11 ms·

You Will Soon Be Able to Buy a Car at Walmart

35 points by t23 10y ago

Neliquat 10y ago
You already can at Costco, so this seems logical. Many customers will always prefer a "non-dealership" due to the long history of pushy shady salespeople, which if my last 3 visits tell me anything, is still very deserved ( in north america ).
- nommm-nommm 10y ago
  You still have to visit and purchase the vehicle from a dealership though. >CarSaver then will connect customers with a local, certified dealer and schedule an appointment to visit the dealership. If a shopper doesn’t contact the dealership, an auto adviser reconnects with that shopper.
  - toomuchtodo 10y ago
    Your interaction is with a no pressure internet sales manager though. I bought my last vehicle (2008 Toyota Tundra) through Costco. If my next vehicle purchase wasn't going to be a Tesla, I'd probably do it again.
    - nommm-nommm 10y ago
      That wasn't clear to me from the article, it sounded like they mostly just arranged appointments. How does negotiating work in this situation? Do you negotiate beforehand? Is it a firm fixed price?
      - toomuchtodo 10y ago
        Firm fixed price (essentially cost plus). I checked with several other dealers and no one else was willing to go as low as the fixed price I was offered.
        pkaye 10y ago
        I did the same. No need to haggle since the internet sales w as straight up lower than any other dealer through conventional means. I has a loan pre-approved so the purchase was quick too.
        nommm-nommm 10y ago
        This sounds fantastic!
        toomuchtodo 10y ago
        Its a no brainer really. You will immediately save more than the $100/year Costco membership if you're using it to purchase a vehicle.
- forgetsusername 10y ago
  >due to the long history of pushy shady salespeople, which if my last 3 visits tell me anything, is still very deserved It's hard for me to understand how people get pushed around when they're walking into a situation where they may be on the verge of spending tens of thousands of dollars. The car dealership industry is hyper-competitive; if any part of the transaction makes you feel uncomfortable, let them know and take your money elsewhere. Dealers are a dime a dozen.
  - onion2k 10y ago
    If you've researched your car options and decided that the best car for you is a Honda Civic then your local Honda dealer becomes a de facto local monopoly on cars. The fact you could go and buy a different car somewhere else means that you have to choose to spend thousands of dollars on something that you know isn't the right choice. Dealers know this, and they're very good at making the most of it. As you say though, the best way around the problem is simply to make sure you don't settle on a specific car so you're in a position to walk away if the dealer isn't great. That's easier to say than do though.
    - pricechild 10y ago
      > a de facto local monopoly on cars I like the implication here. Because they're not going to have the specific car/options you want anyway, are they? No, you're going to need to accept what they want to sell...
      - onion2k 10y ago
        That's one of the many tactics car dealerships use. If you want the model with some fancy options then you can drive it away today. If you want a car without additional extras then it's not in stock, so you'll have to wait 4 weeks (or more) for delivery, but the finance deal they're offering has to be taken before delivery of the car and it expires in a couple of weeks. Consequently you can only get finance if you pay for the options...
        10y ago
- amyjess 10y ago
  For that matter, a lot of us aren't comfortable with haggling and are only willing to buy a car if we can buy it like any other appliance at Walmart or Costco. The demise of Saturn means I'll probably never own a car. My only hope is that some Chinese or Indian company will come to the US and strike an exclusive contract with Walmart or Costco to be the exclusive retailer (the contract will specify that the term "dealership" will never be used) of their cars in the US with a nationwide policy of only selling at MSRP.
  - CptJamesCook 10y ago
    Tesla sells cars with a flat, non-negotiable price. And you can buy it online. The model 3 is somewhat affordable.
    - dexterdog 10y ago
      Somewhat affordable and non-existent.
      - CptJamesCook 10y ago
        Give it a year. He was implying that he would never buy a car again for the rest of his life!
    - woobar 10y ago
      Did any other dealer ever refuse to sell a car on similar terms? "I would like that car. What is your flat, non-negotiable price?"
  - woofyman 10y ago
    Scion has a no haggling policy.
    - amyjess 10y ago
      Toyota pulled the plug on Scion almost a year ago: http://money.cnn.com/2016/02/03/autos/toyota-killing-scion/ http://money.cnn.com/2016/02/03/autos/toyota-killing-scion/
- cheald 10y ago
  Purchasing a car at a dealership is honestly one of the most painful consumer experiences ever. Last car I bought, I walked into the dealership knowing exactly what I wanted and what it should cost, with my down payment check and loan approval in-hand, and it still took 6 hours to purchase the car. The salesman kept "making math mistakes" on the invoice that would have inflated the overall price of the purchase by several thousand dollars. If I didn't know ahead of time what I was buying and what it would cost, I would have been taken for a ride. One of the most frustrating, disgusting, and disheartening purchases I've ever made. Anything that can bypass that BS is a very welcome change.
  - vvanders 10y ago
    If Tesla gets their way then hopefully this will change. Buying our 85D was just a matter of sitting down with the rep at a Mac in-store and ordering from TeslaMotors.com. The most painless car buying experience I've ever had. We could have done it from our house if we wanted to. [edit] I should add that we've done the whole "pit 2-3 dealerships against each other over email with exact spec" before and while it does get you a good deal, it takes a ton of time and requires you to be willing to walk away and waste an evening if they pull any funny business.
    - random28345 10y ago
      > it takes a ton of time and requires you to be willing to walk away and waste an evening if they pull any funny business. Can confirm, agreed on a price, the dealer wanted $3,500 for a pinstripe at the last minute. Had to walk, went to another dealership 40 miles away, got an agreement on the original deal negotiated with the original dealer, new dealer didn't have the car in stock, so the car I wanted to buy in the first place was shipped 40 miles to the new dealer. And I watched the new dealer's salesman peeled off the $3,500 pinstripe with his fingers before I'd take possession of the car. Then after all the paperwork was signed, and I handed over a check for the full purchase price of the car, the new dealer refused to hand over the keys until I paid a $500 etching fee, and the saleperson re-etched the VIN in the car windows over the top of the VIN already etched in the car windows. Fuck dealers.
- jrnichols 10y ago
  > You already can at Costco, Not exactly, unless something changed. You get to go through a "Costco approved dealer" still, and the experience is still not all that great. You aren't just buying the vehicle directly from Costco itself. We tried this just over a year ago and ended up with the same unpleasant car buying experience. (backed out of it when a family member got a sales manager gig at a nearby dealership. Went through him. Zero stress and no shenanigans.)
saycheese 10y ago
Walmart has been trying to get into the car biz for a long time. Here's an example from 2002: http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/money/retail/2002-04-23-walmart-cars.htm http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/money/retail/2002-04-23-walma... Here's an example from 2008: http://adage.com/article/news/wanna-buy-a-car-head-walmart/133447/ http://adage.com/article/news/wanna-buy-a-car-head-walmart/1... (Nitpick, but it's "Walmart" not "Wal-Mart".)
- dublinben 10y ago
  They are still officially Wal-Mart Inc, so either would be accurate.
  - amyjess 10y ago
    I think that depends on what preposition you use. "You will soon be able to buy a car from Wal-Mart" sounds right, but *"at Wal-Mart" rings false to me. Wal-Mart is the entity selling to you, and Walmart is the physical location.
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
  - freehunter 10y ago
    Offically, they are "Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., doing business as Walmart".
forkandwait 10y ago
I have now bought two cars through a broker, in my case "Autoland". I got a price over email, we chatted on the phone to confirm, they delivered the car to credit union where we signed papers on the pre approved loan. No bullshit, took 45 minutes I think to transfer the car, which was exactly to spec. Will never buy a car any other way.
jrnichols 10y ago
I'd still rather go like this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carvana https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carvana I remember the old iMotors experience. It was nice. Too bad in some states, car dealers are still ridiculously powerful. (ahem. Texas.)

35 points by t23 10y ago

You already can at Costco, so this seems logical. Many customers will always prefer a "non-dealership" due to the long history of pushy shady salespeople, which if my last 3 visits tell me anything, is still very deserved ( in north america ).

nommm-nommm 10y ago
You still have to visit and purchase the vehicle from a dealership though. >CarSaver then will connect customers with a local, certified dealer and schedule an appointment to visit the dealership. If a shopper doesn’t contact the dealership, an auto adviser reconnects with that shopper.
- toomuchtodo 10y ago
  Your interaction is with a no pressure internet sales manager though. I bought my last vehicle (2008 Toyota Tundra) through Costco. If my next vehicle purchase wasn't going to be a Tesla, I'd probably do it again.
  - nommm-nommm 10y ago
    That wasn't clear to me from the article, it sounded like they mostly just arranged appointments. How does negotiating work in this situation? Do you negotiate beforehand? Is it a firm fixed price?
    - toomuchtodo 10y ago
      Firm fixed price (essentially cost plus). I checked with several other dealers and no one else was willing to go as low as the fixed price I was offered.
      - pkaye 10y ago
        I did the same. No need to haggle since the internet sales w as straight up lower than any other dealer through conventional means. I has a loan pre-approved so the purchase was quick too.
      - nommm-nommm 10y ago
        This sounds fantastic!
        toomuchtodo 10y ago
        Its a no brainer really. You will immediately save more than the $100/year Costco membership if you're using it to purchase a vehicle.
forgetsusername 10y ago
>due to the long history of pushy shady salespeople, which if my last 3 visits tell me anything, is still very deserved It's hard for me to understand how people get pushed around when they're walking into a situation where they may be on the verge of spending tens of thousands of dollars. The car dealership industry is hyper-competitive; if any part of the transaction makes you feel uncomfortable, let them know and take your money elsewhere. Dealers are a dime a dozen.
- onion2k 10y ago
  If you've researched your car options and decided that the best car for you is a Honda Civic then your local Honda dealer becomes a de facto local monopoly on cars. The fact you could go and buy a different car somewhere else means that you have to choose to spend thousands of dollars on something that you know isn't the right choice. Dealers know this, and they're very good at making the most of it. As you say though, the best way around the problem is simply to make sure you don't settle on a specific car so you're in a position to walk away if the dealer isn't great. That's easier to say than do though.
  - pricechild 10y ago
    > a de facto local monopoly on cars I like the implication here. Because they're not going to have the specific car/options you want anyway, are they? No, you're going to need to accept what they want to sell...
    - onion2k 10y ago
      That's one of the many tactics car dealerships use. If you want the model with some fancy options then you can drive it away today. If you want a car without additional extras then it's not in stock, so you'll have to wait 4 weeks (or more) for delivery, but the finance deal they're offering has to be taken before delivery of the car and it expires in a couple of weeks. Consequently you can only get finance if you pay for the options...
      - 10y ago
amyjess 10y ago
For that matter, a lot of us aren't comfortable with haggling and are only willing to buy a car if we can buy it like any other appliance at Walmart or Costco. The demise of Saturn means I'll probably never own a car. My only hope is that some Chinese or Indian company will come to the US and strike an exclusive contract with Walmart or Costco to be the exclusive retailer (the contract will specify that the term "dealership" will never be used) of their cars in the US with a nationwide policy of only selling at MSRP.
- CptJamesCook 10y ago
  Tesla sells cars with a flat, non-negotiable price. And you can buy it online. The model 3 is somewhat affordable.
  - dexterdog 10y ago
    Somewhat affordable and non-existent.
    - CptJamesCook 10y ago
      Give it a year. He was implying that he would never buy a car again for the rest of his life!
  - woobar 10y ago
    Did any other dealer ever refuse to sell a car on similar terms? "I would like that car. What is your flat, non-negotiable price?"
- woofyman 10y ago
  Scion has a no haggling policy.
  - amyjess 10y ago
    Toyota pulled the plug on Scion almost a year ago: http://money.cnn.com/2016/02/03/autos/toyota-killing-scion/ http://money.cnn.com/2016/02/03/autos/toyota-killing-scion/
cheald 10y ago
Purchasing a car at a dealership is honestly one of the most painful consumer experiences ever. Last car I bought, I walked into the dealership knowing exactly what I wanted and what it should cost, with my down payment check and loan approval in-hand, and it still took 6 hours to purchase the car. The salesman kept "making math mistakes" on the invoice that would have inflated the overall price of the purchase by several thousand dollars. If I didn't know ahead of time what I was buying and what it would cost, I would have been taken for a ride. One of the most frustrating, disgusting, and disheartening purchases I've ever made. Anything that can bypass that BS is a very welcome change.
- vvanders 10y ago
  If Tesla gets their way then hopefully this will change. Buying our 85D was just a matter of sitting down with the rep at a Mac in-store and ordering from TeslaMotors.com. The most painless car buying experience I've ever had. We could have done it from our house if we wanted to. [edit] I should add that we've done the whole "pit 2-3 dealerships against each other over email with exact spec" before and while it does get you a good deal, it takes a ton of time and requires you to be willing to walk away and waste an evening if they pull any funny business.
  - random28345 10y ago
    > it takes a ton of time and requires you to be willing to walk away and waste an evening if they pull any funny business. Can confirm, agreed on a price, the dealer wanted $3,500 for a pinstripe at the last minute. Had to walk, went to another dealership 40 miles away, got an agreement on the original deal negotiated with the original dealer, new dealer didn't have the car in stock, so the car I wanted to buy in the first place was shipped 40 miles to the new dealer. And I watched the new dealer's salesman peeled off the $3,500 pinstripe with his fingers before I'd take possession of the car. Then after all the paperwork was signed, and I handed over a check for the full purchase price of the car, the new dealer refused to hand over the keys until I paid a $500 etching fee, and the saleperson re-etched the VIN in the car windows over the top of the VIN already etched in the car windows. Fuck dealers.
jrnichols 10y ago
> You already can at Costco, Not exactly, unless something changed. You get to go through a "Costco approved dealer" still, and the experience is still not all that great. You aren't just buying the vehicle directly from Costco itself. We tried this just over a year ago and ended up with the same unpleasant car buying experience. (backed out of it when a family member got a sales manager gig at a nearby dealership. Went through him. Zero stress and no shenanigans.)

saycheese 10y ago

Walmart has been trying to get into the car biz for a long time. Here's an example from 2002: http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/money/retail/2002-04-23-walmart-cars.htm http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/money/retail/2002-04-23-walma... Here's an example from 2008: http://adage.com/article/news/wanna-buy-a-car-head-walmart/133447/ http://adage.com/article/news/wanna-buy-a-car-head-walmart/1... (Nitpick, but it's "Walmart" not "Wal-Mart".)

dublinben 10y ago
They are still officially Wal-Mart Inc, so either would be accurate.
- amyjess 10y ago
  I think that depends on what preposition you use. "You will soon be able to buy a car from Wal-Mart" sounds right, but *"at Wal-Mart" rings false to me. Wal-Mart is the entity selling to you, and Walmart is the physical location.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- freehunter 10y ago
  Offically, they are "Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., doing business as Walmart".

forkandwait 10y ago

I have now bought two cars through a broker, in my case "Autoland". I got a price over email, we chatted on the phone to confirm, they delivered the car to credit union where we signed papers on the pre approved loan. No bullshit, took 45 minutes I think to transfer the car, which was exactly to spec. Will never buy a car any other way.

jrnichols 10y ago

I'd still rather go like this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carvana https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carvana I remember the old iMotors experience. It was nice. Too bad in some states, car dealers are still ridiculously powerful. (ahem. Texas.)