Automotive.com: Cars, Reviews, and Other Features Make it Worth a Look
Written: Oct 20 '05 (Updated Nov 04 '05)
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If you’re looking for a vehicle or wanting to do some research on a vehicle, the internet offers many solutions to the task at hand. There are web sites with product reviews, web sites that link you directly to a car dealership for the vehicle you desire, web sites that offer assistance with insurance and financing, and so forth. One of the many web sites available for these purposes is Automotive.com, an on- line store for all things automotive.
What Does This Service Offer?:
In automotive.com, the web surfer can perform the following:
Shop for a New or Used Vehicle- Cars and trucks can be searched for in this site, complete with reviews, safety ratings, photos, manufacturer specifications, and other things. If you like, you can also input your phone number and e-mail and receive a contact from a local car dealer with a price quote.
Research Vehicles- Besides general tips on buying and selling cars, automotive.com also offers specifics on different makes and models of cars and a comparison tool that lets you size up different vehicles.
Shop for Loans and/or Insurance- If you need financing or auto insurance, this part of the site will help you determine rates and find the best deals.
Read & Respond to Forums- Here, you can enter a question you have about vehicles or read the responses to other questions. It’s a large message board for car enthusiasts and others to meet and share ideas.
In addition to the above, there is also a section in this web site with miscellaneous automotive material, such as links to auto shows; automotive news; auto racing information; and even a tool that will help you locate the lowest gasoline prices in your local area.
Customer Service:
Automotive.com can be contacted by linking through the appropriate place in the web site and then typing in a message. As far as I know, there is no toll- free number to call directly. You just have to enter your question or comment and wait for a response.
Final Thoughts:
Automotive.com is one of the many auto- related web sites in cyberspace and it is one I have utilized a few times in my search for cars and other things related to cars. Since I have signed up for and actively used several other automotive sites, it was only a matter of time until I gave automotive.com a try. I can remember receiving dozens of spam e-mails from this on- line site (more than likely, automotive.com got my e-mal address from one of the other auto web sites), asking me again and again to give it a try. I generally like automotive web services, so I was quick to give this one a chance.
Most of what you get in automotive.com is typical of an automotive web service. There are new and used cars to buy; links to obtain financing and insurance quotes; the ability to send your name and e-mail to a local dealership and wait to be contacted; etc. This is pretty standard, and it doesn’t stand out as anything special. However, some of the other features in this web site are more unique, like the link that fills you in on the latest in Nascar racing or the tool that lets you find the lowest gasoline prices in your local area. These features are sometimes trivial and sometimes helpful. But they are at least something a little more unique that you don’t usually find in an automotive web site.
The first feature I used in this site was the price quote. With automotive.com, you are asked to indicate the type of vehicle you want, including your desired colors; buying timeframe; payment method; and whether or not you have a trade- in. Then, you enter your name, address, phone number, e-mail, and the time of day you prefer to be contacted. You cannot elect to simply have the dealer e-mail you. You have to enter your phone number and, once contact is made, you can tell the dealership that you prefer e-mail only. Once you have selected your desired car, you will have the option of adding two additional vehicles to your quote list, followed by the opportunity to start shopping for a car loan, and then followed by a listing of used versions of the same car or truck being offered for sale. You can’t blame a web site for trying to make additional sales, and automotive.com keeps trying until the very end. But this last feature- the one that shows you other similar cars for sale- isn’t very well thought out. It includes vehicles thousands of miles away, and I’m pretty sure that most buyers will not find this very useful. True, you can sort the list by distance from your house and ignore the ones that are too far away. But it would be more professional to ask the potential buyer up- front how far to search before listing the results.
The dealership contacted me with my requested information, but it took a little longer than I expected. I sent the request through in the late afternoon and asked to be contacted in the morning. I didn’t get any contact the next morning, like I had hoped. My contact wasn’t made until the morning after that- about 42 hours after I made the request.
The reviews in automotive.com have gradually improved when compared to the past. In the old days (three years ago), the reviews consisted of only a couple of paragraphs of text- not nearly enough to properly describe a vehicle. In fact, this was one of the primary reasons I stopped using this web site for a while and focused my attention on some of the better automotive web sites. Today, the reviews are improved and they often include several pages of information.
The design of this web site isn’t very efficient or very appealing to the eye. It takes too many clicks and too much concentration to find what you want. At the least, the people in charge need to change the appearance by eliminating the gray colored areas that exist on the side of every page you access. Not only does this look bad, it is wasted space- valuable space that could be used to sell advertising or to include more added features.
Once you add it all up, automotive.com earns a “C” grade overall. The design of the site isn’t the best, and it took a while for the site to get my information to a car dealership to contact me. But the vehicle reviews are pretty good and I like some of the added features (like the tool for finding the cheapest fuel price in your area- a definite plus in this day and age of high gas prices). A few good points, balanced with a few bad, make this an average web service that is good enough to earn a small recommendation.
Be Sure to Click on the Links Below to Read More Reviews on Related Web Sites:
Cars Direct.com
Invoice Dealers.com
Discount Tire Direct.com
Car Prices.com
Carmax.com
Cars.com
Pricequotes.com
Autonation.com
Autobytel.com
Edmunds.com
Recommended:
Yes
What product did you purchase or try to purchase? Honda Accord
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