I do NOT recommend CU Auto Solution. Although their logo-motto reads "Low Prices Ahead " & their website boasts that Auto Solution "can often negotiate the purchase price at or near dealer invoice or wholesale so you save big!" I very nearly lost a couple thousand dollars to them. Please read what follows if you're interested in specific details. I also informed my credit union about my bad experience, as they originally referred me to them.
My sincere advice to anybody planning to deal with this company: PRACTICE DUE DILIGENCE. At the bare minimum, check Kelly Blue Book online for values and for cars currently for sale.
As for myself, I had contacted CU Auto Solution online & an Auto Broker rep phoned back pretty quickly. The woman seemed nice & asked for more details on what I wanted. Proceeded to tell me I was looking for a "unicorn"... meaning something hard to find and especially in the $10,000 range I specified. So I said I'd consider a slightly higher price if need be. I give this company one star extra for her timely & pleasant first call.
I asked what their service would cost me and she said no cost to me. She'd get paid $150, which wouldn't be my expense. In a subsequent email I asked her "How does this whole process work?" I was never informed of any other included cost - not by her or their website - whether it be for inspections, warranty?, delivery?, whatever. Their service was introduced to me as one of the benefits of being a credit union member.
Soon after her call, she emailed me about a car she found: met my requirements and beyond...in "immaculate" condition...price of $12, 900. Sounded good, notwithstanding the higher price. I was seriously considering it.
Wrote her back with some questions, including "Is this price negotiable? How do I make an offer?" Her answer: "The price is already negotiated so you don't make an offer the price is what it is."
Okay. But doing minimal "due diligence," I checked Kelly Blue Book online. Entered every detail she gave me, top of the line, low mileage, etc. The highest Dealer Fair Market Price came in at $10,953...Fair Purchase Price was $9,683. Spot on to what I had asked for and quite a bit less than the "pre-negotiated" $12,900 price I was given.
Then I clicked on Kelly Blue Book's similar cars in my area currently for sale. Wow. There was the EXACT same car she described, even down to the same color. Had the same mileage, was the same model... identical features, year, condition...and sitting on a Dealer lot in the very town she said the car came from! Asking price? $11,530. And that's before any "negotiating" at all.
On the same day, but before I was able to email her back, she wrote me again. "It sold to someone else." That's all it said. Not very professional, in my opinion. Nothing to soften the blow of "losing out." No offer to continue looking for me and didn't even ask if I'd like her to.
Emailed the other car dealership about the car I found on Kelly Blue Book's website to see if it was still available. They replied it had just sold a little before I emailed. Almost certainly, this was the same car that Auto Solutions was offering. If so, I could have purchased it directly from the dealer for a minimum of $1,370 LESS. More likely, a negotiated price (which is the norm) would have saved me closer to $2,000! If it was not the same vehicle, then it was an identical twin "unicorn" at a significantly lower price. Thanks, but no thanks to "Low Prices Ahead" CU Auto Solution. read more