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Heading into a used car dealership can often feel like voluntarily entering the gauntlet. No one looks forward to the pressure and intensity such a trip can generate.
That could be why Americans are looking for different ways to buy used cars. One of the ways they’ve found that seems to be working for them is buying their cars from Costco.
Costco members can participate in what’s known as the Costco Auto Program. Mark Matousek explains the program at Business Insider:
In the past five years, over 1 million Costco members have purchased a vehicle through the program, which allows members to research and compare vehicles, calculate monthly payments, and get a discount at participating dealerships through the program’s website or call center.
While the size of the discount varies based on the vehicle’s class, brand, and model, a Costco Auto Program representative told Business Insider that the average discount was over $1,000 off a vehicle’s average transaction price.
And since the program is available only to its members, Costco has plenty of reasons to vet dealers and salespeople so their customers don’t end up feeling tricked — and blaming Costco.
“We’re not just providing leads to dealers — we’re creating a referral,” Rick Borg, a Costco Auto Program senior executive, told Business Insider.
Read more here.