USAA for buying new car?

[MAJPLO]

I know this is a pretty old thread, but I think there are still people out there who have used the USAA car buying service and, hopefully, can answer my question. The price indicated on the USAA car buying certificate shows the price listed on the USAA car buying service plus about $80 for dealer doc fees. After that there will still be tax, licensing, and registration to pay, correct? What are the chances that we could negotiate to make the certificate price the "out the door" price? We also have a trade in and I'm a little nervous about that. This is for a used vehicle through the USAA car buying service, if that makes any difference.

 

[tvguy]

A transmission at that mileage isn't a big surprise. If the car is in decent shape, I'd just do the transmission. Depending on your sales tax rate and license fees, the tax and license alone on another car will be more than that. Or shop around for a better price on the transmission. Most cars should run about $2,000, not $3,400

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

I used the USAA car buying service for my 2013 VW Tiguan. I wanted a specific color and trim level and wasn't willing to differ from those. It was really helpful in me finding the best possible deal, but I was also willing to travel a bit to pick the car up. I live in Michigan but I got the car in Wisconsin, about 2 hours from my parent's house in Illinois. I was able to get the car "out the door" at the certificate price. I didn't pay any additional dealer fees or license fees. But when I brought the car back to Michigan, I did have to pay the taxes. In the end, I saved $5000 off the retail price. I also financed the car with USAA too, so I didn't have to worry about the dealership financing. USAA also reduced the APR by 0.5% when I used the car buying service. I was really happy with the experience because I did not have to haggle over the price.

When DH gets his new car next year, we plan to use USAA again.