Buying A Car Off The Internet

Consumers are growing more comfortable with buying a wide variety of things online, from fruits and vegetables to couches and cars. Partly by necessity and partly because we've realized how convenient and time-efficient it is, we've become quite comfortable with online buying.

buying a car off the internet

Undoubtedly, there are pros and cons to buying a car online. While history favors the traditional in-person car-buying process, those who look to the future see a trend pointing toward an increase in online car-buying going forward.

If you asked these people if they are online car-buyers, they might tell you yes. But buying online is different than shopping online. By the strictest definition, a customer is buying a car online only if they complete the entire transaction from start to finish using the Internet.

Their marketing messages often emphasize their clients' ability to avoid visiting a dealer and talking to a car salesperson. In actuality, though, they technically are car dealers because virtually all 50 states require any business that sells more than a handful of vehicles each year to hold a dealer's license. The online used-car retailers have changed how the buying public perceives them because of the online experiences they offer.

Now, some individual new-car dealers and dealer groups also offer end-to-end online car buying. Their goal is to deliver the same ease and transparency that the online sellers of other products offer their customers. At the same time, their traditional dealership activities for conducting test drives, getting service, and comparison shopping are also available to their customers.

One of the significant benefits of buying a car online is that it often saves time. Few of us want to spend an entire Tuesday night or Saturday morning in a car dealership trying to get a deal done. Using this traditional method, consumers and dealer personnel can spend hours on a single transaction, and neither side is pleased about that. Online car-buying can streamline the process by enabling time-consuming chores, like filling out paperwork, to be done at the customer's leisure.

At the same time, there is no sales pressure. The deal is not shepherded along by a salesperson whose commission and livelihood depend on the deals she or he makes. Usually, there is someone on the dealer's staff who does care about those things, but they don't come into personal contact with the customer. While plenty of car salespeople are lovely, honest, nice-to-know people, a significant percentage of the American car-buying public is happy about never dealing with a car salesperson again.

Another benefit of online car-buying is that you can shop for and buy a car virtually any time it is convenient for you. And you can do it in your sweats on a workout bike at three in the morning if you want to. When you don't want to deal with the process for a while, you can stop and pick up the transaction thread again when you're ready to move on.

Similarly, with online car buying, you can take delivery at home or virtually anywhere you want. An expert will deliver the vehicle to you and give you all the information you need to operate your new car properly.

While there are many positives to buying a vehicle online, there are a few negatives. One of the most important is your inability to see, feel, and physically inspect the car you've selected before buying it. Of course, most online sellers give their shoppers extensive photos and video of each vehicle, but nothing really takes the place of seeing the car up close and personal.

Another downside to buying a car online is the relative inability to negotiate on price or terms. For many people, that is actually a positive, but some shrewd negotiators might miss the opportunity to score themselves a great deal, or at least to think they did.

Perhaps one of the more significant cons to buying a car online is that financing choices might be limited. You may find the online sales process restricts you to a single lender or one of just a handful with which the dealer has a relationship. Of course, you can secure financing before the online shopping process and then purchase the car as a "cash buyer." But that complicates what otherwise would be a straightforward and time-efficient exercise.

Deciding whether buying a car online is right for you depends upon what you look for in your transaction. If you want speed, convenience, and lack of hassle, buying online could be a great choice for you. On the other hand, if you're the kind of buyer who wants to see, touch, and smell the car before you buy it, or you want to grind the dealer down to the lowest possible price, online car-buying might not be your best choice.

Many car buyers still prefer the old method of car shopping over the digital way, however. Find out here if buying cars online might be a great method for you - or not worth the hassle. And make sure you're covered with affordable car insurance.

The car buying advisers and consumer advocates at Edmunds, Popular Mechanics and Kelley Blue Book all recommend, at the very least, to "shop" for your next car online. This is actually less like shopping and more like research.

Buying cars online can save you time and effort, but don't let the impersonal nature of the Internet discourage you from contacting the dealer by phone. Most dealerships have entire online car buying sales departments (or at least one rep they assign to online purchases). Be sure to call the dealer and speak to that person. Sometimes dealers will only give you an online price quote if you contact them by email or phone.

Another added perk of buying a car online is that it significantly increases your access to prices and features. You may never have driven for hours to the dealer in the next city, but you can take a few minutes to shop around their website and call their Internet sales department in a fraction of the time.

The greatest drawback to buying a car online is you can't do those things that seem to go with buying a car. You can't peek under the hood and nod in approval. You can't kick the tires, and you can't take it for a test drive. It is especially important to have the car or truck inspected by a professional if it is a used car.

If you are using an online car buying service, it may not be possible to have the car inspected, unless it is a transaction through one of their partner dealerships. That's less important if you are ordering a new vehicle, but some consumers are still uncomfortable with it.

The other thing to remember about these online car buying services is that there may be less room to negotiate. They promise the lowest prices available, but that's not always the case. That's why careful research during the first phase of the process is so important.

If you prefer the haggle-free new car buying experience, an online service may be right for you. If you don't feel you've done your part until you've made a sales rep sweat a bit, you can still order a car online through the dealer's Internet sales department.

The beauty of using an online car buying service is that it comes to you and not the other way around. Once you've finished shopping (aka researching), set up a time and location for the delivery of the car right to your door. Don't let the cost of delivery eat up your savings, however.

Some car buying services use their own delivery companies and build the shipping costs right into the price of the car. Others allow you to choose your own delivery method. Be sure to shop around for the best price on shipping as well.

You may have been drawn to the idea of buying a car online thanks to sites like TrueCar or Carvana, which can help you buy new or used cars over a computer without personally interacting with a dealership salesperson. These sites can offer a variety of vehicles from different manufacturers and at different price points. However, if you've done your research and narrowed down your list to one or two possibilities, it might be easiest or cheapest to stick with the traditional dealership. Simply track down the contact information for the internet sales department (most dealerships have one), and fire off an email to them asking for quotes on the vehicles you're interested in.

If you're planning to buy your car online for the main purpose of avoiding a dealership, keep in mind that it'll be a challenge to get a test drive unless you're willing to be flexible. If you're working with a dealership's internet salesperson, you can schedule a test drive of the vehicle you want (or one like it) but it'll be hard to avoid engaging with dealership staff while you're there.

If you're going with a third-party service and a test drive is important to you, bear in mind that not all online car services can accommodate test drives. In the case of a new car, you can still drive one at a local dealership, but it won't be the car you're buying and it's probably the exact kind of hassle you're shopping online to avoid. And in the case of a used car you can't see or drive, you'll be taking some serious chances.

This step is especially important if you're buying a used car online long-distance, from a dealership or from a private seller. Tom McParland, a car-buying consultant and Jalopnik columnist, has advised that even a car advertised as "certified preowned" can have problems, so if you don't have the mechanical knowledge to inspect a car yourself or you aren't close by, it's worthwhile to arrange to have the car looked over by an independent mechanic for extra peace of mind. If the seller doesn't want to bother taking the car to a shop, there are services that will go to the car's location for an inspection.

Carvana is one online car-buying service that offers a seven-day return policy. Though Carvana won't disclose how often customers take advantage of the policy, the company says the policy helps provide peace of mind to customers. "We call every customer on the sixth day to check in, see how things are going, and if they are happy, we're happy," Amy O'Hara, Carvana's associate director of communications, says via email. "If they have questions, concerns, or want to return the vehicle or swap it for another one on the site, we're there to work with them to ensure they have an exceptional experience." This can be a valuable option if your online shopping experience doesn't meet your expectations. 041b061a72