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From...
Need a car? Shop the Web first
October 6, 1998
Web posted at: 4:00 PM EDT
by Mike Hogan
(IDG) -- Looking for a new ride? Instead of spending the next half-dozen Sundays wandering from car lot to car lot, how about doing a little cybercruising first?
True, there are some things you just don't want to buy sight unseen -- and an automobile is definitely one of them. But smart shoppers will stop off at one or more of the Web's cyber car lots before hitting real-world dealerships. Web sites like Autoweb.com and General Motors' GM BuyPower are warehouses of automobile info where you can shop, compare, haggle with dealers online, search for financing -- in fact, do just about everything you'd do at a car lot but take a test drive.
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The GM site lets you search on 140 different models from among GM's six divisions -- Chevrolet, Buick, Pontiac, GMC, Cadillac, Oldsmobile -- while Autoweb.com lets you search for everything from an Acura to a Volvo. Of course, being the largest automobile manufacturer in the world, GM meets the needs of a large share of the driving public. It's so large, in fact that it could take until March to get the inventory of only 40 percent of GM's 8000 dealerships nationwide online. So far, about 60 percent of the dealers in California, Washington, Oregon, and Idaho have been trained to participate in this program.
But even if you don't have a GM BuyPower dealer in your area, gmbuypower.com is still a great place to get the info you need before visiting your local dealer. You can browse and compare specs by clicking through its pick lists or use its search engine to go directly to a specific make and model. The GM pages go into great detail on features and options like antilock brakes or crush zones -- a depth of detail that, lets face it, you're not likely to get from a car salesman. A particularly useful feature is the page that compares GM cars with similar models from other manufacturers. Based on Automotive Information Center data, this easy-to-read chart lists competing model prices and features in great detail.
After you've made up your mind, you can print out a window sticker with the manufacturer's suggested retail price and then shop via e-mail to find the color and price you want. Playing one dealer off another is the best way to save money; and this lets you do it without all that driving back and forth.
GM dealer inventories are updated every morning; and gmbuypower.com will have local contact information so you can get hold of a dealer to ask him to hold or locate a specific vehicle or to schedule a test drive.
Autoweb.com is another place to stop before you buy -- even if you're buying GM. It's a far more elaborate site that lets you shop for models from a far wider universe of car makers. You also can shop for used cars, sell your present car, read various car reviews, shop for insurance and check out your leasing and financing options. Its loan calculator lets you run the financing numbers; and there's a link to the Kelley Blue Book so you can check the value of your trade-in.
The GM site lets you check inventory immediately, while Autoweb.com forwards your name and car preference to a member dealer who is supposed to get back to you within 24 hours. To a great extent, both sites offer complementary information and can give you the education and facts you need so you can go out there and haggle like a pro with the pros.