Is a car buying service right for you?

Shopping for a new car or truck can be an intimidating process — especially when it comes to negotiating the price.

If you don't relish the prospect of heavy haggling at multiple dealerships, you may want to explore a car buying service.

Typical car buying services act as a bargaining middleman, with a goal of securing competitive bids from dealerships near you. Although dedicated car shoppers may fare well on their own, these services are designed to find you a good deal with minimal effort.

Generally, there's no out-of-pocket expense required. Instead, car buying services profit from fees received from the dealerships seeking your business.

More car buying clout

When shopping for a new vehicle on your own, you represent a single potential sale. A salesperson also may not be able to tell if you're serious about buying.

When you work with a car buying service, you change those dynamics. Some services work with thousands of dealerships nationwide. So, dealers are encouraged to offer competitive pricing to the services to keep business flowing their way.

Using a service signals that you're not what car dealers refer to as a lookie-loo, a person not interested in buying. That means dealerships will be motivated to avoid losing you to a competitor.

A car buying service may be the right choice if you want to save money and time as well as reduce your anxiety.

Save money.

If you're not confident in your ability to research the market and outwit and outlast car dealers, a service potentially could save you thousands off the sticker price.

Save time.

Hunting for a great price demands detailed research and contacting multiple dealerships to gather competing bids. You may need to repeat the process, informing each dealer what the others have quoted to make them consider reducing their price.

Not all services are equal.

Some websites offer what looks like a car buying service, but it's something quite different.

Like a legitimate service, these sites will guide you through building a new car, having you select the make, model and features you want. But rather than securing firm prices on your behalf, they'll simply sell your information to dealerships — and possibly even insurance companies. You can then expect a steady bombardment of phone calls, emails and snail mail.

Rather than acting as an advocate to broker a solid deal, some of these sites are in the business of selling sales leads. If you don't carefully study what they're offering, you may not realize their true intentions.

Less effort to close the deal

If you decide to use a car buying service, you'll still have work to do. Because the process requires you to specify what you're looking for in a vehicle, it's important to narrow your choices to one or two makes and models.

Although getting prequalified or preapproved is not required, it can simplify car buying. Different lenders have different preapproval and prequalification definitions and processes. Be sure to check your bank's requirements. Also, some car buying services offer a discounted loan rate in exchange for closing the deal through them.

The USAA Advice Center provides general advice, tools and resources to guide your journey. Content may mention products, features or services that USAA Federal Savings Bank does not offer. The information contained is provided for informational purposes only and is not intended to represent any endorsement, expressed or implied, by USAA or any affiliates. All information provided is subject to change without notice.