Edmunds.com is a great source for any information you need on automobiles
Written: Dec 12 '05
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Having recently damaged my Subaru Justy, I discovered that the parts are not available for my car here in the states. The specific model has to have its parts ordered from over seas at a pretty hefty price. So, I started thinking about other options, and one that presented itself were junk yards. Well after calling all of the ones in my area, I discovered that I was on my own. That is when I remembered reading about Edmunds.com where you could go and research cars as well as buy used cars through online sellers. Well I thought to myself that it would be nice to find a back-up set of parts if someone had a beat-up old Justy that they just weren't using anymore, and could possibly be selling for cheap online. Well when I went on to the site for the first time, I found many things that have caused me to be a continuous user for which I will soon explain.
What is Edmunds.com
Edmunds.com is your one stop information source for nearly anything that has to do with cars. Now you may think to yourself that it couldn't be possible, and that expecting one site to tell you everything about a particular car would seem unreal. Well after having used the site numerous times, I am here to tell you that anything you want to know about a car can be found on here. They provide a vast database of knowledge that stems from how much cars are worth, to how many miles per gallon you can expect, to how well the car handles on the road. With reviews from trusted people in the industry, a vast database of cars and their specifics, and tips on how to handle your car, the site does a great job of offering something that will appeal to any car owner. This even includes people like myself, who don't have a vast knowledge base, but would like to learn. With a resource such as Edmunds.com at my fingertips, I can now be a more knowledgeable car owner.
The Edmunds.com Web-Site
When you first go on to the main page of the Edmunds site, you quickly see just how involved in the automobile industry that these people are. Pictures of the new models for many car companies can be found on the main page with links to check out just what they have to offer. In particular, they post road tests of the newest vehicles and just how well they were able to handle those tests. This is very interesting information for people looking to purchase a newer car, and can be helpful in making a purchasing decision along the way. In addition to that, there are various top 10 lists that are another basis from which to judge what the best cars on the market are. There are also top 10 lists such as; Top 10 Editors' Tips to Prevent a Car Accident, Top 10 Best-Selling Audiobooks for 2005, and Top 10 Summer Driving Tips. These editorials are used to help drivers through the ins and outs of owning an automobile.
To make it easier to navigate and save information, I suggest signing up for the site when you first get to the main page. The sign-up is basic, with only your name, an e-mail address, and a site user name needed to complete it. You can opt in for information to be sent to you, but simply unchecking those boxes will limit your interaction with them to only your use of the site. That makes it quite simple to sign-up, and being able to save things and settings can help you out on future visits. Once you have signed up (or decided not to sign up), you can take a look at the main drop-down menus that are available to you. These are the main aspects of the site, and what they specialize in. Those main sub-pages are: New Cars, Certified Cars, Used Cars, Car Reviews, Tips & Advice, Forums, and The Inside Line. Going to each one of them, you already know what you are going to find, it all just comes down to what you are looking for.
Each of the pages has their own search engine which is also accessible from the main page lower down on the front. You can choose what you are searching for by naming the type of vehicle, the brand, the year, and whether you are looking for new or used. You can even specify if you are looking for a certain amount of mileage that has been put on the car. These are all helpful tools when searching out a car to purchase. The great thing about the search engines is that if you are looking for a specific make or model you can put that into the search parameters, and it will bounce you back a result every time. When you are looking to purchase a car, they also provide financing information, insurance details, comparisons to other models, and warranties if you are interested in looking further into your purchase before making a final decision.
Biggest Highlights of the Edmunds.com Site
Beyond all of the basic uses such as searching out a car, finding where to purchase it, and determining what specialties you want your car to have, there are a lot of really cool features to Edmunds.com that keep me coming back to it. First of all, there is the Vehicle Appraiser where you can enter in specific information about your automobile and find out just how much it is worth. This works better than a normal "blue-book" value, because it takes a lot of intangibles into account. By entering in the condition of your care, the make/model/year, the miles on it, and the color, you can be given a total compilation of how much your car is worth. The final total takes into account the base price (its value), the optional equipment, regional adjustment, mileage adjustment, and condition adjustment. This takes into account how much the vehicle has been used, how much wear and tear is on it, and other factors including where it is being driven. With all that you are given a trade-in value, a private party value, and a dealer retail value. These numbers can all be very important if you are looking to buy or sell a car.
One of the other great things, is the ability to sell your car that the site provides you with. Working with their partner site (AutoTrader.com), you can create an advertisement that will list your car amongst millions of others, and try your hardest to make some money off of it. You just have to select what type of ad you want to have, pay the small fee to have it posted, and you are well on your way to selling off your car. The one other thing that makes the site so great to me, is the ability to find a free price quote of any make or model in your area. By listing what you are looking for, you can see if the final price is going to fit into your budget somehow, or if you are going to need to edit your plans a little bit. Either way, you will have all of the information in front of you as a result of using it, and when it comes time to make a purchase you already will know all you need to know.
My Overall Impression of Edmunds.com
When it comes to anything involving the automobile industry, Edmunds.com is clearly at the top of the game. Anything you could have ever wanted to know, and then some, is available through a few simple mouse clicks. For researching a new purchase, they allow you to save cars into your own profile so that you can look at them again the next time you are on the site. 95% of the uses on the site are free for users, and signing up for the site is free to everyone. By using the site, you can find out all the information that is out there for a new car on the market, and decide if it is something you would be interested in purchasing. On the flip side, you can post an advertisement for you car in order to offer it for sale to the millions of other users that come through the site. Even if you don't do any buying or selling on the site, using it for a research source on a car you already own can be of value to you. Because of all the positives, and not a single negative in all of my uses of the site, I highly recommend it as a go-to information source for anything that has to do with automobiles.
Recommended:
Yes
What product did you purchase or try to purchase? 1987 and 1989 Subary Justy
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About the Author
Member: Ryan
Location: Somewhere near the land of the lost
Reviews written: 1752
Trusted by: 616 members
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