

I went in with TrueCar figures on what I should pay for my CX-5, and KBB numbers to tell me what my trade was worth. They were initially $2,500 off from my ideal deal. I eventually got them to come up on the trade and down on the new vehicle to where I was only getting screwed $1,000 based on the TrueCar and KBB figures. I also "required" the cargo cover and the class-II hitch be part of the deal because my trade had it, I expected it in my new vehicle, at least that's the excuse I used, so they "threw those in", which was according to their figures approx $800 worth of accessories, in reality, those two are worth maybe $200(IMHO). Yeah, I probably still paid a little too much, but didn't think I was going to wear them down any more than that.
 
cybercruiser said:
A friend tried the TrueCar thing, and I think he did end up with the vehicle, but, only after hours of getting them to honor the price. There were no near by dealers, or this best price was the one 4 hours away, but, from what he said, it was far from painless. Maybe that was early on, and TrueCar is hopefully holding the dealers more accountable now!!
Click to expand...

Yeah that sounds terrible. I had this painless experience very recently (this January), but my dealership played zero games. There are good and bad dealerships, and I'm sure TrueCar has relatively little direct control over them.
 
cybercruiser said:
A friend tried the TrueCar thing, and I think he did end up with the vehicle, but, only after hours of getting them to honor the price. There were no near by dealers, or this best price was the one 4 hours away, but, from what he said, it was far from painless. Maybe that was early on, and TrueCar is hopefully holding the dealers more accountable now!!

I went in with TrueCar figures on what I should pay for my CX-5, and KBB numbers to tell me what my trade was worth. They were initially $2,500 off from my ideal deal. I eventually got them to come up on the trade and down on the new vehicle to where I was only getting screwed $1,000 based on the TrueCar and KBB figures. I also "required" the cargo cover and the class-II hitch be part of the deal because my trade had it, I expected it in my new vehicle, at least that's the excuse I used, so they "threw those in", which was according to their figures approx $800 worth of accessories, in reality, those two are worth maybe $200(IMHO). Yeah, I probably still paid a little too much, but didn't think I was going to wear them down any more than that.
Click to expand...

How long ago did your friend use Truecar.com? I may have to keep this in mind if dealers still find ways to make an end run around locked in price quotes.
 
gt_cx5 said:
Yeah that sounds terrible. I had this painless experience very recently (this January), but my dealership played zero games. There are good and bad dealerships, and I'm sure TrueCar has relatively little direct control over them.
Click to expand...

When I bought my Hyundai, I first checked out Hyundai forums to see if there were dealers getting particularly good reps. That's how I found one in Wisconsin that was willing to honor the invoice price and ship it to me out of state (they paid for shipping as well.) They were selling cars so well that other dealers in the region were actually complaining to Hyundai directly, because they were losing business to them, at least from what I remember.

I'm hoping lightning will strike twice when it's time to get my Mazda. :D I won't even mind flying out of state and driving it back home if it means saving a few thousand off the costs and going with the best reputable dealers in the country.
 
I used Truecar when I bought my 2012 CRV and it was completely painless. I knew the dealer I bought my CX5 from but I'll probably check out Truecar if I get a 2016 CX5...
 
JonW said:
I used Truecar when I bought my 2012 CRV and it was completely painless. I knew the dealer I bought my CX5 from but I'll probably check out Truecar if I get a 2016 CX5...
Click to expand...

So it looks like everyone's online experiences has been through Truecar so far. :)
 
Driving4Truth said:
How long ago did your friend use Truecar.com? I may have to keep this in mind if dealers still find ways to make an end run around locked in price quotes.
Click to expand...

I don't, know, probably at least a year or 2 years ago.

I guess I'd go in with my TrueCar quote, and if they give me even the slightest hint they aren't going to fully honor the price quote, I would immediately leave, and report them to TrueCar. Like always, you need to be willing to walk to keep from being totally taken advantage of. Car Dealers have no scruples!!
 
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At the time I purchased mine last summer the Truecar price in my area was about $1K above what I actually paid. It probably depends a lot on the market in your area though. Dealer holdback is about $450-500 under invoice price.
 
dragonteeth said:
Kinda, for me? I was looking through Costco's auto program online and there was one dealership near me that was compatible and I compared it to KBB. They were selling it for less than what KBB listed, so I emailed them, telling them exactly what I wanted (roof racks, HomeLink mirror, etc) and I would go down there that day to buy it if they were compliant. I emailed a dealership that is much closer to me, and told them that I was interested in buying a CX-5 (I had already test-drove the model twice before I decided to bite the bullet) and compared prices to the other dealership that was compatible with the Costco program. They were willing to sell it to me for less than both the Costco program & the dealership farther away.

Does that count? I dunno - it was all done online, technically, since there was no haggling in-person or anything. The only troubles I had was with the dealership's financial manager, but that's about it.
Click to expand...
I did something similar. The dealer through Costco quoted a price lower than KBB and I agreed. He then wanted a down payment with a credit card over the internet! I refused, and told him I would do all the finances at delivery, and I was ready to pick it up. He then said that he didn't have one and would have to "bring one in". A few days later he said there were no silver GTs like I wanted in the area (metro Chicago), and I would have to take the blue one he had in stock. It is amazing that a car dealer would lie about something that can be checked by a search on the internet. I went to the Mazda site and searched for the model, color and options that I wanted. I requested a quote from all the matches that were brought up by Mazda's software. I then responded to the quotes that listed a price and said that they needed to beat the price I had.
 
Driving4Truth said:
Did yours involve a trade-in? I've noticed that locked in quotes don't include trade-in values, so I could see the potential for them to cause some grief there, as well as anything you might want to purchase post-factory.
Click to expand...

Before I went to the Mazda dealer, I took my trade to Carmax and got a written quote. The Mazda dealer did low-ball me on the trade, I then said that I had a Carmax quote and they would need to beat it or I would leave for the next dealer. Some times living near a big city is good.
 
Threatening to go to another Mazda dealer and putting my coat on worked for me last time...
 
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