I'm starting to research new cars, hopefully purchasing in a few months. I came across zag.com in another forum.

It's basically a service (through bigger companies such as USAA, Bank of America, AMEX, etc) that gives you a set, no-haggle price on a new car that you configure. "Certified" dealers, that pay to be in the program, are required to honor that price.

The prices I was getting were well below invoice on a few different models that I configured. Now, I know dealer costs can be well below invoice, with manufacturer incentives and holdbacks.

So I did some research on the site and, although I haven't found a bad experience, I've only found a handful of success stories (those who completed the process, ending with a purchase). There were more saying they were contacted by the dealers saying they'll honor that price, but went no further.

It's somewhat surprising since deals are pretty good; I'd expect it to spread by word of mouth pretty quickly, with more success stories floating around.

So has anyone purchased through this program, or know someone who has?

 

I haven't done so but it kind of sounds like Truecar.com. When I'm ready to buy I'll be trying one of these sites. I suppose test driving the cars you're interested in comes first, then when you're ready to pull the trigger, you go to one of these sites.

 

I just browsed Truecar.com and for the most part, I'm getting the same price. I'll definitely be test driving before sending contact info to the dealers. Just wanted to get a feel and prep the finances.

 

Why not just aggregate the info, walk into the dealer and have them beat the number? You could very well be leaving money, special one-time incentives, etc on the table by using these sites.

These sites are made for people who don't want to negotiate. If that's you, then go for it.

 

I used the site to get the highest price I would possibly pay and had no problem beating their lowest price for my Mom's recent car and mine. We did find an outrageous price on a car for my mom from a dealer in Jersey who after calling to put a CC payment down to hold the car told us that they wouldn't honor the price on the website. I emailed the website owners and they wrote back (months later) saying they would investigate the dealer as they aren't allowed to refuse a price on the certificate from the site so long as the car is the exact same.

 

I'll keep that in mind. This is still early. It's not like I'm going to take that price, fill in the amount in my check book and hand it to the dealer. I'm definitely going to negotiate.

Just making sure I get my research on all the options out there down before anything. Yea, I know... haha

 

This is partly why I'm skeptical. Some of the prices are outrageous. Sucks they didn't honor it for you. Thanks for sharing.

 

I've also ran into this on another forum, and some people say they do use it. I believe it will tell you if the dealer will accept it.

Another good way i heard is to send emails to all the dealers interested and mention that you sent this email to multiple dealers and is looking for this car with these options. Best price and incentives will get the sale.

Of course write it better, I have no reason too. But that should give you an idea.