All other financial considerations aside, my wife wants our cars to be new, off the lot. Minding the axiom that a happy wife equals a happy life, that trumps all the other very good financial reasons to buy used.
We bought our last car through a service called Cartelligent. The company’s pitch is that they deal directly with the owners of car dealerships, bypassing all the salesperson commissions. The idea, according to our rep, is that supposedly Cartelligent promises dealers volume and in exchange, they give Cartelligent a price such that, even with Cartelligent’s commission, the price you pay is better than you could get through a dealership.
While we did not go through the two rounds of bidding suggested by your Car Buying series, we did email local dealerships with our Mini Cooper configuration, and Cartelligent’s price did beat them all.
In addition, even if we didn’t get the absolute rock bottom price, using Cartelligent saved me the hassles of going through the back-and-forth outlined in the Car Buying series (that attempt by the dealer to add the last minute fee would have driven me through roof) at what seemed to be a reasonably low price comparatively speaking.
I would love to know what you (or others) think about services like this. I am concerned about my finances, but at a certain point, my time becomes more valuable than getting the absolute best deal.
That said, I haven’t really seen any discussion of these types of services on financial sites, and that makes me curious. If I’m somehow being taken advantage of in some way that I am not aware, I would want to know.
Thanks for your website!
