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Autobytel.com - What has your experience been?

131 messages,  Last post on Feb 16, 2013 at 6:26 PM

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What is this discussion about? Car Buying

Messages Page 1 of 13

#1 of 131 Well? by Sylvia

Dec 18, 2000 (8:11 pm)

Have you used Autobytel? How did it work for you? Were you satisfied?

#2 of 131 AutobyTel by laurat

Dec 19, 2000 (12:58 pm)

I haven't used it, but a friend did and it just gave her a reference to one dealer in the area who gave her a fixed price. I just heard on KGO last Friday about a new service called revauto.com, that is a reverse auction. The blurb mentioned that dealers place bids to try to win the customer business, I am thinking about trying it.

#3 of 131 I requested a quote from Autobytel by bcbob

Dec 20, 2000 (3:03 am)

and was promptly responded to by a dealer which was rather far away - 2 hour ferry ride and two hours of driving to get there. Beyond the initial contact via em-ail the dealer wouldn't use the computer, relying instead on phone and ax because he felt it more reliable. Gave him my specific requirements over the phone (including the factory codes) for a factory order, received a ax which was simply a manufacturer's printout of the model with my desired options, with a hand-written clause' for me to sign saying I agreed to buy the vehicle described subject to agreement on price. Had to call him to get a correction on the printout. Then had to ax it back with my signature on the 'clause'. It was only then that he taxed me a quote of selling price plus documentation' fee. I had to calculate and add in the various taxes to figure the out the door price.
 
My feelings on it: Very polite dealer, seemed to want my business and was working hard to get it. I was somewhat miffed that I had to do so much over the phone/with axes - #1 if I didn't want to do it using on-line resources I could have started out by taxing my requirements to the various dealers and asking them to submit their best deal for my consideration, #2 axes are a pain, having to either import it into a word processor, attach a signature and export to my ax software, or print it out, sign it and scan it in to be taxed back out, #3 the clause really didn't need to be signed, so there was a layer of unnecessary crap I had to cut through before I finally ended up with the quote I was after.
 
As for the quote: I filed the quote with the others I had solicited from more local dealers, none of which I would reveal to any other dealers. In the end the Autobytel quote was essentially the same as the locals whom I had visited in person, within a few $ and about $1k over dealer cost. Because the ferry ride back and forth would have cost me at least $150, assuming the only time I'd be visiting the dealer was when I picked up the car, plus costs of driving, plus sundry other costs incurred when 2 people travel a min 8 hrs, it ended up being more costly.
 
In the end I thanked the Autobytel dealer and went in person to a dealer a bit down the road whom I felt most comfortable with, haggling the price down to within a couple of $ of Autobytel's quote.
 
I like the idea of the reverse auction, but I would think you'd have to be careful you didn't have to go with the lowest bidder just so you could have some choice in the dealer you'd be buying from.

#4 of 131 bcbob by audia8q

Dec 20, 2000 (4:28 pm)

your post is a perfect example why buying/referral services are a failure...
they don't offer anything you cant get elsewhere doing business face to face...I realize that face to face is sorta out of fashion these days which is somewhat offensive to me (the I'm too busy stuff is BS)..Im glad you got what you wanted at the price u wanted but it was at the expense of somebody else...the guys who responded to your request, did the work, gave you a simple quick fair price, just like you wanted ( it is why you used ABT, isnt it?) and you just went somewhere else. Its the sales game and I'm not saying you did anything wrong, but it shows why dealer arent interested in middlemen and buying services. They are a huge cost for us as dealers and they just dont produce sales. Dealers are a very shrewd bunch and all the extra "fat" in a car sale has long been removed leaving nothing left when a middleman or service jumps in the mix...
enjoy your car!!
 
Rich

#5 of 131 Thanks Rich by bcbob

Dec 22, 2000 (5:00 am)

I'd like to enjoy my new car but I'm still waiting for it! Dealer said he had a build date of 12 Dec (only 6 1/2 weeks after I signed). He advises that it will arrive late Jan. Probably right; doubtful anything will be moving until after the holiday season. There's got to be a better way. Wish there was some way I could track it, too bad Doraville wasn't one of the plants GM was putting webcams into. Come on GM, get with it! There, I feel better.
 
Back to topic: I disagree that ABT was a failure. In fact it worked just as it promised to - prompt response, low competitive no haggle price quote. Where it started to fall apart was #1 there wasn't an ABT affiliated dealer in my area and #2 the dealer wouldn't work via the PC, relying instead on phone and fax which made it inconvenient. There's not much ABT can do about #2, and it takes a dealer to sign up to resolve #1.
 
Perhaps you call it a failure because I didn't buy from the ABT dealer. Well, I didn't buy from the two other dealers I visited in person, or the two others I dealt with over the phone either. Were they failures? What about the dealers of the competing makes and models whose ads caught my eye or whose cars I also researched? Or the used car dealers? Did I get what I wanted at the price I wanted at their expense too? Gosh, I could have bought from you but didn't... (let's drop it here, huh?). If your perspective is that a prospective customer who takes up the dealer's time by looking at the product on the lot owes it to the dealer to buy something from them, that the dealer has a right to be compensated for displaying their wares by anyone who looks at those wares (reminds me of a couple of back-alley merchants I ran across in Cairo some 25 years ago...), then maybe you can say a buyer who 'just goes somewhere else' for their deal does so at that dealer's expense. But a consumer doesn't 'owe' anyone their business. Car dealers are merchants like any other, they choose to offer goods for sale and set their prices according to the market. They are not entitled to a profit just because they do, that would be like my demanding my salary just for showing up and offering to work but not actually doing any. If I don't do any work I wouldn't get paid, why should a car dealer?
 
I didn't buy from the dealer I did just because he offered the lowest price - all the initial quotes were pretty close but his was actually the highest. I returned to his lot because the reputation of his service department and after-sales support was the best compared to the other dealers, and on that basis gave him a chance to tip the scales with a price comparable to the others. Obviously he did. It still wasn't the lowest price I could have got but it was in the range I had set based the info I had on dealer cost and the minimum mark up standard fpor my region. I didn't appreciate the waiting game and other 'sales techniques' they used (I had to tell them I'd walk if they didn't stop with the BS) and I didn't relish haggling. I went to ABT to avoid the stress of all that.
 
The reason I didn't go with their dealer wasn't because of the extra $ for travelling, it was the hassle of driving 1 hour to the ferry, 20-30 min waiting/loading, 1 3/4 hours sailing, and another hour driving to his lot. As it was the back and forth of driving to the dealer's lot, haggling on price, etc, took a fair bit of time. I could have made better use of that time fixing up the house, playing with my kids, or relaxing. Can't put a $ on that, but if I had spent the time working, well, my practice bills out at $95/hr.
 
So why did I have to pay that cost? Why couldn't I just say I want this model in this colour with these options factory ordered, at the minimum mark-up, show me where to sign, here's my deposit, call me when it's ready for delivery. What would that take, 20 minutes? Why do I even have to go to the lot until it's ready? I hear you saying you find face to face being o

#6 of 131 The rest of my rambling by bcbob

Dec 22, 2000 (5:03 am)

I hear you saying you find face to face being out of vogue somewhat offensive. My perspective is that just like any other store, I don't go to a car dealership to socialize, I go for business. If ABT can save me that business time so I can spend it with family and friends in activities of my choosing, well, all I have to say is get over it. After all, it is my time and I should have the right to decide with whom I spend it. Personally, I pine for the day when I can custom order my car using my PC, watch it get built, pick it up within 2 weeks without ever having to talk to a dealer until I do, and be billed factory cost plus a minimal dealer handling charge. From what the automakers are saying, it doesn't look like I'll be pining long.
 
The reasons why dealers don't like the buying services is well documented in numerous topics throughout Town Hall and this topic joins those ranks. The point is well taken. Now can we please hear from people about their experience using Autobytel without cold water being thrown on their comments? Please?

#7 of 131 more cold water by audia8q

Dec 22, 2000 (11:31 am)

dont' count on that build date...GM announced a slew of plant closings due to poor sales.
 
Rich

#8 of 131 Bad experience by garcia2ko

Dec 24, 2000 (3:02 pm)

I requested a quote and got a call from a representative at a Houston area Nissan dealership (I lived there about a year ago.) He offered me something like $500 over invoice on a Quest minivan, just because I was an "internet customer."
 
Funny thing is that the same person (I remembered his name and voice) offered us $200 over invoice when we stopped in the dealership a week earlier, within minutes of our arrival.
 
Bottom line: I didn't expect (or want) a dealer to call me. Just e-mail me a quote. And make it the best deal you're willing to give. I could have gotten a better deal myself without Autobytel...they just had the dealer call me instead of me calling them.
 
Finally, I got wise and bought a Honda Odyssey instead of a high-revving, small box like the Quest.

#9 of 131 bcbob... by isellhondas

Dec 24, 2000 (3:08 pm)

Sorry, buy I think you'll be "pining" for a long long time.
 
The internet does not sell cars. Car dealers do.
 
The way AutobyTel is supposted to work is pretty simple. The shopper submits a request and gets a quote from an abt dealer.
 
This is designed to eliminate all of the things the buyers *say* they dislike about buying a car. No "going back and forth" etc. Just a fast,professional way to buy a car with a minimum of fuss
 
Sounds good, hub?
 
Sometimes it does work in it's intended fashion, but usually the price shoppers are just looking for a number to shop with.
 
This, of course negates the intended purpose of the BAT program.
 
It's the same people who will tell you how much they hate "the process" that will grind us the most as they pit one dealer against the other.
 
That's just the reality of it.

#10 of 131 Autobytel Experience by maryg2

Dec 26, 2000 (11:17 pm)

I requested a quote on an Accord EX6 from Autobytel and was contacted the next day by a dealer in my local area (not the closest one, but within 20 miles) with a quote. It was about the same price as the Edmunds TMV minus the destination charge, so it seemed like a pretty good deal. The dealer kept in touch me during the month it took me to sell my car (it sold within a week after listing it with Edmunds). I think I could have gotten the car for less, but I was tired of dealing with car salespeople, and this dealer gave me every courtesy on the phone and when I visited the dealership. So tomorrow I am picking up my new car. I also requested a quote from CarPoint, but they never called me, and I had to call the dealer myself. His quote was higher than the Autobytel dealer, although he was closer to my house.

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