CarsDirect

Full review
I just traded in my 2004 Toyota Sienna for a 2006, using CarsDirect.com. It was easily the best car buying experienc of my life.

To begin, I knew that Toyota was offering a special $1500 rebate this Labor Day weekend, which was $500 than they've been offering until now. I checked CarsDirect "guaranteed low price," as well as shoppping at a local dealer using the Costco Car Buying service. Costco guarantees $300 above invoice. Well, CarsDirect pricing came in $100 below Costco.

I might have still given the business to our local dealer, but he didn't have the car we wanted on his lot, and couldn't guarantee delivery before the end of the special rebate.

Checking Kelly's Blue Book (www.kbb.com) I found that a good trade in price for our old car would be $16000. This was taking into account the fact that we had low mileage, but a few dings and a broken mirror housing that would need to be repaired before resale. A car in excellent condition with no defects at all should bring in $17,500.

Our CarsDirect representative had me fill out an appraisal form for the car and emphasised that it should include everything the car dealer would find. So, I listed the dent and scratches on the rear hatch, the chips on the running boards, and the cracked mirror housing, fully expecting a $16,000 trade-in quote. I was shocked when he called back a few hours later and said he'd a) found the exact car I was looking for, about 30 miles from my home, and b) the dealer would give me $17,500 for my trade! He said that all the other dealers in our region who had the car had offered $16,000.

I was leery, but then he waived the $250 deposit because of a small paperwork error, and promised that if the car was as described, the quote was good.

To make a long story short, yesterday we drove to the dealer to get the car. It was exactly as described. They gave us the full trade in promised with no games. The made NO attempt to upsell us with special guarantees, paint protection, etc. They gave us $60 in gas cards that had never been mentioned in the deal. And, because the dealer found that we could swap plates rather than having to get new ones, charged us $300 LESS than the promised bottom line price from CarsDirect.

Bottom line? I traded a 2004 Sienna with 18,000 miles for a comparably equipped new 2006, and paid less than $8000 out-of-pocket, including tax and registration fees. How do you beat that!

Of course I'd always do some comparison shopping, but I'd never shop for a new car without checking CarsDirect.com.