Is It Worth it to Pay a Car Buyer’s Agent?

What does it take to be a good car buyer’s agent and what do they do?

Sometimes (rarely) someone will say, “$695? That’s a lot!” However, when you break down ⅓ of what we handle, suddenly $695, which is less than most dealer “junk” fees, seems like a small price to pay for all the supervision* we provide to our clients.  Yet car buyer’s agents do far more than supervising!  First they help you locate the precise vehicle that matches your wants and needs and then they negotiate the price.  The following email to a client is just a small portion of the moving parts a good car buyer’s agent or car concierge takes on on your behalf.

*By supervision, I mean making sure each moving part works as it should.

This email was sent to our client after we searched the east coast for the perfect Ford F250 King Cab for this client’s towing and comfort needs and after we narrowed it down to the one he wanted to buy.

In addition, the following email was sent after all of the due diligence Car Pal gave to the vetting of the truck, such as finding reasons not to buy the truck (used cars are guilty until proven innocent, in our esteem!). Did all tires match? Was the bed liner in place? Are there two keys and an owner’s manual? And many many other vital questions.

Dear Mark,

I just had a great chat with Denise at Coastal.

Wow, we are in such good hands!

When you go to pick up your check from the Crabtree branch next week you will bring a check written to Coastal Credit Union for $1,447.82 for your tax and tags.

They will then do ALL the tag processing for you so you don’t have to go to the DMV. I love these people!

So here is the order of things:

1. I called on the inspection, we’ll have it in an hour.
2. I will review and email it to you.
3. I will use findings to work to negotiate the rest of what we need (no promises, but don’t ask, don’t get!) with Brandon.
4. If we are satisfied, we can proceed with Coastal step 5 below.
5. Go to Coastal on Monday to sign wet signature and bring check for $1447.82 (see above)
6. I’ll have Brandon overnight your papers to sign Monday.
7. Tuesday receive overnight and pop the credit union check and the $10,000 down payment into the return envelope provided by Brandon – also sign docs.
8. Lindsay is on call for you when you sign docs so if questions, Lindsay can answer.
9. Return overnight to Brandon on Tuesday.
10. He receives Wed and allows the shipper to be sent.
11. Lindsay will call the shipper and report that the truck is fully ready and acceptable and they pick it up on Thurs or Fri.
12. Nora will receive call from shipper to find out and coordinate best arrival day and time.
13. Nora will reference this article for receiving shipment
14. Nora will let Lindsay know agreed time of receiving the Ford and Lindsay will be on call by phone for questions receiving shipment.
15. Everything 100% good? Nora will receive email invoice from Loyal Transport and can pay the $500 for shipping by credit or debit card.
16. Everything 100% good, Nora can pay balance owed to Car Pal on Car Pal website.
17. THIS IS MOST IMPORTANT. Any questions even after all accounts settled LINDSAY IS AVAILABLE. Too often something comes up after the purchase — no matter how “tiny” and client doesn’t call Lindsay. We are here forever as your Car Pal! Use us… even if needing answer to a dumb question!
18. If so motivated, please write a short review on Google about your experience with Car Pal.

 

I hope this helps set expectations.

A few moving parts 🙂

 

Best,

Lindsay

As you can see, there are a LOT of steps to make sure you get the exact car, SUV or truck you want and to make sure it arrives safe and sound to your home, office or local dealer.  New vehicles require different but no less important attention to details!

At Car Pal, we handle ALL of the moving parts of your search, purchase and transaction.