Buying Cars over the Internet Vs. the Car Dealership

I don't know how I could buy a car without driving it. I would get all the knowledge from the internet including pricing and be prepared when you go in. Also research insurance rates because it affects the bottom line. An agent can give you rates on an assortment of cars for that very purpose. All that will save you time and the risk of being "sold" on something you don't need. By the way, I just got a new Ford Focus and love it!!! I drove the Fusion and the Focus several times back to back before I decided. The Fusion was cheaper to insure but the Focus gets better mileage and I just liked it better. Good luck!

My brother has bought 2 cars on ebay.I admit it can be risky but you save THOUSANDS! The last one we bought was a truck for my dad. It was about 5grand under kelly blue book, and my brother even did research to find out the history of the truck. He won the auction and flew to new york, and drove it home as a surprise for my dad. It was awesome! I wouldn't turn my nose up at the idea, you can save a lot of money over the internet, or by buying outright from a person selling on the side of the road.
Good Luck.

I have purchased many new cars and the best way to do research and not get "taken" is to go to edmunds.com. At this website, you can view invoice price, TMV price and retail price. You can build your own package for what you want on each car that you are interested in and print it off. You take that with you to negotiate a good price. All dealers know about Edmunds.com and will know that you are well informed.
Good luck and enjoy your new car!

I spent 3 years selling cars online and yes I got people great deals on their cars. They still went to the dealership to buy their car though. My job was to help inform the buyer about their vehicles of interest and help find them cars to fit their budget and their needs. The point to buying a car at a great price is being a well informed buyer. Go online and do your research. But remember you still need to drive a car before buying. Find the cars that fit your budget and then compare them. Hundreds of websites can provide you vehicle information. Most of the time your local dealer will still be willing to match the best deal you find to keep your business. Also be careful of deals that sound to good to be true.
Things to ask when getting a quote- is tax, title and license fees included, amount of down payment, total amount you need to bring to the dealership if you chose to pick up this car, is the quote based on employee or supplier pricing, does it include all available rebates and if so do you have to be an employee or current owner to qualify for them, Get the exact equipment list for the car quoted (base model with a manual transmission won't do you any good if you want an automatic with leather interior.
Once you find a car that fits in your budget and you feel confident that vehicle will fit in your life - GO DRIVE IT! Cars can be any price but you will still either love or hate driving that car. And don't be so scared of all the sales people - I wasn't out to rip anyone off. I loved giving people great deals and I also worked in the dealership for awhile where I still gave great deals. Last piece of advice if you go to the dealership and they don't have an exact match to the car you want ask if they can trade cars with another dealership that does. I did it all of the time (NEW cars).

My husband and I bought our vehicle based on online research and contact. While we researched online, we did go in person to purchase. We dealt with Stacy Collins online and in person at Jeffrey Kia Motors in Roseville MI. It was THE best buying experience I have ever had. We will definitely be going back there again. Whether you do it online or in person, I highly recommend Stacy. She is friendly and very knowledgeable about all her vehicles. She answered questions I didn't know I had. I would have bought two vehicles at that time if I could have. But as I said, we'll be back for the second one.

We shopped on-line for the last two cars that we purchased. It was pretty handy to avoid all of the "sales" stuff. But, when the final decision was made, we went in person and closed the deal.

Good luck!

S.

M C

My husband and I are in the process of buying a new car as well. Actually it's a used car, we don't buy new cars because we feel that it's a waste of money to since it depreciates so much once it's off the lot and in the first 3-5 years.

Anyway, We are pretty much only looking on line at autotrader.com and cars.com. Many many dealerships list their cars on those two sites so you are sometimes buying it from a dealership even though it's online.

If you feel over whelmed try narrowing down the different qualities you want in a vehicle. Is gas mileage and issue? Then maybe look for a Honda civic which is a little smaller or an accord which has more room, they both get about 31-35 miles to the gallon depending on what year/model you are looking for. Also Mazda and Toyota get great mileage as well. Pretty much honda and toyota run forever so even if you buy one with 100,000 miles on it it's golden for a number of years yet.

if you are looking for an suv, I would again try honda's crv, or a 4runner, or highlander, all great cars.

Also, if you are willing to drive up to 300 miles for a car you can potentially get one that is 1-2,000 less since it's in a different part of the country, it's odd but you would be surprised by the price differences just a couple hundred miles away.

HOpe you find one soon!!!

I have never bought from online but my father owned a dealership and my husband is in the business as well...and of course I would recommend him :)...if you are interested he works at Spartan Toyota (in Lansing), ###-###-#### and his name is Stefan. Hope it goes well for you!!!

The last three out of four cars we bought, I customized on the Saturn website and took the printouts to the dealer. I made one compromise (on color) on one because I didn't want to wait for it to be built.
By all means, do the research between brands on the web. Then go to the manufacturers' websites to look at your options before visiting the dealers for a drive. Saves a ton of time to get a fairly definite picture of what you're looking for. Plus, the sales people don't waste your time showing you stuff you're not interested in.
Having said that, I would be confident to buy a new Saturn directly off the web, but would be skittish for any other manufacturer (haven't had a non-Saturn in more than 15 years). I'm not a Saturn salesperson, just a very satified customer.

Hello,
I worked in the car business for many years and I am married to a car salesman. I can't imagine buying a car over the internet. Even buying from an individual is risky. Dealerships have inspections for used cars to pass before being sold and new and used come with warranties. If you are interested my husband works at Hank Graff Chevrolet in Davison (his name is Mark Swanson). He is a good guy and has been selling cars for over 20 years. Please don't think I responded to get advertising for him, I am simply giving you my opinion and I wish you good luck with your decision.

Buyer Beware. Unless you can physically see that car and see the title BEFORE purchase, do not give out any information.
They tried twice to get my personal information on vehicles and those were not even their cars to sell!!
Also scams on apartments. They show you other pictures of interiors that are not inside they house they are renting.
Just be careful. Dealerships might have a little higher pricetag, but they also have a warranty and a guarenatee the car is not stolen.