Brunswick School Department



The biggest shift in the automobile industry over the past five years hasn't been the arrival of fuel-sipping hybrid gas-electric vehicles. It isn't even the tons of rebate cash and low-interest financing that often accompanies new-car offers. It's the Internet. There's a wealth of information available on the Internet on every imaginable vehicle, some of it straightforward and some of it opinion. All of it can help you make an informed decision on which vehicle will suit you best.In addition to providing consumers with mountains of information about all aspects of the car-buying experience, the Web has become a marketplace where buyers and dealers are reaching agreement on pricing and all but sealing the deal. By one industry estimate, 70 percent of all potential buyers use the Internet to research and shop for new vehicles.Web sales are also growing in the used-car market. More used vehicles were sold via?eBaymotors?than at any single dealership in 2004. Sites such as??and?AutoTrader?offer hundreds of thousands of used vehicles online.Aside from allowing busy consumers to check in with more dealers in a much shorter amount of time, Internet shopping appears to cut down much of the haggling factor -- the part of new-car shopping that people say they hate the most. Basically, online shoppers will encounter these types of sites:Manufacturer sites:?These are good places for general information about options, colors, rebates and manufacturer-linked financing deals. These sites will have suggested retail prices -- the number that you see on the car's window sticker -- and many have a search engine that will locate a dealer that has the car with the specific options you want. What manufacturer sites cannot do is tell you how much you can really buy that car for. They sell product to dealers and are prohibited by law and contract from enforcing any set prices or selling directly to consumers.Dealer sites:?These are sites set up by dealer groups or individual stores to capture Internet buyers. Some dealers link their sites to the fleet or Internet department, while others funnel all e-mails on a rotation basis to the salespeople on the showroom floor.It's usually difficult or impossible to get a firm price quote on a specific vehicle on the first inquiry. Dealers jealously guard against handing out real deal numbers until they know the person they're working with is serious and isn't just fishing. But by the second or third exchange of e-mails, a buyer should expect to arrive at a firm quote.Buyers familiar with doing a deal through online negotiations report that the first price offered by a dealer usually is within a couple of hundred dollars of a dealer's absolute best price, whereas someone who starts out on the showroom floor may have to negotiate down thousands of dollars from the manufacturer's suggested retail (factory sticker) price.Third-party sites:?These are sites such as and Edmunds that provide editorial information -- reviews, news and tips -- and direct buyers to dealers that may have the vehicle they're looking for. When an e-mail inquiry from one of these sites -- or in the case of , a call through the site's toll-free phone number -- arrives at the dealership, it identifies the buyer as someone who has already done the research and, one hopes, will be treated a little more respectfully than someone who just walked in off the ernment Web sitesAnother site that any savvy shopper should check -- both for new and used vehicles -- is the?National Highway and Transportation Safety Administration database?on crash test results, at which you can research a wide variety of models dating from 1991. The?Insurance Institute for Highway Safety?also lists its own crash test results, which in some cases are more stringent than what the federal government requires.For those concerned about a vehicle's environmental impact and fuel economy, the Environmental Protection Agency maintains an?online database?of the cleanest and most fuel-efficient vehicles, and the?California Air Resources Board?provides additional information on clean-running vehicles for that state.Independent Web sitesFrom there, surf over to some of the free Web sites that break down the invoice costs of the vehicles, so you can zero in on what price you should be shooting for. Some of the best sites are?Edmunds, which includes its estimates of true market value; the?Kelley Blue Book;?and?IntelliChoice. At these sites, you can also get reviews of many vehicles.Many of these sites also help you research a used-car purchase, as well as check out a fair trade-in or direct sale value for your current car.No-show in the showroom?By the way, it is possible to buy a car without ever setting foot in a dealership.Most dealers can arrange financing through the Internet and will deliver the car to your home or office, although few buyers at this point go that route. There's the matter of trade-ins, where values cannot be set without a dealer first inspecting the car you're bringing to the deal.Moreover, buying a car sight unseen goes against a consumer's instincts. The Internet can make the whole process easier, but at some point before they commit, most consumers want to see the car, drive it and see who's going to stand behind it after the deal is done.Nonetheless, shopping on the Web is a great alternative to blowing several days trudging from one showroom to the next.Lease or Buy: Five easy questionsTo decide whether leasing or buying is the best option for you, answer these questions:1. Do you drive more than 12,000 to 15,000 miles a year??Remember, be honest. If you drive more than that, leasing isn't for you because you'll end up paying hundreds or?thousands of dollars in extra-mileage fees.2. Do you mind always having a car payment??If not, leasing may be right for you. It will allow you to get a new car every three years without making a substantial down payment.3. Do you take good care of your vehicles??And generally avoid parking lot dings and fender benders? If you don't, then buy, don't lease, because lease contracts require you return the vehicle in good shape, fully maintained.4. Do you foresee modifying your vehicle??Then buy, don't lease, because under a lease you don't own the vehicle. Any changes you make could affect its value, and the leasing company will want compensation.5. Do you anticipate any lifestyle changes??If you foresee marriage or a new baby, for example, during the term of the lease, then buy instead. If you lease that two-seat sports car and two years from now need a minivan, you'll pay through the nose to get out of the lease. You may owe more than the sports car is worth two years into a conventional loan, but you'll likely pay less making a vehicle switch than you would under a lease termination.Tip:?The two best times of the year to purchase a car are the end of December (when dealers are competing for Christmas shoppers) and between July and October (when dealers are making room for new models). ................
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