Step 3: Get Your Dealer Contacts
After completing Steps 1 and 2, you should have ten dealer contacts for your new car buying campaign. If you don't, you probably didn't hit enough sites to get a large enough group of contacts. Again, you want a large group because they'll all be competing for your business.
Here's the full list of online car buying sites:
Autobytel - Comprehensive, easy-to-use site that gives you multiple
ways to find the car you want: manufacturer, vehicle type, price range, and feature choices.
Auto Web - Good site for browsing by make and/or category. Time-saving
feature “Pros vs Cons” gives you a capsule look at what’s to like about each model.
Provides good details about what you’ll have to pay extra for in standard vs. optional equipment.
Car Smart - Selection by manufacturer and category. Compares
standard features and base price to other cars in its class. Offers nice
download of your selected car information - brochure, pricing details, options, etc.
Car.com - Site is easy to navigate. You can quickly find MSRP on any
base model. However, this site assumes that you already know the car maker’s
model variations very well. That means getting specific configurations is
confusing, so don't use this one first.
*****Cars.com -
Excellent site with informative articles, vehicle
profiles and buying guides. This site shows accurate dealer invoice pricing
for your base model and for all options right next to MSRP. Very easy-to-use configuration with
point-and-click buttons. Nice touch: Shows your selected color choice in picture
so you can easily compare color options.
CarPrices.com - New site with quick and easy quote process. Very fast loading and easy to use interface. Also handles used car buying and selling. Gives nice selection of dealers in major metropolitan areas for contacts for your Fax Buying Campaign.
Cars Direct
- This site is the only one that will actually sell you a car online and have it delivered to your house.
Provides some good prices in a very quick fashion. You’ll be getting prices that
are below the “dealer invoice” figures quoted on the other car buying websites.
Consumer Guide - Good information site from a company that reviews lots
of products besides automobiles. Has easy to print reports and complete option
lists with MSRP and “invoice price.” Doesn’t show big discounts, but still
provides excellent info for the folder. Very worthwhile site because they
include everything in their detailed list of options. Definitely print these
option lists out for your folder as they make a very handy reference tool for
refining your configuration.
Edmunds - Select by category, make, price range, vehicle type, or
monthly payment. Lots of good information, but site is slow loading in several
critical areas. Has nice overall rebate info, but maddeningly frustrating to get
to it with repetitive clicks and page reloads galore. If you go there, be sure
to print out the detailed rebate info.
IntelliChoice - Select by manufacturer or category. Lots of drill down
clicks versus drop-down menus which produce faster results. Does a good job of
showing which options are included in a package. Nice summary page of your
configuration that’s printable. Site shows standard list of factory-to-consumer
rebates and financing deals.
Invoice Dealers
This is the best overall site for generating online quote
responses. Their dealers are the most aggressive on their email price quotes.
You won’t get itemized option pricing here, but you'll get a
comprehensive printable page listing everything that’s included in the total price.
Kelley Blue Book - Select by manufacturer or category. Good detail on all the options. Great site for used car values. Be sure to get your trade-in wholesale and retail blue book values. Printable price quote does show all factory-to-consumer rebate information.
One More Source
If you can’t get enough dealer responses from the online sites - and you’ve
already tried adjusting your city and zip code info, then look up some extra
dealers online here:
http://www.theautofinder.com/dealermap.htm