Buying Your New Car Online

According to Forrester Research, a Cambridge, Massachusetts, analysis firm, there are now more than 50 online car buying services. The National Automobile Dealers Association reports that 56 percent of the 22,600 dealerships in the U.S. now have Web sites.


Just as in the real estate market, if consumers are not actually conducting transactions on the Net, they are using the information they find there to become more savvy buyers and to make the purchasing process more efficient. Locally-generated information about new and used vehicles for sale is much more complete and comprehensive than information about local real estate and job opportunities, in part because vehicles are a commodity and in part due to the way retailers are organized into national associations, dealerships, and standardized software user groups.


Consumer interest in auto information on the Web has been strong from the very outset. According to a 1996 study by J.D. Power & Associates, of the 70 percent of new vehicle buyers who used or owned a computer (a notable market congruency in and of itself), 45 percent said they would consider using the Web for vehicle shopping. A 1997 General Motors study quoted in Yellow Pages & Directory Report indicated that 14 percent of shoppers last year had used online services in purchasing a car.(Lazarony,2002:2)


The availability of auto information online from all kinds of sources has already begun to have an impact on the consumer experience. The ease with which a prospective buyer can do comparison shopping online improves the buyer's ability to bargain with the seller in person. When a dealer gives a firm price to an Internet buyer, the bargain hassle is generally eliminated or eased when buyers visit the dealer to complete the transaction.