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  1. #1
    Machine Gunner ben4372's Avatar
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    Dec 2009
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    englewood
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    I'm not a fan of Schomp's service department. Though they seem competent, work always done well. And not really a fan of the new store. I get the sense some change of guard happened. Maybe the kids are in charge now. But feel free to haggle there. I got 500 off the minivan a few years back. Not a ton but nice.

  2. #2
    Paper Hunter
    Join Date
    May 2011
    Location
    Longmont
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    I visited AutoNation in Westminster, Kuni, Schomp, and Planet. Honda of Greeley and Markley got written off early due to their high pressure tactics even via email, text, and phone calls.

    AutoNation was ok. Their pricing was not the best. Nothing remarkable.

    Kuni ...... well, the sales rep fits the stereotype of a car salesman. Sales manager is super high pressure. He even tried to discourage me from visiting other dealerships even though I told him that I already made appointments there. So we wrote Kuni off and will never do any business with them.

    Schomp ..... we were impressed by the services. No pressure at all. Very professional. We knew about the fixed pricing. We thought this was the place to buy our Honda, but we still need to visit Planet.

    Planet .... they called us to confirm our appointment 45 minutes before the time. We confirmed it and told them we were on our way there. We arrived early ..... front desk was empty. Lots of staff walking back and forth seemingly busy. They walked passed us and nobody said HI or asked if we needed help. This went on for a good half hour. Then we sat down while trying to "read" the place and decide what to do next. By this time our impression has gone way far into the negative. Then there was a staff member who walked by and said HI. But he did not stop to talk to us. He went to assist other customers who just arrived. What about us? 10 more minutes passed, and my wife wanted to leave. Ok, we take our business elsewhere. Just as we stood up and about to leave, the same guy who greeted us walked by and I called him over. When I gave him my name, he was surprised ..... because he was looking for me. But he saw us sitting down thinking that we were already helped by other sales rep. The guy's name is Ray Williams. He apologized profusely for missing us and letting us waiting for so long. He acknowledged that he and Planet dropped the ball there.

    I told him we were on our way out and would go to Schomp to buy our Pilot there. But I would like to know what he could put together for us. Ray put together some numbers and gave us the printout. We were surprised to see that his number was the lowest of all offers we received. He beats Schomp by $600 for one particular Pilot LX they have in the lot. The only catch is, the color is not what I wanted. Planet has a fixed price policy and no dealer fee either. Apparently, this specific Pilot LX has been sitting in their lot for 57 days. He explained to us that he could offer larger discount the longer the car sits in the lot. The car has just 53 miles on the odometer. He explained that their clienteles prefer higher end Pilot. So the lower end LX does not sell that quickly. Ray also told me that in 3 days, when the car enters the 60th day in the lot, he would be able to knock another $100 off the price. This is the first time a car sales rep explain this to me. We like Ray. So we decided to wait another 3 days and buy our Pilot LX from Planet. Our final price was $700 lower than that of Schomp and $600 less than Kuni (and the car from Kuni had hail damage that they would repair before selling it).

  3. #3
    Paper Hunter
    Join Date
    Jan 2018
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    Bennet strasburg
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    True_car used to be a great deal, as they were an independent service with access to actual dealer invoice pricing. They gave real info on MSRP, dealer cost and hold back infomation and passed it onto you the consumer in an understandable way. It was very popular and dealerships had to pay Truecar to get on their referral list and dealership profits were being cut fairly significantly as a large portion of customers were using the service.

    Of course the car dealerships didn't like all this good info being put out there for everyone to see, so they banded together and sued TrueCar. Something along the lines of "operating as a dealer without a license" or some similar BS back in circa 2015 IIRC. bottom line is the dealerships lawyers won and TrueCar was effectively gutted and part of the settlement was the dealerships now own TrueCar. So now it has essentially become an advertising venue for the dealerships.

    That's too bad, I remember using Truecar back in 2013 and that made for a pretty good deal for me with all the info they provided. I made the mistake of using them again last year in 2017 and the info was maybe a 1/5th of what I got in 2013 and of no bargaining use and I got barraged with calls and emails from dealers. Not a good experience at all. I negotiated a much better deal by over a $1200 better than what Trucar said I should expect to pay.

  4. #4
    Paper Hunter
    Join Date
    May 2011
    Location
    Longmont
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    156

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    Quote Originally Posted by Wolfshoon View Post
    True_car used to be a great deal, as they were an independent service with access to actual dealer invoice pricing. They gave real info on MSRP, dealer cost and hold back infomation and passed it onto you the consumer in an understandable way. It was very popular and dealerships had to pay Truecar to get on their referral list and dealership profits were being cut fairly significantly as a large portion of customers were using the service.

    Of course the car dealerships didn't like all this good info being put out there for everyone to see, so they banded together and sued TrueCar. Something along the lines of "operating as a dealer without a license" or some similar BS back in circa 2015 IIRC. bottom line is the dealerships lawyers won and TrueCar was effectively gutted and part of the settlement was the dealerships now own TrueCar. So now it has essentially become an advertising venue for the dealerships.

    That's too bad, I remember using Truecar back in 2013 and that made for a pretty good deal for me with all the info they provided. I made the mistake of using them again last year in 2017 and the info was maybe a 1/5th of what I got in 2013 and of no bargaining use and I got barraged with calls and emails from dealers. Not a good experience at all. I negotiated a much better deal by over a $1200 better than what Trucar said I should expect to pay.
    This is my experience too with TrueCar. Used it in 2013 to buy my Camry. Got good data on pricing. I recalled how I was able to get dealer pricing from TrueCar and other data without being bormbarded with emails, phone calls, and txt messages from various dealerships in the area. I did not know about the lawsuit in 2015. So I used TrueCar again this year as I did in 2013. OMG. within hours of putting in my "Request for price", I got tons of email, txt, and phone calls from 3 dealerships (TrueCar only listed the nearest 3 dealerships). One of them was so aggressive that I had 4-5 people trying to contact me at the same time! I contacted their sales manager and told him that I would not be buying a car from them simply because of their overly aggressive marketing tactics even before I set foot on their lot. He tried to lower the offered price after I told him that. I still declined. I don't want to deal with people or organization who are that aggressive to the point they made my life uncomfortable.

    Thanks for the tip. No more TrueCar for me.

  5. #5
    No TP for me
    Join Date
    Jul 2010
    Location
    Fort Collins, CO
    Posts
    306

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    Costco's Auto Program without a doubt!

    I just left a 20 year job (in service department) at the Honda/GM dealer here in Fort Collins and can tell you buying through Costco's program is easily the way to go. You can get on their website, see exactly what the vehicle and every option cost is, and buy it for that. ...and usually get rebates/incentives on top of that. It completely eliminates the hassle of trying to negotiate with dealers.

    Even as a dealer employee at the time, Costco pricing was better than I would have been able to get as an employee. 99.2% of car salespeople are also dishonest schmucks and make you "feel" like you're getting a deal. I saw many many dishonest moves and over-promises by car salespeople over the years and I absolutely hated even being associated with any of it. Dealers make a lot more money off customer's than you'd realize.
    Glock Factory Armorer

  6. #6
    Gong Shooter
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    Parker
    Posts
    339

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    Quote Originally Posted by snichols28 View Post
    Costco's Auto Program without a doubt!

    I just left a 20 year job (in service department) at the Honda/GM dealer here in Fort Collins and can tell you buying through Costco's program is easily the way to go. You can get on their website, see exactly what the vehicle and every option cost is, and buy it for that. ...and usually get rebates/incentives on top of that. It completely eliminates the hassle of trying to negotiate with dealers.

    Even as a dealer employee at the time, Costco pricing was better than I would have been able to get as an employee. 99.2% of car salespeople are also dishonest schmucks and make you "feel" like you're getting a deal. I saw many many dishonest moves and over-promises by car salespeople over the years and I absolutely hated even being associated with any of it. Dealers make a lot more money off customer's than you'd realize.
    I also recommend going through Costco. Car salesmen are tortuous and there is no reason to undergo that miserable process of dealing with them on their own ground.

  7. #7
    BIG PaPa ray1970's Avatar
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    Feb 2010
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    Thornton
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    Default Recommendation needed: Honda dealer & sales contact

    I spent about fifteen years working at various dealerships. One of the younger, up and coming salesman explained the car sales business to me pretty early on. He said that if you wanted to make a successful career out of selling cars then you had to be willing to screw your own grandmother over to make a deal. I remind myself of this every time I deal with anyone in sales. Going into combat knowing how the enemy operates makes it a little easier.

  8. #8
    Machine Gunner electronman1729's Avatar
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    Apr 2011
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    Arvada
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    1,800

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    Are you a member of USAA? check them first.

    We used the Honda dealer in Boulder. Worked out well and I still forced them to lower the price on the CRV.
    Deplorable millennial born 30 years too late

  9. #9
    Paper Hunter Zman's Avatar
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    Oct 2009
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    Arvada
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    Quote Originally Posted by electronman1729 View Post
    Are you a member of USAA? check them first.

    We used the Honda dealer in Boulder. Worked out well and I still forced them to lower the price on the CRV.
    Unfortunately USAA uses TrueCar for their support.

    Z
    Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind. ~ Theodor S. Geisel (Dr. Seuss)

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