Woman reveals how Costco membership is the secret weapon for beating car dealerships at their own game

People are always trying to figure out how to buy cars. It’s an intricate process that could mean you get a car that quickly breaks down after the deal is done, or even a situation where you end up overpaying for a car that’s past its prime. A user on TikTok told her followers that the secret has been hiding in plain sight all along. Turns out all you need is a Costco membership.

These days, car payments skyrocketing have everyone reconsidering the brand-new market and instead relying on the ever-so-reliable secondhand market. After all, most drivers will be quick to remind anyone within earshot that older models were just built better. But that market has one considerable disadvantage — nobody can ever quite figure out how to negotiate a price they feel comfortable with.

Suzie (@itssuzies25) took to TikTok to explain how a Costco membership might be the answer to your problem if you’re having such issues. Suzie’s video started off with the enticing lede: “If you are looking to buy a new car and you want a good deal, but you are nervous about haggling, watch this video.” Then she says the very first thing you need to do is get a Costco membership.

If you can’t do that, just find someone who already has access to the Costco Auto Program. From that point, you can easily search for whichever car you might be interested in within the Costco Auto Program. Once you find the car you want, Costco will direct you to the nearest dealership with that model in stock. From that point on, the dealerships themselves will reach out to you with their price offers.

But here’s the rub: according to motor1 Suzie shared that a whole new world opened up once she used the program. While showing texts on her phone, she explained, “They should be able to give you a price over the phone. So, this would be the Costco discounted price. This particular dealership told me the discount would be $2,050 off any new car.”

That’s only step one. Suzie shared that after she haggled with the dealership to lower the price — she would then reach out to different dealerships with the Costco Auto Program’s final price and ask them whether they could beat it. More often than not, it turns out they could. If you like, you can even take that number back to Costco dealerships and spark a little price war. As long as you make sure you check the Carfax, this is an excellent way to do business.

Suzie told her followers that she ended up getting a significant price cut, saying: “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.”

In the comments, there were people saying this only works with common and in-demand brands. Which is definitely something to take note of — this might not work out as well for a luxury buy. But most people who see the time you’d require to pull this off as worth it are the ones who need the discount the most.