Autoland turns 30

LOS ANGELES – Thirty years after it first set out to create a convenient, economical car buying service for credit unions and their members, Autoland celebrated its anniversary as the largest car buying service for CUs, representing more than 8 million members with over $270 million in vehicles sold each year. Autoland attributes its success with credit unions to several offerings such as the company’s Web-based tools, Advocar and its Contact Center, which enable buyers to do everything from research, configure, locate, finance and insure vehicles, to accessorize and purchase cars online without having to visit a dealership. Autoland also purchases trade-ins. Members can list their own used cars for sale at no cost, independent of any purchase transaction. Autoland packages used car event sales in its `Program in a Box’ and works with credit unions to promote the event. The company provides a no-fee money back guarantee to CU members. If the member wants to return the car they can do so within three days and receive a full refund. At each used car sale, members can test-drive as many vehicles as they want without committing to purchasing them. Experience has taught us what credit union members most want in a used car purchase and we have developed programs to meet these needs, said Michael Malamut, founder and CEO of Autoland. -