Should I use car buying programs through Costco, USAA, NavyFed, etc?

I am looking to purchase a 2013 GTI driver's edition, manual, and new (getting harder to find them but still a few left in my area -- maryland).

I've been looking at these 'no-hassle' programs through places like Costco, USAA, Navy Federal, etc. They seem to base their prices completely on TrueCar.com.

TrueCar is showing a target price of 28,726 in my area, yet all over these forums I read about GTI's going for on average 26,500.

If anyone has any experience with these programs, should I start with them or should I just go directly to the dealers to get the best price?

Also on a complete side note, it seems like 2013 Autobahn editions are nowhere to be found -- I assume they were limited quantity and have since sold out. Is that true?

2013

The programs you mentioned are good. You can also use Carprousa.com. If there is a dealer I your area affiliated with Carprousa, you can deal directly with a sales manager.

I however have found doing pricing research on the net and offering $200-$500 above dealer cost usually results in a deal. My latest purchase a couple weeks ago was a brand new 2013 Wolfsburg, automatic, with leather for $22900. Never act to motivated, take your time and do your research! Good luck with your new ride!

I purchased my car as a CPO last year but used USAA's car buying program. They offered a great rate and reduced it even further since I financed and have my insurance through them. The whole process was hassle-free and I ended up with a great deal on the car and about a 1.25% APR. The dealer actually said they were losing money on the deal so they weren't willing to negotiate though–I bought the car for USAA's "guaranteed price."

I used USAA for mine. Their price was decent, but the dealer was still able to beat it by $1100.

Did you actually go through the whole process on Truecar? It shows an estimated price, but if you put your contact info in you'll get guaranteed numbers from specific dealerships that may be much lower than that estimate price. You then have a specific number off of invoice to work from, just have to put up with some phone calls and emails.

FWIW, on here - people have been reporting working with dealers directly and getting approximately $4K off MSRP for the DE cars. So, it can be done on your own for that particular model.