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Internet vs. Traditional Car Buying

3113 messages,  Last post on Nov 19, 2012 at 5:43 AM

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Messages Page 312 of 312

#3104 of 3113 Re: Used Honda Prices [im_brentwood] by fushigi

Jul 19, 2011 (10:57 am)

Replying to: im_brentwood (Jul 19, 2011 8:11 am)
Good points. Whenever there's a major, extended market interruption there are frequently multiple causes. Sometimes they feed off each other to amplify the effect, sometimes they're relatively standalone.
 
Economics and Supply/Demand issues are very complicated on a global scale. Micro, regional, and macro economies often work against each other which doesn't help things much either.

#3105 of 3113 Re: Car man: dealer delivery fee [mikefm58] by graphicguy

Jul 21, 2011 (6:12 am)

Replying to: mikefm58 (Jul 13, 2011 5:33 am)
nvbanker and im_brentwood are the pros here. So, I'll have to defer to their experiences on used. I know I just traded in an Acura and was pretty surprised how strong the money was on it.
 
Regarding dealing on the internet, I just purchased my first car using (mostly) internet communications. It was both good and bad. I was looking for a very specific car (BMW coupe) in a specific color combo. The good, I was able to contact several dealers to see if they had such a beast. What's even better with BMW dealers, most, if not all of them, keep their car database inventory up-to-date, so it's easy to kind of shop on line to see what they have. Some had inventory on line, but wouldn't list colors or options. This doesn't help at all.
 
I think the Japanese Tsunami hurt the stock levels of Toyota and Honda, too.
 
Just to show how the used car market seems to be overheated, I had dealers giving me "ball park" trade figures on my Acura over the phone. That was a first for me, also.
 
Long and short of it, my selling dealer had to snatch my car at the port (NJ) and have it diverted to his store. He did that before even having a deal with me.
 
As far as the deal itself, I mentioned that I was pleasantly surprised what the trade value was on my Acura. I had shopped it at several different dealers to get a general idea what it was worth as a trade before I formulated an amount I would accept (word of advice, stay away from a CARMAX buy bid....they seriously low ball).
 
Based on the VIN# the dealer gave me on the car they had being delivered from the port (do a search for internet VIN# codes to get car, color and option groups on a new car), and searching on line for BMW incentives and cost (Trucar.com was very helpful), I was able to formulate what I considered a fair offer to buy the car.
 
I took all of this information, typed it up, added the taxes and license fees, then scanned it and emailed it to the dealership. It helps to have a sales person who's been at the dealership for a while (mine was there for 22 years) so you don't have a person who doesn't know how to work up a phone/internet deal. After a slight bit of hesitation (since they had not seen my car, and I had not driven their car since it was at the port), we agreed on a deal with the caveat we both had to inspect each other's vehicle.
 
This was all done via email and phone calls. I didn't go to the dealership to do any of this.
 
Their car came in. I got a nice detail job done on my car and drove it to them. They gave it a cursory look, started it up, drove it about 200 yards up and back from their store. They came back, shook my hand and said "we have a deal".
 
Mine was a cash deal, so there were no "let's get you financed" paperwork. Just signed odometer statements, application for title, tags on the car, and I was on my way.
 
Easy stuff. But, it did take me a month to decided (and test drive) what I might have wanted.....then I had to find the car I wanted, which took a couple of weeks. Let the dealership find what you want, however. Much easier that way.

#3107 of 3113 Re: Car man: dealer delivery fee [graphicguy] by carthell

Jul 29, 2012 (10:52 pm)

Replying to: graphicguy (Jul 21, 2011 6:12 am)
Huh, you've had the experience that I was expecting back in 2001, but never got. For the most part, I got nothing, or a constant barrage of "make an appointment" e-mails, and one sale offer. I ended up going to Carmax instead.
 
Of course BMW dealers might be different, possibly then and now.
 
I'm still hoping for a quick sales process for my next purchase, since I already know what I want.

#3108 of 3113 Re: Car man: dealer delivery fee [carthell] by nvbanker

Aug 06, 2012 (4:37 pm)

Replying to: carthell (Jul 29, 2012 10:52 pm)
I have to agree. I use the internet to find the inventory of certain dealers, and if they post them well, I will go buy that car if the deal is good. But so many dealers have horrible websites, and all they are after is your contact info so they can harrass you about a sale. True internet sales of cars hasn't really evolved yet - seems there is no substitute for sitting in the car, test driving it and "kicking the tires"......

#3110 of 3113 car shopping? by Stever@Edmunds HOST

Nov 09, 2012 (2:30 am)

If you are in the process of car shopping, using online forums and tools and plan to visit a dealer soon, a reporter would like to hear from you. Please email PRedmunds.com by Tuesday, November 13, 2012 and provide a few lines about your experience so far.

#3111 of 3113 Re: car shopping? [steve_] by sandman_6472

Nov 12, 2012 (9:27 am)

Replying to: Stever@Edmunds (Nov 09, 2012 2:30 am)
Steve, that e-mail address didn't work for me. Help!!
 
The Sandman

#3112 of 3113 Re: car shopping? [sandman_6472] by Kirstie@Edmunds HOST

Nov 12, 2012 (9:57 am)

Replying to: sandman_6472 (Nov 12, 2012 9:27 am)
Hm... if you copied & pasted it, it won't work because our forums system turns the sign into an image (so spammers can't harvest email addresses).
Try typing it in, or make sure the sign is there. Let us know if that works.

#3113 of 3113 Hurricane Sandy victim? by Stever@Edmunds HOST

Nov 19, 2012 (5:43 am)

A reporter would like to speak to Sandy victims who lost a car in the storm and are trying to replace it. If this fits your description, please send your daytime contact info to predmunds.com no later than Tuesday, November 20, 2012 at 9 a.m. PT/noon ET.

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