I've had a few people e-mail me about how the whole carsdirect.com experience went...so I figured I'd post so everybody could see. Keep in mind that Carsdirect.com, like any internet company, is always evolving,so someone else's experience may be different. Here goes...
Late September of lasy year I was dying for a new car. My Saab was hurting bad....I had run wayyyyy too much boost through the engine, and it was ready to go. When I heard the rod knock it was time to take action. I decided on a Sentra SE after reading many reviews...I never drove the car...or saw it in person. (For this my wife called me crazy, but I was sure of what I was getting, I turned out to be right!) I wasted time poking around on local car lots here in Memphis...couldn't find anything! I hadn't realized that there were so few SE's built!
Frustrated, I turned to carsdirect.com. I figured with a nationwide network of dealers, they could find me what I was looking for. I logged on to their site. It's very professional, well laid out, and easy to navigate. You can mess around all day just building possible car combinations without having to give any information. I decided I wanted a 2001 SE with the performance package, sunroof, ABS, 6-disc changer, side-impact airbags....I wanted this thing to be FULLY LOADED! The site guides you through the process of selecting trim line, options, and color. There is NO haggling on price. You simply pay what Carsdirect.com says you pay. That can be good or bad...more on that later. Once you get set on the EXACT car you want, you submit your information, and you leave a fully refundable $250 deposit on a credit or check card. As soon as possible, someone from Carsdirect will contact you by e-mail or telephone. They will confirm your car selection, and then search their dealer network. There's the tricky part, when you're buying a car that's in short supply like an SE, you may not get exactly what you want. Carsdirect had NOTHING in metro Memphis. In Nashville (210 miles away) they had an SE without PP and an automatic tranny.
I said HELL NO! The rep said he'd keep looking for a car that was closer to my specs. Two days later he contacted me about a car in Chattanooga,TN (350 miles east) it was a 2001 SE w/PP 5spd Granite. It had a sunroof, but nothing else. It was the ONLY SE within 600 miles of me that came close to what I wanted. As I understand it, it's next to impossible to find an SE with /PP, let alone the rest of the crap. But, I wanted this car, so I told the rep to go for it. He faxed the car description & price to me to confirm my order. My carsdirect price was $16,101 without tax, but everything else was included in that price (destination, title,tag etc.) I agreed to the car, at this point the deposit becomes NON-refundable. If you back out at this point you will lose your $250. The carsdirect rep will ask you if you already have financing lined up, or if you need assistance with it. I already had my financing lined up, so I can't speak for that side of the process. The carsdirect rep confirmed everything with the dealer and my bank. They will need faxed copies of your driver's license and insurance card before proceeding with the sale. The dealer wouldn't move the car any closer so I was stuck with the road trip. I agreed, and everything was ready to go the next day. I couldn't pick the car up until after Thanksgiving, but my agreement assured me that the dealer could not sell the car out from under me.This leads me to what I considered to be the best part of using Carsdirect.com, the dealer. Up to this point I've never talked to the dealer. They arrange everything for you. When I arrived at the dealer, they had the car all ready for delivery. Everybody there shook my hand and thanked me for the sale, I signed some papers and then I left with my car! I was out of the dealer within an hour! It was excellent!
Would I use Carsdirect.com again?
Yes. It fits my schedule. I don't have time to haggle with dealerships and idiotic salespeople. I may have gotten a better price if I had bought it the old fashioned way, but in THIS case there was no other car within the region, so I had no choice anyway. It was so easy to take delivery of the car, it was all worth it. I would suggest Carsdirect.com to anybody buying a new car. You may not get the absolute best price, but you will get a hassle free experience free of the bull**** common to today's car marketplace.
------------------
2001 SE 5-spd. w/PP Granite, no mods yet.
I miss Florida.... the girls are prettier and the cops are friendlier.
Late September of lasy year I was dying for a new car. My Saab was hurting bad....I had run wayyyyy too much boost through the engine, and it was ready to go. When I heard the rod knock it was time to take action. I decided on a Sentra SE after reading many reviews...I never drove the car...or saw it in person. (For this my wife called me crazy, but I was sure of what I was getting, I turned out to be right!) I wasted time poking around on local car lots here in Memphis...couldn't find anything! I hadn't realized that there were so few SE's built!
Frustrated, I turned to carsdirect.com. I figured with a nationwide network of dealers, they could find me what I was looking for. I logged on to their site. It's very professional, well laid out, and easy to navigate. You can mess around all day just building possible car combinations without having to give any information. I decided I wanted a 2001 SE with the performance package, sunroof, ABS, 6-disc changer, side-impact airbags....I wanted this thing to be FULLY LOADED! The site guides you through the process of selecting trim line, options, and color. There is NO haggling on price. You simply pay what Carsdirect.com says you pay. That can be good or bad...more on that later. Once you get set on the EXACT car you want, you submit your information, and you leave a fully refundable $250 deposit on a credit or check card. As soon as possible, someone from Carsdirect will contact you by e-mail or telephone. They will confirm your car selection, and then search their dealer network. There's the tricky part, when you're buying a car that's in short supply like an SE, you may not get exactly what you want. Carsdirect had NOTHING in metro Memphis. In Nashville (210 miles away) they had an SE without PP and an automatic tranny.
I said HELL NO! The rep said he'd keep looking for a car that was closer to my specs. Two days later he contacted me about a car in Chattanooga,TN (350 miles east) it was a 2001 SE w/PP 5spd Granite. It had a sunroof, but nothing else. It was the ONLY SE within 600 miles of me that came close to what I wanted. As I understand it, it's next to impossible to find an SE with /PP, let alone the rest of the crap. But, I wanted this car, so I told the rep to go for it. He faxed the car description & price to me to confirm my order. My carsdirect price was $16,101 without tax, but everything else was included in that price (destination, title,tag etc.) I agreed to the car, at this point the deposit becomes NON-refundable. If you back out at this point you will lose your $250. The carsdirect rep will ask you if you already have financing lined up, or if you need assistance with it. I already had my financing lined up, so I can't speak for that side of the process. The carsdirect rep confirmed everything with the dealer and my bank. They will need faxed copies of your driver's license and insurance card before proceeding with the sale. The dealer wouldn't move the car any closer so I was stuck with the road trip. I agreed, and everything was ready to go the next day. I couldn't pick the car up until after Thanksgiving, but my agreement assured me that the dealer could not sell the car out from under me.This leads me to what I considered to be the best part of using Carsdirect.com, the dealer. Up to this point I've never talked to the dealer. They arrange everything for you. When I arrived at the dealer, they had the car all ready for delivery. Everybody there shook my hand and thanked me for the sale, I signed some papers and then I left with my car! I was out of the dealer within an hour! It was excellent!
Would I use Carsdirect.com again?
Yes. It fits my schedule. I don't have time to haggle with dealerships and idiotic salespeople. I may have gotten a better price if I had bought it the old fashioned way, but in THIS case there was no other car within the region, so I had no choice anyway. It was so easy to take delivery of the car, it was all worth it. I would suggest Carsdirect.com to anybody buying a new car. You may not get the absolute best price, but you will get a hassle free experience free of the bull**** common to today's car marketplace.
------------------
2001 SE 5-spd. w/PP Granite, no mods yet.
I miss Florida.... the girls are prettier and the cops are friendlier.
