The Auto Buyers Corner
Car Shopping
How to Research and or Buy Cars online:
Buying a car should always be a fun and exciting adventure, online or not.
Unfortunately, Dealer tricks and traps can make it a real hassle. There are
basically only two ways to shop: buy cars directly online, or get free quotes
online to help you find the lowest price. I have tried both ways, and
here's what I found out about these two methods:
Buying Directly online
I went to CarsDirect.com
, which I had seen recommended in various publications.
They
offer both new
and used cars
for sale. There I researched cars to settle on the make, model and
options I was interested in. They have a "build your car"
feature that you can use to build several different models of cars and see
what they'll look like with all the features and colors you want. I
found this to be an excellent feature.
Their site promises that they'll call you within 24 hours, but they did not
reach me within 24 hours. I later found out that they were
falling behind in their work because of high sales volume, because some car companies were offering a lot of 0% interest deals.
That's
because the economy was diving into a recession in the wake of the World
Trade Center disaster, and the auto companies wanted to spur sales.
CarsDirect
works with selected local dealerships whose
philosophy it is to sell cars at a fairly low price and make a profit by
doing a high sales volume. He did some research and found me several
different models that came close to the specs and colors I wanted. I
had originally wanted to buy the Acura "GS-R" version of the
Integra instead of the "Type R" version, which is a much better car but costs
more. I was surprised that they even found a Type R, because it is so
rare. They found a GS-R that didn't quite have the features I
wanted, as well as a Type R that was fully loaded but cost $2500 more than
the GS-R. They did the research on dealer financing for me, and said
that they could get me a 0% interest deal for 5 years on the Type R, or 0.9% for
4 years on the GS-R. I said I would think about it, and a few hours later I called
him back to buy the GS-R.
It is rather likely that you may be able to buy at a lower price than quoted,
because of the faltering market. Needless to say, I hope you would be very
pleased that they lowered the price. I paid a $500
deposit towards purchasing the car, then Cars Direct put me in touch with the
dealer. After some faxing of documents back and forth, I went down to
pick up the GS-R that very evening. After a quick test drive, I
completed all the documents and was out of there within an hour with very
little hassle. Cars Direct received a commission of about $200 from me
for brokering the deal. I didn't mind at all ;-) it was well worth the peace
of mind.
How to get free quotes to find the lowest price
The second way is to get as many free price quotes as possible and then see
what the lowest price you can get. I went to several places like AutoByTel,
and Autoweb. After filling out a few short request forms I received
quotes from several local dealerships. But, by that time it was too late for
me, because I had already purchased my car. Although, I did not come out of it
empty handed. I learn to always ask about special 0.0% APR financing,
because a friend of mine bought his 2000 Eclipse cash. He could have saved
some money if he had financed it.
I highly recommend that you get as many quotes, and also ask about any
special financing options. I have found these websites to be very good.
- AutoByTel.com:
I have found this to be the best website of the four. AutoByTel gave
me the ability to research features, specifications and photos for almost
every single model. AutoByTel will also let you look up rebates and
cash incentives, which can save you a lot of money. They can give you Free
quotes on
a new, or
used
cars.
-
Autoweb:
Is a well designed online car finder. They can also give you quotes on new,
or used
vehicles.
-
CarSmart.com:
Is another good car finder service, which can be quite useful.
After considering all the available sites, I personally prefer CarsDirect,
because the level of service I received was unparalleled. They were especially
good at informing me about all there financing and cash incentive plans which
helped me save money. As if that wasn't enough CarsDirect now offers quotes on new
and used cars
just like AutoByTel, and Autoweb.
How to Get a Free 'Lemon Check': Buying a used car should be a fun and
exciting experience, but it can turn into a real nightmare. That is the problem
with buying a used car, you have no idea what you are really getting yourself
into. Well not anymore, you are here reading these tips on saving money, so
you've got one leg up on everyone else. It is not enough these days to simply
have your mechanic check out your potential new vehicle. Get a Free
Carfax
Lemon Check.
It is important to be 100% sure that the vehicle you are getting is
worth the money you are about to spend.
Magazines: Save up to 90% on these top notch car magazines. These are
a few of my personal favorites
Import Tuner,
Car & Driver,
Automobile,
Lowrider,
Turbo & High Tech Performance,
Motor Trend.
Don't forget to inquire about the free magazine giveaways do at the bottom of
the page.
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