CarsDirect

Full review
If you ever bought a car from a dealer, you must know that this can be an unpleasant experience. I bought my first new car from a dealer and while it wasn't too bad (since I did my homework and did not allow a salesperson to treat me like a total fool), for the next time I was planning to eliminate the whole human interaction from the process (if bargaining, listening to salespeople's tales, and waiting for them to bounce between you and sales managers can be called human interaction). I witnessed my friend buying a new Honda Civic from CarsDirect a couple of years ago and liked it very much, so I wanted to try it when I was ready to buy a new 2004 Toyota RAV4.

Before I contacted CarsDirect, I checked other sites (Edmunds, AutoByTel, etc.) but they either advertised higher prices or did not have prices available on-line (most promised to contact customers via e-mail, which was not what I wanted). CarsDirect price was about $200 above invoice. I thought that it was not bad for a high-demand model.

I already tried CarsDirect Web site before, so I knew how it worked and there were no surprises there. I picked the model and options I wanted, verified the price, and submitted the form. I chose 2WD (didn't need 4WD), automatic, upgrade L package (I heard that it had a better interior finish, and it has nice options), moon roof, and several other options. Because I live in a hot climate, I wanted both light-colored exterior and interior, so I picked white or silver exterior and taupe (kind of beige, I assume) interior. (Note: Listed prices for optional features are CarsDirect's prices, not MSRPs. I am not sure why CarsDirect does not have them displayed in two columns to allow customers to see the price difference. In my case, MSRPs listed on the car delivery slip - which I checked after I got the car - were higher.)

In approximately 30 minutes, I got an e-mail response from a CarsDirect representative ("Vehicle Specialist"), who - after receiving my confirmation - gave me a call. About one hour later, I got the info about a car the vehicle specialist was recommending. It was a white/dark charcoal model with most options I needed, although it was not the exact match. I asked the vehicle specialist to check if there were other models and received another (approximate) match. This time it was a silver car. Both cars had roof racks and rear spoilers, which I did not need, and did not have some options I asked for (like daytime running lights). To me these differences were not essential, so I decided to go with one of the two models. (Note: Since CarsDirect simply uses what the participating dealers have, and dealers get what manufacturers make, it is unrealistic to expect to find the exact match on the models, which have many options.) I picked the silver model primarily because I did not want to pay $187 for "special [white] color" (RAV4 L is not offered in regular white, and besides, I already had a white car before, so I wanted something different). Besides, the dealer offering the white model was located further from my home (90 miles) and had to order it from someone else, which should've taken about two days. The major concern for me - in both cases - was dark interior (dark charcoal). Since I haven't seen it, I was afraid that the seats would be too dark and get too hot in summer, but I went forward anyway. (When I got the car, I was pleasantly surprised to see that most of the seat surface was light gray. In fact the interior color was a perfect combination: darker surfaces that are most prone to collecting dirty finger prints and lighter seats.)

Because the options did not exactly match my original selections, the final price I received for the selected model was slightly different, but it was consistent with the price advertised on the Web (I double checked by selecting the same options), so it was still about $200 over invoice. Here is the summary of options I got: 2004 RAV4 Base (M5) FWD, 7JJ unique 5 spoke alloy wheels, upgrade L package, auto transmission, moon roof, 5-piece floor mats (cannot figure out why floor mats are not included in the base option), keyless entry, roof rack, rear spoiler, wheel locks, and cargo net. The final invoice included $21,727.00 (car) + $1,600 (or something like this, CA tax) + $167 (registration fee) + $45 (dealer's documentation fee) + $5 (CA tire fee?!!). I was not sure what the documentation and CA tire fees were for, so I checked the Internet. Apparently, CA tire fee was in response to some law, and since it was such a small amount I did not bother checking further. The documentation fee was a bit strange. From what I can piece together, state allows dealers to charge some fee (not in excess of certain amount) for preparing and submitting registration papers for DMV. Although I read that some customers refuse to pay it (especially when the fee is in the range of $200), $45 for me was a fair amount. After all, the dealer should be compensated for letting me avoid wasting time in the DMV line. I guess, if the fee was higher (like $200) and I was buying directly from the dealer, and I was not getting the best deal, I would have insisted on not paying the documentation fee, but in my case, I did not mind the fee. The total cost was $23,660.33.

The car was at Fairfield Toyota (about 60 miles away from my home), so I was about to make arrangements to get there on Saturday, when CarsDirect specialist notified me that the dealer would deliver it to my house (free of charge!). It could not be true, I thought, there must be some caveat. In fact, there was none. The next day (Saturday), a nice lady and a gentleman from Fairfield Toyota delivered my car to me at the pre-arranged time. The car was in perfect condition (at least, I did not detect any problems) and had a full tank of gas. They gave me a brief overview, let me signed the papers, took the check, and left in about 10-15 minutes.

The total amount of time I spent on the car purchase-related activities (submitting the form, talking on the phone, exchanging e-mails, picking cashier's check in the bank, getting the car) was probably less than two hours. Overall, it took a little over two days: I submitted the form after lunch on Thursday, made final arrangements on Friday, and got the car on Saturday (if I wanted I could've gotten it on Friday). It was a very pleasant experience.

If you are planning to buy a new car, and already know which make/model/trim/options you want, and simply looking for the best (lowest) price and minimum hassle, consider CarsDirect. You must be aware of the following, though. (1) Not all makes/models are cheap. While you can get some cars from CarsDirect for the amount below the invoice price (how do they do this?), models which availability is constrained by high demand and low supply are not likely to be bargains. Prices for popular makes/models (such as Honda Civic, Honda Accord, etc) should be reasonable. Before ordering a car from CarsDirect, check other sites (such as Edmunds) and see their prices. (2) When picking optional features, do not expect to find the exact match. When submitting a form or talking to your vehicle specialist, explain which options you absolutely need, which ones you absolutely do not need, and be ready to compromise. Remember that you are not ordering a car from the manufacturer; you are simply looking at what is available on the lots. (3) Because CarsDirect operates on narrow margins (given generally low prices, I assume they do), they try to make up selling additional products and services. You will be asked to consider financing, extra warranty, some kind of anti-theft program, etc. Do your homework and determine whether you need these products/services/options in advance. If you are not interested, just say so. (4) I read a review from a customer, who was very unhappy with the assigned vehicle specialist. I have nothing to complaint about, but I believe that this can happen, and if it does, it can ruin the whole experience. Although, CarsDirect operates online, most of the work is still done by humans. It would be nice if they provided an interface to browse the cars matching your criteria before contacting the specialist, but right now this is done by a person on another line. This person can have a bad day, be not in the mood, lazy in general, or who knows what. If you are not happy with the vehicle specialist, I suggest talking to the manager and asking to assign you another specialist.

Good luck!