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Using the Internet to help buy a vehicleApr 24 '01 (Updated Jul 03 '01) Write an essay on this topic.
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The Bottom Line The more information you have the easier it will be to negotiate and the internet has a wealth of information available for free.
Even if you don’t feel comfortable buying a car from an on-line source there are still many things you can do on-line to make the car buying experience go smoother. The resources available include checking pricing, checking features and options, and reading professional reviews as well as consumer comments. The more information you have the easier the whole experience will be. These are some of the tactics I used last year when I bought our new Honda Odyssey. I probably spent 3 months researching the vehicle before we put an order in. Start at some of the car buying websites like Edmunds.com and Kelly Blue Book (www.kbb.com). Read some of the reviews of the vehicle in which you are interested. Most of these sites list competing models for each vehicle. Read some of the reviews about the competing models to get an idea of a vehicle’s pros and cons. You may also want to check Consumer Reports for reviews. Many of these sites have bulletin boards where consumers can comment on the cars. They are sorted by category such as pricing, comparisons, or pros and cons. This information comes from people who drive these vehicles every day and can be more relevant than a professional review. The pricing boards will give you an idea of what others have paid for their vehicle in various parts of the country. They may give you a lead on dealers to avoid or dealers to visit. I even made a few long distance phone calls to some recommended dealers to see if it would be worth a day trip to buy our vehicle out of town. The boards are also a good place to ask questions. I’ve always gotten good answers to questions like “Is a particular dealer reputable” or “Who in the Southwest is good to bargain with”. Look over the list of options to get an idea of which you may want. Check the dealer cost against the suggested retail price then check out Partscheap.com and Carparts.com to see what they charge for the option. They offer many items that require a minimum amount of installation like floor mats and mud flaps. Your own mechanic may be able to install the more complicated items for less than the dealer. Perhaps you may want to print the list and take it to your negotiation. We ordered our mud flaps from Partscheap.com and hubby installed them in about half an hour. I happened to stumble across a helpful hint for the installation process on one of the bulletin boards and so we knew that jacking up the wheels made it easier to reach underneath the vehicle to get the mud flaps on. We would have bought our floor mats from Partscheap.com, too, but our dealer agreed to throw them in at no charge. Once you are sure of what you want use the free car buying services to get a quote. I did this with Autobytel.com and Carpoints.com. I received an email with a contact person within 24 to 48 hours. I was able to call at my leisure and negotiate with a sales person. In the one year since then neither service has sent me unwanted email. It turned out that my local dealer, through Carpoints.com, had the best deal and this kept me from having to do extensive traveling. Interestingly enough, we had already visited our local dealer and didn’t like their pricing. But they gave their Internet customers priority pricing and for a Honda Odyssey anything below MRSP in this part of the world is a good deal. Many of these sites have links to places offering extended warranties. If you are interested check them out, too. Again the bulletin boards will give you some leads on extended warranties. I don’t normally buy an extended warranty but since the Honda Odyssey has so many things that are electronic we wanted the longest warranty possible (100,000 miles). I found the best deal on a warranty in Toledo, Ohio but was able to have my local dealer meet the quote just because I had taken good notes when I had talked to the person in Ohio. The goal is to have as much information as the salesperson so that you can negotiate as equals. Be patient and persistent and don’t rush into anything. Do your homework and the negotiating task will go much smoother. My hubby thought all this Internet research was rather humorous and kept asking how long it would take to download the van over our modem once I bought it. (update July 3, 2001) I have found a new site that helps buyers get the information they need to buy a car. It has links to some of the sites I mentioned, like Edmunds and Kelly Blue Book, as well as many others sites. There are links to dealers and manufacturers, reports and buying guides. You will still need to do your own research but his site can get you linked to the information quickly. http://www.where-can-i-buy-a-car-online.com. I did not actually use this site since I bought my van over a year ago but I did surf it and bookmarked it for future use. This site could save you from having to bookmark all the individual sites while you do your research.  |
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