SANTA MONICA, Calif., March 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Soon nearly 30 percent of
new cars will be purchased through car dealerships' Internet departments, and
that number is expected to continue to grow as consumers become more savvy
about the convenience and savings available. "Strategies for Smart Car
Buyers," second edition, explains how to locate and price cars online and
maximize savings by working with the Internet department at a dealership.
Written by the editors at Edmunds.com (http://www.edmunds.com), the premier online
resource for automotive information, the book teaches consumers that using the
Internet wisely can save hours at a dealership and makes car buying faster,
easier and less stressful than ever before.
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"The only reasons most people need to go to a car dealership are to
test-drive the car and sign the contract," said Philip Reed, "Strategies for
Smart Car Buyers" co-author and Edmunds.com Senior Consumer Advice Editor.
"Consumers should use the Internet, telephone and fax machine to research
vehicle options and prices, to receive price quotes and to secure financing
before ever setting foot in a car dealership."
Over the past five years, perhaps the biggest change at car dealerships is
that most have created an Internet department, where commissions are based on
sales volumes rather than transaction prices. This motivates Internet
department salespeople to quickly offer each customer an agreeable price.
Internet department salespeople also approach the selling process differently
because they are accustomed to customers who have done a lot of research and
are prepared to buy.
How can consumers best take advantage of this new way to buy cars? Among
other things, "Strategies for Smart Car Buyers" recommends going to the
Edmunds.com website and selecting the "Free Price Quote" option. This allows
any consumer to choose a car and then use "Dealer Locator" to quickly send
e-mails to multiple dealerships to check availability and receive price quotes
from Internet department salespeople.
To illustrate the difference between online car buying and traditional
methods, the Edmunds.com editors attempted a number of different approaches
and ultimately saved about $1,000 by buying a $20,000 car through the dealer's
Internet department. Describing these test cases in detail, "Strategies for
Smart Car Buyers" teaches consumers what to expect and how to reap the
benefits. For example, the book explains that some Internet departments
prefer to call and give a price by phone. In that event, consumers should
also ask to have the quote faxed to get written confirmation of the price.
And consumers should make sure the fax describes the exact vehicle including
all optional equipment, and confirm whether it includes related costs such as
taxes, title, license and registration.
Since first published in 2003, "Strategies for Smart Car Buyers" has been
thoroughly updated and expanded with 25 percent new content. In addition to
the new strategies presented for online car buyers, the second edition offers
the following new sections: Primer for Young Car Buyers, Dissecting a Lease
Deal and Tips for Haggling.
Primer for Young Car Buyers
Mike Hudson, co-author of "Strategies for Smart Car Buyers" and
Edmunds.com's 20-something Consumer Advice Editor, went undercover to find out
how young car buyers are treated in the car buying process. He explains the
simple ways young car buyers can overcome the common stereotypes attached to
them.
Dissecting a Lease Deal
A car commercial that offers a new sedan for an amazingly low monthly
lease payment is obviously designed to draw consumers into the dealership.
But, in a real-world example described in the book, fine print in the ad lists
the down payment, fees due at signing, mileage limits and sales tax, which
added the equivalent of nearly $200 to the monthly payment and quickly made
the lease far less appealing. This chapter gives consumers the knowledge they
need to recognize a good deal.
Tips for Haggling
The Tips for Haggling section gives consumers the confidence to negotiate
the best price for their vehicle, whether the negotiations are taking place in
person, on the phone or by e-mail.
Along with the new content, the second edition of "Strategies for Smart
Car Buyers" also contains all the great advice found in the previous edition:
buying a new or used car, leasing a car, buying insurance and selling your old
car. Car buyers tight on time can jump right to the 10 recommended steps
found at the end of each section.
Also included is the popular investigative series "Confessions of a Car
Salesman." For this assignment, Reed was sent to work undercover at two
different dealerships to give readers an insider's perspective on the
training, attitudes and behind-the-scenes tricks that dealers use to gain the
upper hand. A Washington Post personal finance columnist declared that
"Confessions of a Car Salesman" should be mandatory reading for all consumers
before stepping on a car lot.
"Strategies for Smart Car Buyers" retails for $14.99 at most bookstores,
or consumers can click on the direct link at http://www.edmunds.com/books to purchase
it from Amazon.com or BarnesandNoble.com. Additional car-buying advice is
available through the Strategies for Smart Car Buyers column at
http://www.edmunds.com/advice/strategies/articles/index.html.
About the Co-Authors
Philip Reed is the senior consumer advice editor for Edmunds.com. A
former newspaper reporter, Phil has also written a number of fiction and
non-fiction books. He was initially hired by Edmunds.com to work as an
undercover car salesman to better understand the automotive retailing
business. The result was "Confessions of a Car Salesman" which is included in
the "Strategies for Smart Car Buyers" book. After working as a car salesman,
Phil took a more traditional role at Edmunds.com and found himself on the
other side of the transaction -- buying cars for the company's long-term
vehicle test fleet. He believes that this dual role has given him unique
insight into the relationship between the car salesperson and the American
consumer.
Mike Hudson is a consumer advice editor for Edmunds.com. He spent four
years covering economics and the automotive industry as a reporter at Detroit
News and Detroit Free Press. Mike has won numerous writing awards, including
being named the Michigan Press Association's "Young Writer of the Year" for
2003. His past work has appeared in newspapers across the country including
USA Today, Philadelphia Inquirer, Miami Herald and Boston Globe. He continues
to write a monthly column for Detroit News focusing on youth and cultural
trends in the auto industry. For the second edition of "Strategies for Smart
Car Buyers," Mike, who is in his twenties, went undercover to find out how
"Generation Y" car buyers are treated during the car buying process.
About Edmunds.com, Inc.
Edmunds.com is the premier online resource for automotive information.
Its comprehensive set of data, tools and services, including Edmunds.com True
Market Value(R) pricing, is generated by Edmunds.com Information Solutions and
is licensed to third parties. For example, the company supplies content for
the auto sections of NYTimes.com, AOL, About.com, iVillage,com and IGN.com,
provides weekly data to Automotive News and delivers monthly data reports to
Wall Street analysts. Edmunds.com also publishes a high-speed, on-screen car
magazine called Inside Line available free at http://www.insideline.com. Edmunds.com
was named "best car research" site by Forbes ASAP, has been selected by
consumers as the "most useful Web site" according to every J.D. Power and
Associates New Autoshopper.com Study(SM) and was ranked first in the Survey of
Car-Shopping Web Sites as reported by The Wall Street Journal. The company is
headquartered in Santa Monica, Calif. and maintains a satellite office outside
Detroit.
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