Are car buying services worth it?
I have used car buying services through Costco and USAA.  Twice with a Ford, and once with a Honda.  In all instances I was directed to sales people that were uncommonly friendly and pleasant to work with.  I was given a deep discount without any negotiation.  In two of the three cases I did not have a trade.  In one case I had a trade, and negotiated a deeper discount then was originally offered.   Did I get a good deal?  Eh, who knows?  Really it depends what your goal is.   If your goal is to avoid negotiation, avoid idiot salesmen, and receive a good discount then a quality car buying service may be for you.  My research, a few years old, indicated Costco's program was better then the USAA one. If your goal is get a deep as a discount as possible on a new car, well then you have some work cut out for you.  Keep some hand sanitizer handy when you meet one of the slime ball salesmen.  Keep in mind that not everyone understand the difference between the words value and cheap. If your goal is to pay as little as possible for quality transportation.  Avoid most dealers and new cars. But I don't think that is what you are looking for. I haven't heard of these before!  (And I'm on the board of a Credit Union.) The 0.99% on loans is great.  It's especially great on a used car: the steep part of the depreciation curve was paid by the first owner. The network probably have a business relationship with the credit union.  Credit unions do indirect lending -- approval of loans that happens at the point of sale, which then the credit union gets as assets. Depending on the cost of that program, it probably won't hurt.  Your credit union wants to keep your business, because they know that you have a lot of options for where you bank and where you get loans. The buying service your credit union uses is similar to the one my credit union uses. I have used their service several times. There is no direct cost to use the service, though the credit union as a whole might have a fee to join the service. I have used it 4 times over the decades. If you know what make and model you want to purchase, or at least have it narrowed down to just a few choices, you can get an exact price for that make, model, and options. You do this before negotiating a price. You are then issued a certificate. You have to go to a specific salesman at a specific dealership, but near a large city there will be several dealers to pick from.  There is no negotiating at the dealership. You still have to deal with a trade in, and the financing option: dealer, credit union, or cash. But it is nice to not have to negotiate on the price. Of course there is nobody to stop you from using the price from the buying service as a goal when visiting a more conveniently located dealership, that is what I did last time. The first couple of times I used the standard credit union financing, and the last time I didn't need a loan. Even if you don't use the buying service, one way to pay for the car is to get the loan from the credit union, but get the rebate from the dealer. Many times if you get the low dealer financing you can't get the rebate. Doing it this way actually saves money. Speaking of rebates see how the buying service addresses them. The big national rebates  were still honored during at least one of my purchases. So it turned out to be the buying service price minus $1,000. If your service worked like my experience, the cost to you was a little time to get the price, and a little time in a different dealer to verify that the price was good. Depends on how you value your time.  These programs do not say they will get you the lowest basement price; they say you get a reasonable price without negotiation.  This is true. Use a service.  Pick out the car you want and spend less than an afternoon picking up your vehicle.  You don't have to fret or do all of the price research or comparison shopping because that is what the service does for you. Since you have to pick a make and model before you begin AND because you need to arrange your financing at a credit union before you being (regardless of a buying service) I don't think they actually work out financially for most folks. My anecdote: Because we were buying an already inexpensive new car, the Costco pre-negotiated discount was just a few hundred bucks.  The discount is different for each car (naturally).  Our base model was terrific in consumer reports, but the sticker price doesn't leave dealerships a lot of room for profit to start with. We ended up saving a couple thousand dollars by skipping the Costco program and following these tips from JohnFX:  What are some tips for getting the upper hand in car price negotiations? But we did it all over email.  We emailed any dealership we could find online that was in driving distance. (There were literally dozens of dealerships to choose from.)  We made a new, throw away email address and starting to ask for a lower price.  Whenever we got a lower price, we simply asked the others to beat it.  All over email.  It only took a few days, we know we got a low price and the stress really wasn't a factor.  (A couple of the salespeople got a little rude, but it was over the email so we didn't care or fret.) I had time to kill, and the extra hassle and effort saved me much more money. "I went through the Costco program for the so-called ""no-hassle"" bargain price when I bought my Prius. According to other Prius owners that I've met on forums and TrueCar's web site, I paid ""average."" Lots of people in my area managed to negotiate a better price by $1-2k. So much for getting a deal. I do not plan to use Costco to buy another vehicle again."
Since no one else answered this part of your question yet:  Checking your own credit score or report will not affect it in any way.  It only hurts you when someone looks it up to run a credit check at your request for the purpose of possibly getting a loan, for example a car dealership. This only hurts it a tiny bit, and is not worth worrying about unless you are going to 20 different car dealerships who each do a check. However, it is a good idea not to let them run your credit until you are seriously ready to buy a car. In fact, it is better to just get financing somewhere else and not let them run it at all. "The two questions inherent in any decision to purchase an insurance plan is, ""how likely am I to need it?"", and ""what's the worst case scenario if I don't have it?"". The actuary that works for the insurance company is asking these same questions from the other end (with the second question thus being ""what would we be expected to have to pay out for a claim""), using a lot of data about you and people like you to arrive at an answer. It really boils down to little more than a bet between you and the insurance company, and like any casino, the insurer has a house edge. The question is whether you think you'll beat that edge; if you're more likely than the insurer thinks you are to have to file a claim, then additional insurance is a good bet. So, the reasons you might decide against getting umbrella insurance include: Your everyday liability is low - Most people don't live in an environment where the ""normal"" insurance they carry won't pay for their occasional mistakes or acts of God. The scariest one for most is a car accident, but when you think of all the mistakes that have to be made by both sides in order for you to burn through the average policy's liability limits and still be ruined for life, you start feeling better. For instance, in Texas, minimum insurance coverage levels are 50/100/50; assuming neither party is hurt but the car is a total loss, your insurer will pay the fair market value of the car up to $50,000. That's a really nice car, to have a curbside value of 50 grand; remember that most cars take an initial hit of up to 25% of their sticker value and a first year depreciation of up to 50%. That 50 grand would cover an $80k Porsche 911 or top-end Lexus ES, and the owner of that car, in the U.S. at least, cannot sue to recover replacement value; his damages are only the fair market value of the car (plus medical, lost wages, etc, which are covered under your two personal injury liability buckets). If that's a problem, it's the other guy's job to buy his own supplemental insurance, such as gap insurance which covers the remaining payoff balance of a loan or lease above total loss value. Beyond that level, up into the supercars like the Bentleys, Ferraris, A-Ms, Rollses, Bugattis etc, the drivers of these cars know full well that they will never get the blue book value of the car from you or your insurer, and take steps to protect their investment. The guys who sell these cars also know this, and so they don't sell these cars outright; they require buyers to sign ""ownership contracts"", and one of the stipulations of such a contract is that the buyer must maintain a gold-plated insurance policy on the car. That's usually not the only stipulation; The total yearly cost to own a Bugatti Veyron, according to some estimates, is around $300,000, of which insurance is only 10%; the other 90% is obligatory routine maintenance including a $50,000 tire replacement every 10,000 miles, obligatory yearly detailing at $10k, fuel costs (that's a 16.4-liter engine under that hood; the car requires high-octane and only gets 3 mpg city, 8 highway), and secure parking and storage (the moguls in Lower Manhattan who own one of these could expect to pay almost as much just for the parking space as for the car, with a monthly service contract payment to boot). You don't have a lot to lose - You can't get blood from a turnip. Bankruptcy laws typically prevent creditors from taking things you need to live or do your job, including your home, your car, wardrobe, etc. For someone just starting out, that may be all you have. It could still be bad for you, but comparing that to, say, a small business owner with a net worth in the millions who's found liable for a slip and fall in his store, there's a lot more to be lost in the latter case, and in a hurry. For the same reason, litigious people and their legal representation look for deep pockets who can pay big sums quickly instead of $100 a month for the rest of their life, and so very few lawyers will target you as an individual unless you're the only one to blame (rare) or their client insists on making it personal. Most of your liability is already covered, one way or the other - When something happens to someone else in your home, your homeowner's policy includes a personal liability rider. The first two ""buckets"" of state-mandated auto liability insurance are for personal injury liability; the third is for property (car/house/signpost/mailbox). Health insurance covers your own emergency care, no matter who sent you to the ER, and life and AD&D insurance covers your own death or permanent disability no matter who caused it (depending on who's offering it; sometimes the AD&D rider is for your employer's benefit and only applies on the job). 99 times out of 100, people just want to be made whole when it's another Average Joe on the other side who caused them harm, and that's what ""normal"" insurance is designed to cover. It's fashionable to go after big business for big money when they do wrong (and big business knows this and spends a lot of money insuring against it), but when it's another little guy on the short end of the stick, rabidly pursuing them for everything they're worth is frowned on by society, and the lawyer virtually always walks away with the lion's share, so this strategy is self-defeating for those who choose it; no money and no friends. Now, if you are the deep pockets that people look for when they get out of the hospital, then a PLP or other supplemental liability insurance is definitely in order. You now think (as you should) that you're more likely to be sued for more than your normal insurance will cover, and even if the insurance company thinks the same as you and will only offer a rather expensive policy, it becomes a rather easy decision of ""lose a little every month"" or ""lose it all at once""." Getting a Car serviced on timely basis and Emission Test Woodbridge will ensure you're every journey a happy and safe journey every time. One of the important stuffs of car service is to get Oil changed at Woodbridge Oil Change, Also Emission Test of your car will give a health report of your car’s engine, if you find problem in running, driving or proper functioning your car first thing you should take your car at proper service station, once it done next is to get the Emission Test on priority basis. Many Car Owners do not go or avoid Emission Test as they never suspected any problems, but they realize importance and necessity of getting Emission Test done when they meet major breakdowns during journey. This is also important to understand when you should go for Emission Test; If you are already facing obvious problems, go for repair assistance first, this will save your money and time too because without repair your car will not pass the emission test and you will have to spend money by paying fees for Emission Test. Mobil 1 Express of Woodbridge will make your money worth paying by keeping in mid of your car’s need, Team available for car’s best service at Woodbridge Mobil 1 Express is always helpful to their client. Experts in Woodbridge Car Oil Change suggest getting Oil Change at every 5,000 miles for the best performance and if you have not changed it within last 5000 miles you should not go for Emission Test directly before changing Car Oil, with such needful suggestions Team of Mobil 1 Express will take care of your money and your car too this will support in getting pass the Emission Test Result. "This is ""incentive financing"". Simply put, the car company isn't in the business of making money by buying government bonds. They're in the business of making money by selling cars. If you are ""qualified"" from a credit standpoint, and want to buy a $20k car on any given Sunday, you'll typically be offered a loan of between 6% and 9%. Let's say this loan is for three years and you can offer $4000 down payment and/or trade. The required monthly payment on the remaining $16k at the high end of 9% is $508.80, which over 3 years means you'll pay $2,316.64 in interest. Now, that may sound like a good chunk of change, and for the ordinary individual, it is, possibly enough that you decide not to buy today. Now, let's say, all other things being equal, that the company is offering 0.9% incentive financing. Same price, same down payment, same loan term. Your payments over 3 years decrease to $450.64, and over the same loan term you would only pay $222.97 in interest. You save over $2,093.67 in interest over three years, which for you is again a decent chunk of change. Theoretically, the car company's losing that same $2,093.67 in interest by offering this deal, and depending on how it's getting the money it lends you (most financial companies are middlemen, getting money from bond-buying investors who expect a rate of return), that could be a real loss and not just opportunity cost. But, that incentive got you to walk in their door, and not their competitor's. It helped convince you to buy the $20,000 car. The gross margin on that car (price minus direct costs) is typically 20% for the dealer, plus another 20% for the manufacturer, so by giving up the $2,000 on the financing side, the dealer and manufacturer just earned themselves 4 times that much. On top of that, by buying that car, you're committing to buy the parts for the car, a side business with even higher margins, of which the car company gets a pretty big chunk. You may even be required to use dealer service while the car's under warranty in order to keep the warranty valid, another cha-ching. When you get right down to it, the loss from the incentive financing is drowned in the gross profits they make from selling the car to you. Now, in reality, it's a fine balance. The percentages I mentioned are gross margins (EBITDASG&A - Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, Amortization, Sales, General and Administrative costs; basically, just revenue minus direct cost of goods sold). Add in all these side costs and you get a net margin of only about 3.5% of revenue, so your $20k car purchase may only make the car company's stakeholders $700 on the sale, plus slightly higher net margins on parts and service over the life of the car. Because incentive financing is typically only offered through the company's own financing subsidiary, the loss isn't in the form of a cost paid, but simply a revenue not realized, but it can still move a car company from net positive to net negative earnings if the program is too successful. This is why not everyone does it, and not all at the same time; if you're selling enough cars without it, why give away money?  Typically, these incentives are offered for two reasons; to clear out old cars or excess inventory, or to maintain ground against a competitor's stronger sales numbers. Keeping cars on a lot ready to sell is expensive, and so is not having your brand driving around on the street turning heads and imprinting their name on the minds of potential customers." Most of the people I know that own them are slightly older, and thus in their prime earning years, and many have paid off their homes. That can free up $1000 a month or more in monthly expenses, which would easily cover a nice luxury car payment.  If you've got it, and are into cars, why not? What's the point in having the biggest tombstone in the graveyard? It is a good opportunity in Johor Bahru where you buy the used car in best condition, we have every car certified by our expert team. If you want to save the money to buy the car in new condition it is a perfect place for you. Now, it has been become a very popular place in Kebun second hand car dealer.  On the off chance that you have thoughts to purchase an utilized car, the initial step includes endeavoring to locate the trustable second hand car dealer that fits your funds. You can sift through the chase in light of different parameters comprising Masai second hand car dealer. "Suggested way to make the decision to repair or buy: Figure out what it will cost to repair your car. (If necessary, pay a garage to evaluate it ""as if your daughter was interested in buying it"".) Then think about whether you would pay that much to buy a car just like yours but without those problems. If the answer is yes, fixing it us probably your most cost-effective choice, even if it is a big bill. If the answer is no, consider a used car, and again have the mechanic check it for any lurking horrors before committing to buy it. That avoids the ""proprty-line tax"" where a new car loses a significant percentage of its value the moment it leaves the dealership. An almost-toy car us virtually indistinguishable from a new car, costs much less, and realistically has about the same expected life span. I bought a new car once -- at about $300 over the dealer's real (as opposed to sticker) cost, since I was willing to take the one he was stuck with from the previous model year. (Thank you, Consumer Reports, for providing the dealer's cost info and making this a five-minute transaction.) If it hadn't suffered flood damage I'd probably still be driving it, and even so I sorta regret not pricing what it would have cost go completely replace the engine. If you really plan to drive it until it is completely unrepairable, you may be able to justify a new car... But realistically buying a one- or two-year-old car would have been a better choice." Ramsey promotes Growth mutual funds and says he can screen out examples of good funds with a solid history of 10% returns in a couple of minutes on Morningstar.  The 12% in the video is fairly unrealistic, but 10% or 8% are realistic, especially when you buy into the market every month at all levels rather than chasing winners (buying high). At 10% you will still get $3 million in 40 years, and at 8% you'll get $1.5 million. You need to make sure you include reinvestment of dividends as well as mere price appreciation in these calculations of returns on investment. So yes, you could probably drive really nice cars this way without breaking the bank. Like any financial endeavor, this requires hard work, patience and discipline. The actual work in this case would be fairly minimal in comparison to the patience and discipline: If you get really lucky, you might end up with millions of dollars 40 years from now. If a health disaster, job loss, children's college, etc. strikes then you it might save you from financial ruin. Both are better than the rat race I agree his predictions are too rosy, but this ad is an emotional sales pitch designed to change goals and behavior. Compare it to the psychology and unrealistic claims in some of the auto commercials you see on TV.