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January GTI Incentives

adam1991

Banned
Location
USA
Interesting. I was under the impression that Costco's buying service worked like cars.com; you simply tell them what you want, generate a certificate, and then take it to the nearest participating dealer to get your car.

No. It has nothing to do with cars.com. Costco has specific dealers, and within those dealers has specific people that Costco trains and authorizes to handle Costco customers. The Costco guy I spoke about the experience with was not at all happy that my dealership let someone random deal with me, someone not on their list, and that it ended up in the back-and-forth thing with "my manager".

The process is simple: give them what you're looking for, and they'll pass you along to their local dealer if they have one. (If not, you're screwed.) The dealer will call you to set up a time; you go in and show your Costco card. At that point the sales rep--who is supposed to be authorized by Costco to do this process, remember--shows you the Costco pricing, right there. No back and forth.

I had already drawn up a spreadsheet for all this and had used it at other dealers before I hit the Costco dealer. And like I said, the Costco site showed all incentives, right there. So when she gave me the "it's invoice less $900" price (that she had to go back to her manager and get--whoops!) and said "and we have some incentives on top of that" and came up with a "final" price, I was ready. I knew about the $3500 dealer cash. I plugged it all in and realized she wasn't giving me all the $3500, and she was $1100 higher than my first offer from my first dealer. I told her so. She asked for it in writing--well, what do you know, I happen to have that.

She takes that back to her manager and comes back with, "whoops, um, yeah, well, we were looking at the wrong paperwork" and magically she matches that first offer. That whole BS process is specifically NOT supposed to be part of the Costco process.

Costco will also give you 50% off on accessories, up to $400 off (I think), should you complete their survey. I leveraged that with my selling dealer (who is NOT a Costco dealer) to get the Homelink mirror--installed--for half off.

Costco also gives you 15% off service, accessories, and parts anytime at any Costco dealer or service organization.


I'm surprised that their site actually lists the dealer cash as such, since all the manufacturers treat dealer cash programs as privileged information. The dealers (even the ones who'll give you the whole incentive without negotiating) don't refer to it as a MFR to dealer incentive in their advertising, but they will make it look like they're giving you a discount out of the goodness of their hearts.

The place I bought it from, who gave me a great price right out of the gate (they were the first I went to, and everyone else--even the Costco dealer--was higher), never said "dealer cash". They just gave me a great price right up front.
 

Shane_Anigans

Drag Race Newbie
Location
SE MI
Car(s)
2017 GTI Sport DSG
No. It has nothing to do with cars.com. Costco has specific dealers, and within those dealers has specific people that Costco trains and authorizes to handle Costco customers. The Costco guy I spoke about the experience with was not at all happy that my dealership let someone random deal with me, someone not on their list, and that it ended up in the back-and-forth thing with "my manager".

The process is simple: give them what you're looking for, and they'll pass you along to their local dealer if they have one. (If not, you're screwed.) The dealer will call you to set up a time; you go in and show your Costco card. At that point the sales rep--who is supposed to be authorized by Costco to do this process, remember--shows you the Costco pricing, right there. No back and forth.

I had already drawn up a spreadsheet for all this and had used it at other dealers before I hit the Costco dealer. And like I said, the Costco site showed all incentives, right there. So when she gave me the "it's invoice less $900" price (that she had to go back to her manager and get--whoops!) and said "and we have some incentives on top of that" and came up with a "final" price, I was ready. I knew about the $3500 dealer cash. I plugged it all in and realized she wasn't giving me all the $3500, and she was $1100 higher than my first offer from my first dealer. I told her so. She asked for it in writing--well, what do you know, I happen to have that.

She takes that back to her manager and comes back with, "whoops, um, yeah, well, we were looking at the wrong paperwork" and magically she matches that first offer. That whole BS process is specifically NOT supposed to be part of the Costco process.

Costco will also give you 50% off on accessories, up to $400 off (I think), should you complete their survey. I leveraged that with my selling dealer (who is NOT a Costco dealer) to get the Homelink mirror--installed--for half off.

Costco also gives you 15% off service, accessories, and parts anytime at any Costco dealer or service organization.




The place I bought it from, who gave me a great price right out of the gate (they were the first I went to, and everyone else--even the Costco dealer--was higher), never said "dealer cash". They just gave me a great price right up front.

Sounds like the best way to go for anyone who doesn't already have supplier pricing or a friend at the dealership. Luckily I had both. :D
 

Colowyo

Passed Driver's Ed
No. It has nothing to do with cars.com. Costco has specific dealers, and within those dealers has specific people that Costco trains and authorizes to handle Costco customers. The Costco guy I spoke about the experience with was not at all happy that my dealership let someone random deal with me, someone not on their list, and that it ended up in the back-and-forth thing with "my manager".

The process is simple: give them what you're looking for, and they'll pass you along to their local dealer if they have one. (If not, you're screwed.) The dealer will call you to set up a time; you go in and show your Costco card. At that point the sales rep--who is supposed to be authorized by Costco to do this process, remember--shows you the Costco pricing, right there. No back and forth.

I had already drawn up a spreadsheet for all this and had used it at other dealers before I hit the Costco dealer. And like I said, the Costco site showed all incentives, right there. So when she gave me the "it's invoice less $900" price (that she had to go back to her manager and get--whoops!) and said "and we have some incentives on top of that" and came up with a "final" price, I was ready. I knew about the $3500 dealer cash. I plugged it all in and realized she wasn't giving me all the $3500, and she was $1100 higher than my first offer from my first dealer. I told her so. She asked for it in writing--well, what do you know, I happen to have that.

She takes that back to her manager and comes back with, "whoops, um, yeah, well, we were looking at the wrong paperwork" and magically she matches that first offer. That whole BS process is specifically NOT supposed to be part of the Costco process.

Costco will also give you 50% off on accessories, up to $400 off (I think), should you complete their survey. I leveraged that with my selling dealer (who is NOT a Costco dealer) to get the Homelink mirror--installed--for half off.

Costco also gives you 15% off service, accessories, and parts anytime at any Costco dealer or service organization.




The place I bought it from, who gave me a great price right out of the gate (they were the first I went to, and everyone else--even the Costco dealer--was higher), never said "dealer cash". They just gave me a great price right up front.

I find this interesting. I received an email with the Costco approved sales people, but when I got the message from the dealership a few hours later, it was from a lady who is not on that list. Nor does she seem to have much interest in selling me a car via Costco.

I couldn't find anything on the Costco site with the pricing info. I believe the dealership is supposedly going to show me. But at this point, they have pretty much lost me. Not to mention the fact that they told me they had two Sports coming on the 15th and now won't even reply to my emails about those cars in particular.
 
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adam1991

Banned
Location
USA
I find this interesting. I received an email with the Costco approved sales people, but when I got the message from the dealership a few hours later, it was from a lady who is not on that list. Nor does she seem to have much interest in selling me a car via Costco.

yeah, heads up. It's not supposed to work that way. You may call the Costco auto program directly if you have any questions.


I couldn't find anything on the Costco site with the pricing info. I believe the dealership is supposedly going to show me.

That's correct. Costco doesn't have the pricing info; only the dealer's Costco rep has that, and you must go in and show your Costco card in order to get it.

What Costco's site does have is the incentives for all the cars. So once you know the dealer's Costco price, and you throw in the available incentives, you have all the information.

The goal is full transparency.


But at this point, they have pretty much lost me. Not to mention the fact that they told me they had two Sports coming on the 15th and now won't even reply to my emails about those cars in particular.

I don't blame you. I encourage you to call the Costco auto program people and have this discussion with them. They are dead serious about this stuff.
 

Colowyo

Passed Driver's Ed
yeah, heads up. It's not supposed to work that way. You may call the Costco auto program directly if you have any questions.




That's correct. Costco doesn't have the pricing info; only the dealer's Costco rep has that, and you must go in and show your Costco card in order to get it.

What Costco's site does have is the incentives for all the cars. So once you know the dealer's Costco price, and you throw in the available incentives, you have all the information.

The goal is full transparency.




I don't blame you. I encourage you to call the Costco auto program people and have this discussion with them. They are dead serious about this stuff.


Thanks man. I appreciate the info you’ve posted.
 

Flexmoney

New member
Location
OH
OK...a bit confused. So, January is the same incentives as December? Witch is a total of $4000 for both months? Or...was December $3500? (Or, was December 3500 + 500 holiday cash... =$4000)
 

wantone

Ready to race!
Location
Iowa
I work in the industry. You won't see dealer cash from any MFR advertised on a consumer website. VW was supposed to release their new incentive programs last Wednesday, but they extended them twice, so they're probably still updating their site.

Any idea of what 2017 Jetta GLI incentives are? Also I notice even though this new additional $500 has been added from VW, many or most dealers don't lower their online price once it comes out. So internet pricing stays the same. Will dealers balk if we bring this additional $500 up? This happened last time VW changed their incentives. I'm in the DC area and though discounts are large, they never seem to lower their pricing when new incentives come out. Plus the horse hockey double freight charge and massive doc fees.

But I digress.....
 

Colowyo

Passed Driver's Ed
Here is my Costco deal from the dealership.

2018 SE. MSRP $32,740
Handling fee $ 587
Total $33,057
Costco deal $ 1,757 off

Total price of $31,570.

I guess they intend to keep all of the incentives.

I’ll continue shopping for a 2017.
 
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adam1991

Banned
Location
USA
Did you see the incentives listed on Costco's auto buying site?

What are they currently?

Did you ask them about the incentives?
 

Colowyo

Passed Driver's Ed
Did you see the incentives listed on Costco's auto buying site?

What are they currently?

Did you ask them about the incentives?

I didn’t see anything listed. I’m not sure if the $3500 is just for 2017’s. Or the 18’s as well. I’ll have to dive in a little deeper tonight and see what I can find.
 

Shane_Anigans

Drag Race Newbie
Location
SE MI
Car(s)
2017 GTI Sport DSG
OK...a bit confused. So, January is the same incentives as December? Witch is a total of $4000 for both months? Or...was December $3500? (Or, was December 3500 + 500 holiday cash... =$4000)

2017 GTI dealer cash was $3500 from 12/1-1/8 (December was extended by 6 days), with $500 Holiday Bonus cash added later in the month.

However, that's irrelevant, unless you've built a time machine and plan to go back to December to buy a GTI, in which case you need to think bigger and travel back to the 1960s and buy up every Hemi-powered Chrysler product you can get your hands on.
 

CosmosMpower

Ready to race!
Location
Dallas, TX
2017 GTI dealer cash was $3500 from 12/1-1/8 (December was extended by 6 days), with $500 Holiday Bonus cash added later in the month.

However, that's irrelevant, unless you've built a time machine and plan to go back to December to buy a GTI, in which case you need to think bigger and travel back to the 1960s and buy up every Hemi-powered Chrysler product you can get your hands on.

Don’t even need to go that far just buy some f40, Enzo, cgt, p1, laferraris and 997.2 RS 4.0
 
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