Profit / Personal

Buying a Car


With a burgeoning collection of car-related sites, some browsers just want to trade car lore. But from the sites we found, it appears that the major car-related motivation for going on-line is to avoid having to deal with the rehearsed pseudo-bargaining of car salespeople. You’ll find three basic varieties of sites: informational sites, which educate you about the car market, including specific models and prices; commercial sites involved in selling cars over the Web or otherwise; and for-sale-by-owner sites.

The Best

Want to know anything about the Chrysler Corporation? Anything at all? The opening page here concerns the Chrysler Technology Center, but with a click you're in the corporate virtual showroom, ready to view Chrysler, Plymouth, Dodge, Jeep, and Eagle models. You’ll find pictures and specifications, including the MSRP (manufacturer's suggested retail price) of each main model, plus packaged options and prices. Comparisons with the competition are also posted. There's also information on special corporate offers and promotions, such as a $400 discount for recent college graduates. Chrysler also uses the site to brag about research into concept cars, alternate fuels, and recycling. You can get the latest stock price and other financial information, and get material on the history of the company. While you're at it you can request brochures and find the name of the Chrysler dealer nearest you. After that you can click on over to the executive suite and meet the chairman.

A sliver less cosmic is the site of the Ford Motor Company . You can get the financial data and a message from the chairman, but the site boasts more about Ford’s corporate and family history than its research. Also, you’ll find perhaps more than you want to know about Ford's credit and financial services. Sign up as a member of the Ford Web Customer Focus Team, and they'll send you product ideas and designs to evaluate. In the virtual showroom you can see the cars’ interiors, and a click on the outside shot yields a full-screen version. Data includes the MSRP and standard features. Then, of course, you can locate the Ford dealer nearest you. In the near future, Ford Simulator software will let you pick, paint, and accessorize the Ford of your dreams.

For use of graphics, you can hardly beat Autonet, a site representing a consortium of auto dealers in southern California. There's a virtual showroom of the various models, with links to the individual dealers. There's no on-line buying, however: You’ve got to go out and contact the dealer.

The Rest

Car-Trek is for muscle car enthusiasts, wistful for the days when "cars ruled the streets and Friday nights were spent at the car hop." For a $10 membership, you, too, can cruise on-line with those who cruise with Ford Fairlanes. Members can place ads in the for-sale-by-owner database and also search the database to their heart's content. Non-members can read the ads, which don’t have graphics but you’ll find some grand old names, such as DeSoto and Studebaker. You can search the ads by keywords, which is useful, and respond by phone or e-mail. You’ll also find parts for sale and information concerning automotive legislation and even pages with charts of pre-figured calculations for those planning to tweak their machines, such as what combination of wheel and tire size to use so that your speedometer will still work correctly.

A smaller site befits a smaller maker of smaller cars. At the Saturn Corporation site, you can examine pictures of the new lineup, order brochures, read a Saturn FAQ, and peruse an on-line version of Saturn Magazine, with its tales of the rich, fulfilling lives led by Saturn owners. The list of dealers includes, in some cases, the Web pages of the individual dealers.

IntelliChoice sells guides to buying cars and trucks. While its site is largely an advertisement for those publications, there is enough information offered gratis to make the place worth a click. Check out the Best Overall Value of the Year in various car and truck price ranges, based on cost of ownership, as determined in their books. You’ll also see collections of buying tips, economic points, and safety information. To wit: If you've fallen in love with a certain car, don't let the salesperson know. If repair costs appear high, don't be put off: Repairs are the least of the average cost items for a car. For depreciation purposes, own the car as long as you can. For cheaper insurance, get married. And, yes, the air bag can sound like a shotgun when it inflates, but that should be the least of your worries.

The Popular Mechanics site has well-selected material of benefit to the car buyer. You’ll find profiles of the latest car and truck models and updates on purchasing incentives that car makers offer through their dealers. But the most compelling information may be the results of the ownership surveys that the magazine sends its readers. One survey asks, for example, whether you’d purchase your present car if you had it to do again.

You’ll discover a considerable amount of information about tires at the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, but disappointingly little about blimps. But you can get the blimps' appearance schedule here, as well as the address of your local dealer.

Emphasizing high-end for-sale-by-owner vehicles (luxury, sport, exotic, and classic cars, plus RVs) is Calling All Cars. By filling out a form, you can either advertise your wheels for $100 or get your own Web page for 60 days for $29.95. (They call you on the phone to arrange payment.) Each page has space for a thumbnail picture of the car, clickable to bring up a full-screen version. Advertisers are invited to send in a sharp photo of their offering. But most we saw just had a text description. The for-sale listings were divided up by make. It seems a shame there’s no search facility to ferret out the sellers near your home or see if one of the categories contains one of those MG kit cars you've been dreaming of. (One category did, actually: made in 1952, driven only 500 miles, never smoked in, asking $11,000.)

Want to buy a car at $199 over invoice? Cars@Cost promises to free you from having to interact with salespeople by getting you a car at, in most cases, the factory invoice price, charging you either $199 for the slow, factory-direct route or $299 to get it from the dealer pipeline.

If living means owning a Corvette to you, then click on over to Vettes On The Net. Apparently a hobby site gone pro, beyond the many sponsor logos there's everything you'd expect: technical and background information on Corvettes, dealers, shows, and want-ads.

Nobody wants to feel naked walking into a dealership. The Car Price Network sells car price reports for from $4 to $7 each, plus $4 handling. The reports include dealer invoices and retail prices for each model and for all available factory-installed options, plus the usual tips on how to deal with the salespeople.

If your tastes in a used car run more toward a Duesenberg than a Ford Pinto, then check out the Barrett-Jackson Classic Car Auction. It lists more than 750 vehicles.

Once upon a time, there was American Motors Co., and its sporty AMX model tugged at many a heartstring. If you were among that number, you should see the AMX Files. There's coverage of the entire history of AMC and all the cars it produced, including Renaults, Jeeps, and Ramblers, but the emphasis is on AMX and AMX collecting.

If you want to rent a car, not buy one, try Alamo Rent A Car. Not only can you reserve a rental car on-line, but you can jump to weather and travel information sites, information on finding the Alamo office in major cities, and directions from those Alamo offices to major hotels. Also offered are those all-important kids' games to keep the noise down in the back seat.

The Car/Puter site is a car pricing and referral service. It offers to arrange the factory purchase of your car (which can take several weeks, incidentally) at no change, but they ask that you first buy one of their car buyers’ reports, which run from $10 to $24, with $3 to $5 shipping and handling. These provide pricing information on new cars and trucks so you'll know what the dealer is paying and thus gauge what a fair price might be. You’ll also see tips on how to wrestle with salespeople.

DealerNet is a virtual showroom that appears to represent a number of car dealers in the Pacific Northwest, plus a few others scattered throughout the country. The place has big plans, such as offering insurance and financing quotes on-line. But at review time it consisted of a database you can search by make, style, and price range, and then call up lists of subscribing dealers who offer that model. There was no facility for on-line buying.

The Auto-By-Tel site lays out a free program offering cars at wholesale prices through participating dealers, but it doesn't list those cars. State your preferences: model, year, colors, seating, equipment, and expected financing, for starters. There is no obligation. The nearest participating dealer will call you and settle things over the phone. The documentation suggests that you educate yourself about the market before placing an order, which you'd need to do if only to select the options intelligently. And, of course, to dicker with the salesmen who'll call.

For the bereaved former car owner, there's The Stolen Car Report, which purports to offer a stolen car locator service. Actually, it offers an opportunity to post a picture of the car and other information about it. About half of the dozen cars that had been listed later allegedly showed up, although the organizers claimed no credit.

You can advertise your car by sending in $5 and a picture of the car at Car-Link. The site appears to be more of a model of what is planned than a functioning service. Listings are arranged by make, but there were few cars listed.

Houston's L&L Auto Brokers buys fleet and salvaged vehicles. Check out the special of the day.

ABE has an interesting list of 800 numbers for vendors of automotive accessories and supplies.

Apparently the Professional Auto Buyer's Network is another broker/consulting organization, although about all you learn from its site is that you need to fill out a form to get more information.

Auto Buyers Choice is yet another buyer's service, offering delivery anywhere in the U.S. or Canada. Not much to see, nothing to click on, no makes or models, no reason to go here.

by Lamont Wood

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Internet Life Vol.1 No.1 Winter 1995