Throw out the BlueBooks

The article itself doesn't say a whole lot, but sometimes, simple is best. It points to the idea that Kelley Blue Book pricing is not always the best way to go when trying to buy a car. The reason is that the prices are often inflated. If you are trading, it should still be useful to compare the value of yours with the value of theirs since it is being done using the same scale. Still, Black Book Online is recommended. I will post a full article about Black Book soon. Until then, remember. It doesn't matter which provider you use to look up used car values. As long as you are looking at consistent numbers on the same platform, the difference is all that really matters.

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Automotive Classified Profile: Cars.com

In 1998, Cars.com was born.

With over 8 million monthly visitors, 13,000 car dealers, and the addition of private party sales, Cars.com is a resource that every shopper should browse when looking for a car.

The interface is strong, offering a quick portal to the inventory. Unlike some of its competitors, you can get to the inventory by selecting make, model, and zip code, then one click takes you to the vehicles. Direct links to the dealers are present, so visiting dealers coast to coast from Portland Honda to Boston Toyota is just a switch of cities or zip codes from reality.

The advanced search options are very crisp, allowing you to search multiple makes, models, and years simultaneously. You can search by zip or city and you can narrow your search by how long the vehicle has been listed.

The listings themselves are okay. They offer several calls to action, but someone who isn't familiar with it may not be able to quickly find the right buttons.

Overall, I recommend Cars.com as a place to search for cars, especially if you don't mind working with dealers and you are willing to buy in a major metropolitan area.





Vehicle Buying Tips

Salvaged Cars and How to Identify Dealers that Sell Them

Salvaged or repaired vehicles are NOT always a bad thing for consumers. They are normally considerably cheaper than their unwrecked counterparts and with today's mechanical technology, it is possible for a severely damaged vehicle to be repaired nearly to its original condition. Newer engine, newer parts, newer transmission -- if it wasn't a terrible wreck and the repairs were done right, salvaged cars may be the way for some people to go. For those of us who want to wreck our cars ourselves without someone else doing it for us, read this article.

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Work Trade Difference, Not Payments

The favorite kind of customer for dealers is the payment customer. You know, the ones who don't care how much, they just want the car that they want for payments that they can afford. Unfortunately, even those who are not strictly payment buyers can be swayed into becoming one inadvertently through very structured techniques that some car dealers use. The 4-square is one of those techniques. This article from Gather is an excellent example of how the 4-square works. It may seem like a very dumb customer who falls for it, but trust me, even a very astute car buyer can fall into the trap under the right circumstances and with the right salesperson.

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How Car Dealers Get You to Buy

What a great story that I found on Digg. It falls into the category of, "man, I wish I wrote that!" Has insights that are both true and useful for car buyers of all types: new, used, program, certified preowned, demos... whatever you buy, read this article.It is strictly for those working with car dealers, so if you're in the market for a car from an individual, this isn't the article for you. If you are heading to the dealership anytime soon, please read this (and other articles on this page, of course).

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