I recently purchased a used 2017 Subaru Outback Limited via Car Concierge Pro. The experience was definitely a positive one overall.
As someone who purchases a car once a decade or so, I simply do not trust dealerships. They have a variety of tactics to hide the truth about pricing and vehicle history to squeeze every penny from you. Services like Carvana and Carmax charge more for negotiation-free purchasing (shouldn't it be the other way around?) and up-sell you on warranties, Either way, you’re at a disadvantage.
So I went looking for an alternative and ran across the concierge option. I chose Car Concierge Pro because pricing and payment are straightforward, and they're technologically more up to speed than their competitors. Everyone on the team assigned to me was very friendly, helpful, and accommodating. My experience was more of a collaborative effort with quite a bit of back and forth around searching, researching, and negotiating. The team was with me every step of the way, handling all the legwork or providing guidance and assistance as necessary. You can be as hand-off or hands-on as you like. If you want to handle searching yourself and let them handle negotiations, you can do that too.
Here are some helpful learnings if you decide to go the same route.
1) Try to research models and narrow down what you're after ahead of time. Best model years, common failures, expected repair costs (Consumer Reports, CoPilot, and ChatGPT were very helpful), regional pricing trends (see Auto Tempest). This isn't a requirement, but I personally found it to be helpful. Doing so will help your team hit the ground running and alleviate some stress for you early on. Of course, they’re there to help you dial in on your preferences as well. And keep in mind things may evolve and shift as part of the process. As an example, I focused on the 2019 and later model of Subaru Crosstrek PHEV initially before realizing battery replacement would be a huge hidden expense for very limited range. I discussed this with my team and we pivoted accordingly.
2) Keep your eye on the details. Dealerships might say one thing and do another, or they'll inflate the numbers in one area (like optional packages) to give the illusion of a deal. They might even take favorable photos to hide flaws (like a cracked front bumper on one of the listings I picked). Your team will be very vigilant for these tactics, but it doesn't hurt to be redundant if you're inclined to. For obvious reasons, dealerships do not like dealing with concierges, so they might try and sneak things past them if they realize who they’re dealing with. Your team will reiterate this before closing the deal and signing any papers.
3) Use Lemon Squad for pre-purchase inspections. Ordering an inspection from their site is dead simple, especially compared to their competitors. You'll get photos, video, diagnostic scans, a test drive, and a report, which you can share with your team or knowledgeable friends / family for feedback and use to negotiate further. Better pricing might be available via a local mechanic, but for remote inspections, Lemon Squad is the way to go. As of this writing, pricing starts at $220. You probably don't want to pay for more than two inspections (the money adds up quickly, obviously), so use them once you're ready to commit to a vehicle assuming everything looks good.
4) Use a reasonable search area and adjust accordingly. The wider the search area, the better range of pricing and deals. One caveat is that shipping can get pricey and cut into your savings the further out you go. My suggestion is to stick within a 1000 mile range initially. If you find a good deal on the edge of that range, it might be cheaper to fly out to pick up the car and drive it back. A 16 hour drive is much more doable than a 26 hour drive.
All in all, I’ll be going this route again in the future when the time comes. The options + savings are better and it alleviates a notable degree of stress from a generally unpleasant experience. And I can’t recommend Neel and his team enough.
and Canada 
