The buy used cars online websites are growing at an alarming rate. The old fashioned way of visiting used car lots and hunting through the newspaper is quickly being replaced by the point and click method. Like many things in life there are ups and downs with abandoning the past and putting all your eggs in the basket of the future.
The good part is when you buy used cars online you are able to set search criteria to automatically hunt down the car your looking for. Right down to the color and mileage of said vehicle. The growing number of used car review sites is also amazing. As I researched this topic for this article I was not impressed by most of the review sites.
They claim to show you how to buy used cars online but in most cases they just direct you to their preferred vendor. Yes I too have a preferred vendor but this is based on quality and value and not on profit.
Trusted Used Car Information
When it comes time to buy used cars online you can go 2 different routes. You can go to a web site like cars.com and quickly hunt down your desired vehicle and then have the vehicle shipped to your location. Or you can go to a hub site like Edmunds.com
Yes I am recommending Edmunds.com and no I am not an affiliate. They truly are a leader in the buy used cars online market place. Plus their used car review area is very well done. Edmunds has been around since 1966 and has many advantages over the newer used car web sites.
How the Online Car Locator Works
Edmunds integrates their database with other trusted venders like auto trader and cnet among others. When you hunt down your desired vehicles you can then narrow your search to vehicles in your area by miles away from your location.
For Example I pulled up 25 Cadillac eldorado’s within a 25-mile radius of my home. I then changed the search parameter to 10 miles and still had 15 cars to go look at. I then went to Edmunds used car reviews and saw that the eldorado received poor ratings on many different levels.
Using this information I was able to make educated decisions on the buy used cars online process. I decided I still wanted a Cadillac eldorado with the northstar V8 and will use the negative information about the vehicle to drive down the asking price of the vehicles I go and see.
Trust me I will not be waving these printed reports in any body’s face but I will be taking this information with me. This way I can provide documented information if any of the sellers need proof of why I am offering so little for their used car.
In January 2005, they launched Inside Line. An online destination for the car enthusiast. Inside Line uses online technology to it fullest potential. This service presenting hot cars and trucks as they were meant to be seen.
This new venture is responsible for a considerable expansion of their editorial team and broadband capabilities. Over the course of the year, blogs and pod casts also became part of the Inside Line experience. Inside Line now has more monthly visitors than any car enthusiast magazine has subscribers. A nice accomplishment considering the competition. They also launched a number of special areas developed to serve specific audiences.
Their Women and Family Car Guide presents articles specifically aimed at empowering and educating women automotive consumers. The Fuel Economy Guide helps readers understand and minimize their fuel usage while explaining the environmental impact associated with guzzling gas. Recently they launched CarSpace a social networking site where members can create personalized automotive pages.
In an effort to stay ahead of online trends they also launched a unique multimedia experience known as Interactive Vehicle Tours.
This is exactly as the title suggests. Kick the tires and crawl all over the vehicle from the comfort of your computer. This will easily narrow down the vehicles you are interested in doing further research on.
The website has many online articles and used cars reviews offered absolutely free. You never receive any pressure to buy something and if you go down the wrong leg of information all you have to do is hit the back button on your browser. There is a ton of used car review sites on the net and there is no harm in getting several opinions on your used car of choice. I am just recommending that Edmunds be one of them.
The start page for Auto-Facts.org is up next and is a good place to find out what other kinds of information is covered here. You can also find links that answer many car questions.
When it comes to the procedure for online purchases the task can be even more complicated. Learn more about the safe way to buy used cars online.
The subject of used cars in general is covered on this next page. Learn the inspection process and the dealer business before you buy used cars.
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