Has anyone used USAA's car buying service?

CPT Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 17 Nov 2018 13:46:33 -0500

We've been putting it off for a while but I think it's time to buy a "new" car. We'll probably replace my wife's car first then mine when I make CPT. I noticed USAA has a car buying service but it's hard to tell whether it's really of much value or just a marketing gimmick. Has anyone used it and found that it actually provides any type of perks or am I better off going directly with a dealer?

Response by SFC Ralph E Kelley made Nov 17 at 2018 3:06 PM

SFC Ralph E Kelley — Sat, 17 Nov 2018 15:06:44 -0500

I understand it works well. Decent interest.

Response by SP5 Peter Keane made Nov 17 at 2018 3:16 PM

SP5 Peter Keane — Sat, 17 Nov 2018 15:16:43 -0500

It is in conjunction with Truecar. I have tried several times, but the dealerships, while saying they are onboard with it, do not honor the price. Last car I purchased, the sales manager told me that he has to pay 300 to USAA, and he would rather take it off the price of the car rather than do that. Now the USAA financing is excellent.

Response by COL Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 17 at 2018 4:19 PM

COL Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 17 Nov 2018 16:19:13 -0500

I have tried but I end up negotiating a price lower and they usually don’t honor both a lower negotiated price and whatever USAA price is.

Response by SFC Marc W. made Nov 17 at 2018 4:34 PM

SFC Marc W. — Sat, 17 Nov 2018 16:34:00 -0500

I've gotten a single really good deal out of the car buying service, but for me, it's financing through USAA that makes the dealer process extremely smooth.

Response by COL David Turk made Nov 17 at 2018 5:16 PM

COL David Turk — Sat, 17 Nov 2018 17:16:04 -0500

Sorta like Costco; if you can negotiate you may do better.

Response by CAPT Kevin B. made Nov 18 at 2018 9:33 PM

CAPT Kevin B. — Sun, 18 Nov 2018 21:33:31 -0500

I'll have to echo SP5 Peter Keane. I used USAA once. All they do is provide a service to sellers to grab folk. The dealers have to pay a kickback. Works the same way for the COSTCO program. Dealers vary, but Subaru dealers get charged the same price for a car. They'll show you the Costco, USAA, etc. numbers and then show you a tally that's around $500 cheaper as there's no kickback. On the flip side, there are a lot of dealers out there where the cheapest price will be the buying program as they don't have to put any work into it. Just collect all the numbers and do a sort. The best deal is in there somewhere. BTW, we just got a Subaru Ascent. Seems the dealers are competing with each other with the price being the same (Subaru has a minimum allowed). Spokane was tossing in snow tires on rims. Others offered roof racks, etc. Pretty competitive out there.