Buying a new car on the internet
 

If you have done so, will you mind sharing your experience? Thanks in
advance.

Re: Buying a new car on the internet
 

I think it really depends on the particular service you are thinking
about using.

In general, the free services are basically just referral services.
In exchange for a "no haggle" experience, you get an "OK" deal,
nothing more. You can certainly bargain for a better deal yourself,
if you are good at it.

Then there are the pay services that actually negotiate with multiple
dealers on your behalf. I've never used those, but if I would, I
would expect better financial results than the free referral services.

On Fri, 02 Jan 2004 14:33:40 GMT, "John Smith" <someone@microsoft.com>
wrote:

>If you have done so, will you mind sharing your experience? Thanks in
>advance.
>

Re: Buying a new car on the internet
 

I think it really depends on the particular service you are thinking
about using.

In general, the free services are basically just referral services.
In exchange for a "no haggle" experience, you get an "OK" deal,
nothing more. You can certainly bargain for a better deal yourself,
if you are good at it.

Then there are the pay services that actually negotiate with multiple
dealers on your behalf. I've never used those, but if I would, I
would expect better financial results than the free referral services.

On Fri, 02 Jan 2004 14:33:40 GMT, "John Smith" <someone@microsoft.com>
wrote:

>If you have done so, will you mind sharing your experience? Thanks in
>advance.
>

Re: Buying a new car on the internet
 

I think it really depends on the particular service you are thinking
about using.

In general, the free services are basically just referral services.
In exchange for a "no haggle" experience, you get an "OK" deal,
nothing more. You can certainly bargain for a better deal yourself,
if you are good at it.

Then there are the pay services that actually negotiate with multiple
dealers on your behalf. I've never used those, but if I would, I
would expect better financial results than the free referral services.

On Fri, 02 Jan 2004 14:33:40 GMT, "John Smith" <someone@microsoft.com>
wrote:

>If you have done so, will you mind sharing your experience? Thanks in
>advance.
>

Re: Buying a new car on the internet
 

I think it really depends on the particular service you are thinking
about using.

In general, the free services are basically just referral services.
In exchange for a "no haggle" experience, you get an "OK" deal,
nothing more. You can certainly bargain for a better deal yourself,
if you are good at it.

Then there are the pay services that actually negotiate with multiple
dealers on your behalf. I've never used those, but if I would, I
would expect better financial results than the free referral services.

On Fri, 02 Jan 2004 14:33:40 GMT, "John Smith" <someone@microsoft.com>
wrote:

>If you have done so, will you mind sharing your experience? Thanks in
>advance.
>

Re: Buying a new car on the internet
 

It was a great experience. I bought a 2003 Honda Civic EX via the Internet
service on Edmunds.com. The dealers responded quickly with their
quotations. I "negotiated" the final price via e-mail with the 2 best
quotations and then "polished" the price during the final meeting with the
dealer that eventually sold me the car.

Make a point of visiting the dealers of choice to demonstrate your sincerity
on the car purchase.

In the end, I got a great deal with minimum hassle.


"John Smith" <someone@microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:8jfJb.14294$R_4.5353@nwrddc03.gnilink.net...
> If you have done so, will you mind sharing your experience? Thanks in
> advance.
>
>

Re: Buying a new car on the internet
 

It was a great experience. I bought a 2003 Honda Civic EX via the Internet
service on Edmunds.com. The dealers responded quickly with their
quotations. I "negotiated" the final price via e-mail with the 2 best
quotations and then "polished" the price during the final meeting with the
dealer that eventually sold me the car.

Make a point of visiting the dealers of choice to demonstrate your sincerity
on the car purchase.

In the end, I got a great deal with minimum hassle.


"John Smith" <someone@microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:8jfJb.14294$R_4.5353@nwrddc03.gnilink.net...
> If you have done so, will you mind sharing your experience? Thanks in
> advance.
>
>

Re: Buying a new car on the internet
 

It was a great experience. I bought a 2003 Honda Civic EX via the Internet
service on Edmunds.com. The dealers responded quickly with their
quotations. I "negotiated" the final price via e-mail with the 2 best
quotations and then "polished" the price during the final meeting with the
dealer that eventually sold me the car.

Make a point of visiting the dealers of choice to demonstrate your sincerity
on the car purchase.

In the end, I got a great deal with minimum hassle.


"John Smith" <someone@microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:8jfJb.14294$R_4.5353@nwrddc03.gnilink.net...
> If you have done so, will you mind sharing your experience? Thanks in
> advance.
>
>

Re: Buying a new car on the internet
 

It was a great experience. I bought a 2003 Honda Civic EX via the Internet
service on Edmunds.com. The dealers responded quickly with their
quotations. I "negotiated" the final price via e-mail with the 2 best
quotations and then "polished" the price during the final meeting with the
dealer that eventually sold me the car.

Make a point of visiting the dealers of choice to demonstrate your sincerity
on the car purchase.

In the end, I got a great deal with minimum hassle.


"John Smith" <someone@microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:8jfJb.14294$R_4.5353@nwrddc03.gnilink.net...
> If you have done so, will you mind sharing your experience? Thanks in
> advance.
>
>

Re: Buying a new car on the internet
 

"John Smith" <someone@microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:8jfJb.14294$R_4.5353@nwrddc03.gnilink.net...
> If you have done so, will you mind sharing your experience? Thanks in
> advance.
>
>

Ugh, accidently posted this on wrong thread earlier, but here goes:

Here's how I went about buying my Civic last week. First off I went and test
drove the models I was interested in (corolla, protege/mazda3, civic,
elantra) and each time they tried to sit me down I told them I had to go to
competition and I'd be back. So once I had it down to the Civic I looked at
carsdirect price, which seemed pretty good (about 500 under invoice). I then
took that price and called a bunch of the local Honda dealerships (there's a
crapload in Atlanta, GA area) and asked to speak to internet manager. A few
refused to match, a few did, and two dealerships in the boondocks of metro
Atlanta started beating the price. It got to about 800 under invoice + tax
(no junk fees) and I took it. The only number I ever threw out was the
carsdirect number, after that it was a matter of just asking these people
over the phone to match or beat. From first call, I was done in about two
hours with a bunch of phone conversations, only stop into dealership was to
get my car.

So, lessons learned:
1. Dealer hopping is a waste of your/there time... only do it to test the
cars out.
2. Use lowest price you can find as starting point, email/call to get a
match
3. Go pick up your car.

Re: Buying a new car on the internet
 

"John Smith" <someone@microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:8jfJb.14294$R_4.5353@nwrddc03.gnilink.net...
> If you have done so, will you mind sharing your experience? Thanks in
> advance.
>
>

Ugh, accidently posted this on wrong thread earlier, but here goes:

Here's how I went about buying my Civic last week. First off I went and test
drove the models I was interested in (corolla, protege/mazda3, civic,
elantra) and each time they tried to sit me down I told them I had to go to
competition and I'd be back. So once I had it down to the Civic I looked at
carsdirect price, which seemed pretty good (about 500 under invoice). I then
took that price and called a bunch of the local Honda dealerships (there's a
crapload in Atlanta, GA area) and asked to speak to internet manager. A few
refused to match, a few did, and two dealerships in the boondocks of metro
Atlanta started beating the price. It got to about 800 under invoice + tax
(no junk fees) and I took it. The only number I ever threw out was the
carsdirect number, after that it was a matter of just asking these people
over the phone to match or beat. From first call, I was done in about two
hours with a bunch of phone conversations, only stop into dealership was to
get my car.

So, lessons learned:
1. Dealer hopping is a waste of your/there time... only do it to test the
cars out.
2. Use lowest price you can find as starting point, email/call to get a
match
3. Go pick up your car.

Re: Buying a new car on the internet
 

"John Smith" <someone@microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:8jfJb.14294$R_4.5353@nwrddc03.gnilink.net...
> If you have done so, will you mind sharing your experience? Thanks in
> advance.
>
>

Ugh, accidently posted this on wrong thread earlier, but here goes:

Here's how I went about buying my Civic last week. First off I went and test
drove the models I was interested in (corolla, protege/mazda3, civic,
elantra) and each time they tried to sit me down I told them I had to go to
competition and I'd be back. So once I had it down to the Civic I looked at
carsdirect price, which seemed pretty good (about 500 under invoice). I then
took that price and called a bunch of the local Honda dealerships (there's a
crapload in Atlanta, GA area) and asked to speak to internet manager. A few
refused to match, a few did, and two dealerships in the boondocks of metro
Atlanta started beating the price. It got to about 800 under invoice + tax
(no junk fees) and I took it. The only number I ever threw out was the
carsdirect number, after that it was a matter of just asking these people
over the phone to match or beat. From first call, I was done in about two
hours with a bunch of phone conversations, only stop into dealership was to
get my car.

So, lessons learned:
1. Dealer hopping is a waste of your/there time... only do it to test the
cars out.
2. Use lowest price you can find as starting point, email/call to get a
match
3. Go pick up your car.

Re: Buying a new car on the internet
 

"John Smith" <someone@microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:8jfJb.14294$R_4.5353@nwrddc03.gnilink.net...
> If you have done so, will you mind sharing your experience? Thanks in
> advance.
>
>

Ugh, accidently posted this on wrong thread earlier, but here goes:

Here's how I went about buying my Civic last week. First off I went and test
drove the models I was interested in (corolla, protege/mazda3, civic,
elantra) and each time they tried to sit me down I told them I had to go to
competition and I'd be back. So once I had it down to the Civic I looked at
carsdirect price, which seemed pretty good (about 500 under invoice). I then
took that price and called a bunch of the local Honda dealerships (there's a
crapload in Atlanta, GA area) and asked to speak to internet manager. A few
refused to match, a few did, and two dealerships in the boondocks of metro
Atlanta started beating the price. It got to about 800 under invoice + tax
(no junk fees) and I took it. The only number I ever threw out was the
carsdirect number, after that it was a matter of just asking these people
over the phone to match or beat. From first call, I was done in about two
hours with a bunch of phone conversations, only stop into dealership was to
get my car.

So, lessons learned:
1. Dealer hopping is a waste of your/there time... only do it to test the
cars out.
2. Use lowest price you can find as starting point, email/call to get a
match
3. Go pick up your car.

Re: Buying a new car on the internet
 

We just got a Civic Hybrid and did almost the entire thing over the
Internet.

I got quotes from Internet managers via several services (autobytel and
Edmunds, I think). Let them negotiate via email, then called the Internet
manager only when I'd agreed on the price. Went in, gave them a check, got
the car. According to the net sites, we got the car for $300 below invoice
(so with dealer holdback, they were still able to make a bit of money).

My big piece of advice if you use the internet is not to put your correct
phone number in when you register at autobytel, etc. Otherwise, even if you
clearly say you don't want phone calls, everyone calls you immediately.

Alex

"John Smith" <someone@microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:8jfJb.14294$R_4.5353@nwrddc03.gnilink.net...
> If you have done so, will you mind sharing your experience? Thanks in
> advance.
>
>

Re: Buying a new car on the internet
 

We just got a Civic Hybrid and did almost the entire thing over the
Internet.

I got quotes from Internet managers via several services (autobytel and
Edmunds, I think). Let them negotiate via email, then called the Internet
manager only when I'd agreed on the price. Went in, gave them a check, got
the car. According to the net sites, we got the car for $300 below invoice
(so with dealer holdback, they were still able to make a bit of money).

My big piece of advice if you use the internet is not to put your correct
phone number in when you register at autobytel, etc. Otherwise, even if you
clearly say you don't want phone calls, everyone calls you immediately.

Alex

"John Smith" <someone@microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:8jfJb.14294$R_4.5353@nwrddc03.gnilink.net...
> If you have done so, will you mind sharing your experience? Thanks in
> advance.
>
>