It is well known that buying a car can be an uncomfortable experience for many buyers because negotiations and haggling are involved. However, a woman shares a unique workaround that puts the buyer in the driver's seat in negotiations. All you need is a Costco membership. Suzie (@itssuzies25) explains how a Costco membership can be used to negotiate a car price through the Costco Auto Program. Her TikTok sharing the information went viral with over 30,100 views as of this writing. How To Leverage A Costco Auto Program Discount Offer In the TikTok, Suzie explains how the Costco Auto Program can be used to leverage negotiations in the car-buying process. "If you are looking to buy a new car and you want a good deal, but you are nervous about haggling, watch this video," she begins. She breaks down the process into two steps. The first step is to become a Costco member or know someone who can utilize the Costco Auto Program. From here, the car buyer will research cars on the Costco Auto Program within the Costco website. After entering the information for the vehicle you want, Costco will connect you with dealerships that are partnered with them. The dealerships will reach out promptly, or you can contact them. "They should be able to give you a price over the phone. So, this would be the Costco discounted price," she shares. While she says this, the onscreen text reveals, "This particular dealership told me the discount would be $2,050 off any new car." The dealership will say the first price they give is the lowest no-haggle price they can offer, but in Suzie’s experience, this is not the case. Here’s when step two comes into play. After getting the Costco discount price, Suzie suggests calling around to different dealerships to see if they can beat the price. "In my case, that dealership was able to beat the Costco price almost immediately," she reveals. Suzie then took that number back to the Costco dealership to give them the opportunity to beat that number. "Lo and behold, they were now willing to go lower," she shares. With this new discounted Costco price, she went back to the other dealership, which offered a lower price. "At the end of the day, I had two dealerships fighting for my business," she says. It’s important to note that this negotiation needs to take place over the phone. This is because it’s a great way to buy time to call the dealerships in between offers. To buy more time, Suzie uses the "I need to run this by my husband" excuse. "It doesn’t matter if you have a husband, wife, or spouse. You’re just gonna make one up," she shares. This back-and-forth ended up working well for Suzie. She shares how she went with the outside dealership instead of the Costco-partnered dealership. "For reference, the Costco discount price was $38,800 … My final price was $37,500. So the moral of the story is to always use the Costco Auto Program for leverage, but you don’t have to settle for them," Suzie concludes. Commenters Had Logistical Questions Viewers went to the comments section to clarify a few things, and Suzie addressed most of the questions revolving around the car purchase. "I think you can only negotiate so much depending on the brand and car. Like very sought after cars like Toyotas 4Runners and grand highlanders might not lower it that much. Do you mind sharing which car and model were you negotiating?" one TikTok commenter asked. "Yes it depends on the car's demand and popularity. I bought the 2026 Toyota Camry," Suzie answered. "What about the APR?" one asked. "Toyota did a promo APR at the time for 4.99%," she answered. "When you go to the other dealership do you tell them that Costco specifically has a lower price? Or just say another dealership has a lower price?" one asked. "Yes I told them I was shopping around and that one dealership was giving me a Costco discount," she replied. "Are you paying in full? Or are you dropping a deposit," one asked. "I financed with them and they didn’t ask me to put a down payment but I did because I wanted lower monthly payments," Suzie replied. While many other viewers were appreciative of this car-buying tip and said they will use it in the future. How Do Dealerships Decide What The Costco Discount Is? One of the major appeals to using the Costco Auto Program is avoiding in-person haggling and negotiating. This is nice, considering some dealerships will try to pull bait-and-switch tactics, and haggling can be irritating in general. Costco promotes its auto program as taking the stress out of the car-buying process. "With this program, Costco partners with select dealerships to offer its members prearranged, discounted prices on both new and used cars," per Business Insider. By using the Costco Auto program, the Business Insider author got a 25% discount on a new 2025 Toyota RAV4. Many members have found that utilizing this tool simplifies the process and removes the biggest headache with buying a new car. Since each dealership partnership is independent, how are prices determined? "The dealer pays Costco to be part of the program and gets leads from Costco when Costco members use their car-buying program online. As part of the program, the dealer agrees to honor the preset discount shown on their cars for the customer. Each dealer gets to decide how much that discount is and which cars it applies to," one Reddit expert shared. With this, results may vary by location and what the dealership is willing to offer. "None in my area. So sad," one TikTok commenter shared. Considering that Costco preselects dealerships for the program, it’s worth browsing these cars through it. Any extra discount in this economy is always a major win nowadays. Motor1 has contacted Suzie via TikTok direct message and commented on the post. We will update this story if she responds. We want your opinion! What would you like to see on Motor1.com? Take our 3 minute survey. - The Motor1.com Team
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