CarsDirect

Full review
Went to CarsDirect to find my new Chevy Impala but wasn't impressed, as the 'vehicle expert' on the other end was simply searching the Chevrolet website for inventory.

Now, I don't know much about cars, but after researching this vehicle for about a day, I was disappointed to learn that I knew much more about this vehicle than the 'expert' (i.e. the colors of interior, engine sizes, exterior paint colors available; something an expert should probably have know before attempting to sell this vehicle).

Unfortnately, I found the 'car lot games' were employed by the CarsDirect person I spoke with. When I found the vehicle I was looking for, they tried to offer me high financing rates and told me I didn't qualify for the 0% offer that was running. They told me that this was an excellent deal and that if they were me, they'd take it and run.

On my wife's suggestion (knowing that our credit was good to excellent), we went to a dealership and were offered 0% financing on the spot, had a great experience with the sales staff and got the exact car we wanted (by searching Chevy's dealer inventory online) for a price we could afford.

One positive for CarsDirect is that the salespeople don't seem pushy or overbearing - something you may experience at a dealership. The CarsDirect rep contaced us and waited for a response before doing any legwork. Another is that by using their online pricing with options, you can get a decent idea of what you should be paying for the car (without tax, tag, title etc.) However, I'd recommend using edmunds.com's true market value (TMV) pricing report which provides more reliable purchase price.