Shopping for Cars on the Web
Speed Onto the Internet to Save Time, Hassle, and Money
Jerry Edgerton
If the hassle of shopping for a new car seems to cancel out the pleasure of owning one, getting in front of your computer screen first gives you a low-stress way to get behind the wheel of the right vehicle.
Nearly two-thirds of new car buyers do homework first on the Internet, according to research by J.D. Power and Associates, Westlake Village, Calif. You want to join them online to help narrow your choice, decide just how you want your car equipped, and eventually find a dealer that has that vehicle. Most of all, Web research will let you know just what you should be paying to get a good deal.
Web research by car buyers will continue to grow as high-speed Internet access spreads to more households, predicts Dennis Galbraith, who directs J.D. Power research on automotive Web sites. "People are not just going online to check prices," adds Galbraith. "Of new car buyers, 49% said Internet research affected their choice of models."
Looking for a used car instead of a new one? The Internet still offers the same advantages, along with voluminous listings of specific cars for sale. You can check the safety, specifications, and fair price of your target models. You can search for a specific year and color. You even can compare features and prices of new and used cars to decide, say, if you want to buy a new mainstream brand sedan or a two-year-old luxury model. That feature belongs to CarsDirect.com, where you actually can go ahead and buy a car online if you wish. Far more shoppers, however, buy from an individual dealer after doing research at broad automotive sites like Edmunds.com, Kelley Blue Book, and cars.com. We'll give you a rundown of the best sites to find the necessary facts about new or used cars before you ever hear a sales pitch from an auto dealership. Talk to your credit union loan officer for loan preaproval before you shop; it's the same as shopping with cash.
Explore your choices
If you have just a broad idea of what you want--a small SUV, say, or a mid-size sedan--start by clicking on a category at Edmunds.com. You quickly will see all possible choices and their list prices. If you select large minivans, for example, you get 17 models. You can pick up to five for side-by-side comparison, first showing price, warranty, and other financial details.
For a more detailed feature-by-feature comparison, click on the Features and Specs tabs at the top of the page. Looking at the Honda Odyssey minivan vs. the Chrysler Town & Country, for instance, shows you that the Odyssey has the larger engine (3.5 liter vs. 3.3 for the Chrysler) and a five-speed automatic transmission instead of four-speed. But the Chrysler offers optional built-in child seats and the Honda does not. Click on the Ratings tab and you can see what the test drivers at Edmunds.com think of the two vans. Automotive Web sites offer a modern-day version of classified car ads in the weekend newspaper.
Check safety records
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Washington, D.C., gives crash test results for front- and side-impact tests of up to five stars. For slightly different crash tests and more detailed explanation of the results, go to carsafety.org. The Insurance Institute of Highway Safety in Arlington, Va., a research organization sponsored by the insurance industry, not only does these tests but collects data on real-world accidents involving specific models.
Find out the real price
All automotive sites give you the list price or manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP) and the dealer's invoice price--what the dealer paid for the car. In negotiating, you want to aim to get near the invoice price (except for a few hot-selling models that may go at or near MSRP). Edmunds.com, kbb.com, Cars.com, and Carsdirect.com also will fill you in on current manufacturer rebates--which could lower those target prices by $2,000 or more.
See a credit union loan officer for all your auto financing needs.
Edmunds' True Market Value price--shown with every model--aims to track the recent average transaction price for that car, SUV, or van after all such rebates. While you cannot be certain you can hit that price in negotiation, it makes a good target. Another point of comparison is the offering prices from Carsdirect.com--which factors in constant updates of rebates.
Locate that vehicle near you
Once you've selected the model you want and know what price you should be paying, check dealers in your area to see if they have that model on their lot. You usually can find a dealer's Web site simply by putting the name into a search engine such as Google.com or Yahoo.com. Or check the dealer locator at a manufacturer's Web site (Ford, Honda, or whatever brand interests you, for instance).
About 70% of dealers post their inventories on their Web sites. You may want to skip over dealerships that don't; in addition to making your search harder, that failing may signal an old-fashioned attitude accompanied by old-fashioned hassles in dealing with their sales people.
Once you find the car you want at a local dealer, you still have to negotiate price. Do it by e-mail or on the telephone if you possibly can. (If you need a test drive, make that a separate trip. Don't get embroiled in negotiating price at that point.) Use your Internet research to back up your target price, and ignore arguments from sellers that the prices you got are incorrect. All automotive sites give you the list price or MSRP and the dealer's invoice price--or what the dealer paid for the car.
Buy your car online
If you get hives thinking about the time and hassle involved in negotiating the price, consider buying online. Only a small fraction of car buyers really make online purchases. But if you're certain of the model, color, and features you want, this is a very low-hassle way to take delivery. For the price you see on the Web site, CarsDirect.com finds the exact vehicle you want and arranges the sale. (Though you signal your intent to buy on the Web site, you usually talk on the phone to the CarsDirect staff going over details.)You go to a local dealer to take delivery, but the paperwork usually takes 30 minutes or less. Other car-buying sites like Autobytel.com refer you to an affiliated dealer in your area to get a price on a car rather than actually handling the sale.
Only a small fraction of car buyers really make online purchases.
Search for used cars
Automotive Web sites offer a modern-day version of classified car ads in the weekend newspaper. But it's much more efficient to search online for, say, a silver two-year-old Honda Accord with less than 25,000 miles that is within a 20-mile radius of your home. Once you get a list of possibilities, you often can click to see details and a photo of the car. Cars.com is in fact the electronic version of classifieds, affiliated with 180 newspapers across the country. AutoTrader.com has the largest roster of used-car listings with more than two million nationwide. Edmunds.com, kbb.com, and CarsDirect.com all offer used-car listings as well.
If you want to concentrate on the growing pool of certified used cars, you can search for that specifically at AutoTrader.com and Edmunds.com. With certified cars, the dealer backs the vehicle with an extensive inspection and a warranty from the original manufacturer. To see the details of certified programs by each manufacturer, click on that heading at CarsDirect.com.
Whether you are aiming at a new or used car, you will wind up with a better vehicle at a better price if you do some virtual shopping before you look at the real thing.
Jerry Edgerton is an automotive writer whose work has appeared in Money and other national magazines. He also is the author of the book "Car Shopping Made Easy".
Published April 5, 2004
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