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Used Car Buying Help From The Internet

By: Sandra Kinsler

The Internet provides an amazing array of free and low-cost automotive information. The Web is chock full of sites to find used-car buying information, view cars for sale, investigate their crashworthiness, their features and actually make a purchase. Much of what is available is useful and accurate though there are many poor quality web sites that load slowly, are poorly written, were organized by someone in a coma, provide inaccurate data and some are just plain "UGLY." This Guide provides the best of the best to support the used-car shopping process -- not all of them are pretty, but they are all good.

Nowhere else on earth can more superior information be obtained. What has occurred on the Web in the way of automotive information provision is overtaking the print marketplace for quality and extent of content. With very few exceptions, all the great car and truck buying information is available on the Web. AutoTrader is here with data from a wide array of reliable sources. Consumer Reports is here, the Pace Guides are here at CarPrices.com, Kelley Blue Book is here -- and on and on.

The data here is organized by major subject category. For example, the MONEY section lists places to find interest rates, apply for a loan or lease, find banks, and obtain credit ratings. Use this article as if it were a bloodhound. Allow it to lead to information you require. Refer to it as often as needed and print out what you find to take along when the shopping starts. These sites will lead to others and it is easy to get lost in the maze of automotive material available. Just come back here to get reoriented. We'll put you back on the trail of hot information.

Note: In case you find a broken link here, please let us know . Sometimes the sites we list do tricky things like changing their URLs or file names and leave us hanging.

MONEY

Check a Credit Rating

  • TRW [http://www.experian.com]: Order your report online.

  • Trans Union [http://www.transunion.com]: Order your report online.

  • Equifax [http://www.equifax.com]: Order your report online.

  • My Credit [http://www.mycreditfile.com/prod.html]: For $9.95 order a report from all 3 of the credit reporting services listed above.

Determining What I Can Afford to Spend on A Car

  • AutoTrader Affordability Calculator [http://www.autotrader.com/finance_insurance/calculators/calculators.jtmpl]: Helps determine what monthly payment is affordable.

  • AutoTrader Loan and Cost Calculator [http://www.autotrader.com/finance_insurance/calculators/calculators.jtmpl]: Helps determine how much money to put down on a vehicle.

  • LeaseWizard® [http://www.leasesource.com]: Figures leases, loans, lease vs. buy, cash back vs.low APR, early termination costs and more. LeaseWizardå gets the whole job done by automatically figuring taxes and printing easy-to-read reports comparing loans and leases with recommendations on executing the best deal possible.

Auto Loan Rates

  • Bank Rate Monitor [http://www.bankrate.com/brm/rate/auto_home.asp?web=brm]: Gives car loan rates nationally and by state.

  • Open the phone book and call local banks and credit unions to find actual rates in your area.

Used Car Buying Help From The Internet

By: Sandra Kinsler

The Internet provides an amazing array of free and low-cost automotive information. The Web is chock full of sites to find used-car buying information, view cars for sale, investigate their crashworthiness, their features and actually make a purchase. Much of what is available is useful and accurate though there are many poor quality web sites that load slowly, are poorly written, were organized by someone in a coma, provide inaccurate data and some are just plain "UGLY." This Guide provides the best of the best to support the used-car shopping process -- not all of them are pretty, but they are all good.

Nowhere else on earth can more superior information be obtained. What has occurred on the Web in the way of automotive information provision is overtaking the print marketplace for quality and extent of content. With very few exceptions, all the great car and truck buying information is available on the Web. AutoTrader is here with data from a wide array of reliable sources. Consumer Reports is here, the Pace Guides are here at CarPrices.com, Kelley Blue Book is here -- and on and on.

The data here is organized by major subject category. For example, the MONEY section lists places to find interest rates, apply for a loan or lease, find banks, and obtain credit ratings. Use this article as if it were a bloodhound. Allow it to lead to information you require. Refer to it as often as needed and print out what you find to take along when the shopping starts. These sites will lead to others and it is easy to get lost in the maze of automotive material available. Just come back here to get reoriented. We'll put you back on the trail of hot information.

Note: In case you find a broken link here, please let us know . Sometimes the sites we list do tricky things like changing their URLs or file names and leave us hanging.


MONEY


Check a Credit Rating

  • TRW [http://www.experian.com]: Order your report online.

  • Trans Union [http://www.transunion.com]: Order your report online.

  • Equifax [http://www.equifax.com]: Order your report online.

  • My Credit [http://www.mycreditfile.com/prod.html]: For $9.95 order a report from all 3 of the credit reporting services listed above.

Determining What I Can Afford to Spend on a Car

  • AutoTrader Affordability Calculator [http://www.autotrader.com/finance_insurance/calculators/calculators.jtmpl]: Helps determine what monthly payment is affordable.

  • AutoTrader Loan and Cost Calculator [http://www.autotrader.com/finance_insurance/calculators/calculators.jtmpl]: Helps determine how much money to put down on a vehicle.

  • LeaseWizard [http://www.leasesource.com]: Figures leases, loans, lease vs. buy, cash back vs.low APR, early termination costs and more. LeaseWizardå gets the whole job done by automatically figuring taxes and printing easy-to-read reports comparing loans and leases with recommendations on executing the best deal possible.

Auto Loan Rates

  • Bank Rate Monitor [http://www.bankrate.com/brm/rate/auto_home.asp?web=brm]: Gives car loan rates nationally and by state.

  • Open the phone book and call local banks and credit unions to find actual rates in your area.

Loan Calculators

Note: After obtaining the pricing information on vehicles of interest, use these sites to get a ballpark figure for the monthly loan or lease payment you will pay. Oddly, the results vary a little bit from calculator to calculator.

Lease Calculators

Leasing Information

Residual Values

When leasing, know the residual value of the prospective car.

  • CarWizard.com [http://www.carwizard.com]: The all-important residual values for different vehicles.

Banks and Lending Institutions

Note: Banks are everywhere on the net. Check Yahoo [http://www.yahoo.com/Business_and_Economy/Companies/Automotive/Financing] and Excite for complete and current listings as new ones are added every week.


COST OF OWNERSHIP


Sales Tax by State

License and Registration

  • Yahoo [http://www.yahoo.com/Recreation/Automotive/ Licensing_and_Registration_Agencies/ United_States/]: Listing of Department of Motor Vehicle web sites by state.

Car Insurance

Note: We looked at sites that claimed to provide free insurance quotes like Progressive and Insurance Shopping Network. They compared the prices of only a few companies and had information for only a few states. They are not useful.

  • Consumer Reports [http://www.consumerinsure.org/]: Sells reports that compare the prices of up to 25 companies.

  • Yahoo's Listing of insurance companies [http://www.yahoo.com/Business_and_Economy/ Companies/Financial_Services/Insurance/Automotive/]

Automotive Data and Cost of Ownership Reports

  • Intellichoice [http://www.intellichoice.com/]: Comprehensive Used Car information.

  • Runzheimer [http://www.runzheimer.com]: Cost of ownership data. Look at press releases.

  • Polk [http://www.polk.com]: Providing general data on the automotive industry. Look under products and services.

  • J. D. Power [http://www.jdpower.com]: Providing general data on the automotive industry.

Compare a Used Car Purchase to a New Car Lease

  • Intellichoice [http://www.intellichoice.com/lease]: A comprehensive list of all the current new car leasing specials from the automakers.

Frequency of Repairs

Fuel Rating Guide


SAFETY AND RELIABILITY INFORMATION


Crash Test Results

Note: Once you've narrowed your options, take a look at how the cars under consideration have fared in the crash tests.

Driver Death Rates

  • Insurance Institute for Highway Safety [http://www.hwysafety.org/deathrat/ddrate2.htm]: Statistics about how many people died in a crash of a particular make and model. Currently 222 models are listed.

Recalls and Technical Service Bulletins (TSBs)

Child Safety Seats

Airbags

  • NHTSA [http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/airbags]: Information about airbags and who has what.

Pollution

  • Freon recovery and recycling in formation from the EPA [http://www.epa.gov]: Links to regional environmental information.


CAR SHOPPING

Note: These sites are everywhere on the web in annoyingly large numbers. They often have photos, car reviews and auto-buying tips as well as pricing and option information. But they were not written for women and they don't know anything about the best negotiating techniques. Don't pay attention to the new-car buying tips sections of other web sites. They are out of date and not female friendly. For help with negotiations read the NEW CAR BUYING GUIDE Used Car Buying Guide article "Negotiating A Good Deal."

Packages, Options, Specifications and Viewing Cars

Note: While nothing beats a test drive to help decide which car is the right one, "cyber" test drives (reading about and looking at photos) help narrow choices, hopefully, to around four vehicles. With a make and model in mind, go to the NEW CAR BUYING GUIDE automaker's sites. It lists the automakers alphabetically. One word of warning: be prepared to spend a lot of time surfing these sites. It can be difficult to find information in these often slow loading sites. But they can be both fun and informative. Bear in mind, that you will not find much used-car information on these sites. But looking at them may help with the selection process.

  • AutoTrader.com [http://www.autotrader.com]: Comprehensive Used Car information. Prices supplied by Kelley Blue Book.

  • Edmunds [http://www.edmunds.com/edweb/used/usedcars.html]: Specifications on used vehicles.

Used Car Prices

Web sites with educated, subjective opinions, prices, product comparisons of cars and trucks abound on the web. These are called General Auto Information Web Sites. The most important reason to visit these sites is to view pricing information and option lists that will help you determine the price range for your new vehicle -- wholesale, retail and street. There are dozens of sites like this, but the following are our recommendations.

  • Intellichoice [http://www.intellichoice.com/]: Comprehensive Used Car information.

  • Yahoo Used Car Prices [http://autos.yahoo.com/edmunds]: Prices supplied by Edmunds.

  • Car Price [http://www.carprice.com=]: Prices supplied by the Pace Guides.

  • Kelley Blue Book (http://www.kbb.com): Used car prices. Same data available at AutoTrader.com [http://www.autoconnect.com].

  • Edmunds [http://www.edmunds.com/edweb/used/usedcars.html]: Same as Yahoo above.

  • NADA Pricing Guides [http://www.nadaguides.com]: See what dealer pricing expectations are for used cars. They differ from Kelley and Car Price.

Used Car Buying Sites

Now that you know the price range for the cars you are considering, it is time to get bids from dealers. This tells what the market will bear. Most of the web sites providing bids are in fact lead-generating businesses for member dealerships. You enter data the car you want and the information is sent to a dealer in your area (though not always close by). The dealership responds directly to you by fax, email or phone. Make sure to get the quote in writing. Some of the best sites to get bids from are:

Compare Cars

  • AutoTrader.com [http://www12.customsearch.autoconnect.com/common/qanda]: Select Pre-Owned Cars, then select Compare cars and use the system to give you side-by-side comparisons of different vehicles.

Fleet Sales and Leasing

Note: Search Yahoo [http://www.yahoo.com] and Excite [http://www.excite.com] with the keywords "fleet sales" or "fleet leasing" along with your state.

Repossessed Vehicles for Sale

Note: Search Yahoo [http://www.yahoo.com] and Excite [http://www.excite.com] the keywords repossessed cars (or vehicles).

New Car Reviews for Older Vehicles

  • AutoTrader.com [http://www.autoconnect.com/resource/auto_reviews/index.jtmpl]: Select a year, make and model and obtain the new car review for the used car.

Certified Used Vehicle Programs

  • Edmunds [http://www.edmunds.com/edweb/Incentives.html]

Awards

Note: These are sites that show awards for a variety of automotive achievements.

  • Intellichoice Best Overall Pre-Owned Car Value Awards [http://www.intellichoice.com/po_bovy/intro.ssi]: By year.

  • J.D. Power and Associates [http://www.jdpower.com/award.html]: A variety of awards for everything from Vehicle Dependability to Service Usage and Retention.

Classified Ads

  • Yahoo Classifieds [http://classifieds.yahoo.com/automobiles.html]: Data comes from autoweb.com and Microsoft CarPoint.

Find a Dealer

Used Car Superstores

  • Driver's Mart [http://www.drvsmart.com/]: recently purchased by CarMax.

  • CarMax [http://www.carmax.com]

  • AutoNation, site is not yet available but will be shortly.

Auctions and Municipal Auctions

Note: Car auction sites come and go. For a current listing visit Yahoo [http://www.yahoo.com/Business_and_Economy/Companies/Automotive/Dealers/Auctions]

Buying Services

Buyer's services are organizations that work for the buyer (not the automakers or dealerships) helping to make new car purchasing decisions, negotiate a lease or purchase of a vehicle and get the best price. There are lots of services that claim to be on the consumer's side, but we can vouch for only one.

  • AutoAdvisor, Inc. [http://www.autoadvisor.com]: AutoAdvisor is the nation's oldest, automobile information, consumer consulting and buyer's service. Their phone number is 1-800-326-1976.

Determine Ownership and Status

  • Car Fax [http://www.carfax.com]: Car Fax collects the background data for vehicles manufactured after 1981. Supply the 17-digit VIN (vehicle identification number) and submit it along with $12.50 Car Fax to receive a report of the car's mileage history and whether it has been totaled or salvaged . The information is based on DMV and auto auction data. The reports have limitations though. They do not cover all states.

Collector Cars

  • Yahoo [http://www.yahoo.com/Recreation/Automotive/Classic_Cars/]: Clubs dedicated to your dream car, as well as articles from various newspapers and magazines around the world.

  • EWA [http://www.autobooks.com]: A major distributor of automotive-related materials, offering hundreds of magazines, books, videos and models of classic cars from yesteryear as well as today's most popular models.

  • White Post Restorations in Virginia [http://www.whitepost.com]: Possibly the finest restoration shop in the country, will happily take on your project -- for a price.

  • Hemmings Motor News [http://www.hemmings.com]: Web site for the monthly publication of roughly 800 pages. Data is not available for free. There is a charge to order drive reports. Publication is for sale on this site.

  • Car Collector Trader Online [http://www.traderonline.com]: On a recent visit to their growing site, there were 20,337 ads just for collector cars.

  • Special Car Journal [http://www.SpecialCar.com/journal/adsnew/classaz.htm]:Online source for collector cars and parts. The first month's listing is free,with a monthly charge for continued listings.

  • cars for sale [http://www.car-nection.com/asp/car4salemakes.asp]: No charge except for photo.

DELIVERY


Shipping

  • Shipside [http://www.shipside.com]: Specialists in shippingvehicles worldwide and selling factory-new tax-free cars and motorcycles directly to the public.

MAINTENANCE

SELL A CAR

DONATING A CAR

  • The IRS Document [http://www.irs.ustreas.gov/plain/forms_pubs/pubs/p526toc.htm]: Everything you need to know about donating a car and more.

EXTENDED WARRANTIES

Note: New warranty companies add themselves to the web every week. For an up-to-date list, visit the Yahoo Section [http://www.yahoo.com/Business_and_Economy/Companies/Automotive/Buyers__Services
/Service_Warranty_Contracts/].

  • Warranty Direct [http://www.warrantydirect.com]: Site gives free quotes and clearly spells out what the warranties include at differing levels.

CONSUMER SUPPORT AND COMPLAINT SITES


Complaint Databases

Note: If you have problems and want to file a complaint or investigate whether complaints have been filed for a particular company, car or child safety seat, visit one of these Sites.

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