Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Amazon Vehicles

amazon.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

131–140 of 258 posts

Re: Amazon Vehicles

#131

Post by LaMarseillaise »

rudedogg wrote: post #88

Has anyone used Costco to buy a new vehicle? Their program isn't direct or anything, but you're supposed to get better prices than working with a dealership directly. I've been curious how much below invoice they are. The closest one is 4 hours away from me, so I'm not a member (and can't see prices).

I used to work for the group that operates this service. They claimed that the prices were the lowest possible about 95% of the time. People would often say that they negotiated a lower price on their own, but this was more often due to them choosing a different vehicle or not following the process (never underestimate a car salesperson). I did not look over prices very much myself, but they could vary greatly between dealerships in different parts of the country.

Re: Amazon Vehicles

#133

Post by billhathaway »

bluedino wrote: post #69
hardwaresofton wrote: post #27

Yes please. Anything that will get us closer to direct-to-consumer sales of cars. I'm ready for car dealerships to be a relic of the past.

You need the dealership to handle the trade-in of your used vehicle. Selling to a private buyer can be (but isn't always) a pain.

You can also go to a business like Car Max which will give you a quote for your used vehicle which is good for 7 days. Take the quote with you when going to buy a new car. If the dealer doesn't want to match the Car Max quote as trade-in value, then don't trade in, and sell your car to Car Max.

Re: Amazon Vehicles

#134

Post by superuser2 »

swang wrote: post #25
paulrosenzweig wrote: post #7

I wonder if once Tesla fights back all the local monopoly regulation around dealerships, this will naturally transition to an online car dealership. They'll have to figure out test drives though.

easy. just crowdsource the test drives.

Personally I find driving a car from Getaround for a little while more illuminating than a dealer test drive.

OTOH, this doesn't do much for specific used cars.

Re: Amazon Vehicles

#136

Post by thearn4 »

simonsarris wrote: post #4

Before you laugh that you'd never use this to buy a car, it may be worth taking the time to find your make/model and add it to your "Garage" on amazon. Amazon will then try to confirm or not if the cabin air filter you are about to buy is a correct fit for your car. Amazon tries to do the same thing with camera gear. At least, that's the theory. In practice you still need to do 100% of the due diligence or you'll end…

It seems to work somewhat well. I bought a set of brake rotors that were 100% great, but a replacement wiper motor that ended up being for the wrong model. I wonder to what degree third party sellers are required to verify fit information.

Re: Amazon Vehicles

#137

Post by thearn4 »

ThomPete wrote: post #60
simonsarris wrote: post #4

Before you laugh that you'd never use this to buy a car, it may be worth taking the time to find your make/model and add it to your "Garage" on amazon. Amazon will then try to confirm or not if the cabin air filter you are about to buy is a correct fit for your car. Amazon tries to do the same thing with camera gear. At least, that's the theory. In practice you still need to do 100% of the due diligence or you'll end…

Do you know if there is a stand alone service like "Your Garage" somewhere?

Most auto parts sites have something along these lines.

Rock Auto is my go-to for most parts. Example, for my 2012 civic:

http://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/honda,2012,civic,1.8l+l4,...

Re: Amazon Vehicles

#138

Post by ghaff »

Analemma_ wrote: post #50
hardwaresofton wrote: post #27

Yes please. Anything that will get us closer to direct-to-consumer sales of cars. I'm ready for car dealerships to be a relic of the past.

The thing is, we almost had this already with Saturn. There were dealerships, but all the cars had fixed prices- no haggling- so it was almost direct-to-consumer, with a bit of added tax for the useless middleman. It was great! But it built up too much resentment at the rest of GM so it had to be killed. It sucks that we're just now starting to get the future we already had, but better late than never.

Some individual dealers are no-haggle with "fair" (discounted of MSRP). Some brands may be as well--Scion possibly?

The problem is that people love to complain but a lot will simply walk if they go into a dealer and are told the price is the price. There are also still financing and trade-in games that most people don't have the luxury of simply ignoring--in part because they're trying to get themselves into a car they can't really afford.

Re: Amazon Vehicles

#139

Post by hehheh »

qntty wrote: post #24

How do I buy one? I don't see an "add to cart" button anywhere.

It's unlikely they'll add an add to cart button any time soon. They could work out deals to refer you to local dealers, however.
Post reply on HN