Wise Ways To Get Wheels
Armed with Web weapons, shoppers need no longer fear the auto showroom. Here's a game plan
Just thinking about it can bring back painful memories. The hot lights of the car dealership, salespeople circling like sharks, the false smiles, the cool handshakes. Hours and hours (and hours) of haggling. That nauseating fear of making a mistake worth thousands of dollars on the biggest purchase of the year. Even for the most confident negotiators, buying a new car has long been as unpleasant as it is confusing.
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Illustration by Ellwood Smith
But it may not have to be that way--not anymore. Sure, there are a bewildering array of coupes, sedans, trucks, SUV s, and hybrid vehicles on the market today, nearly 300 models in all, each one with a mystifying mosaic of trims and styles. The sheer number of consumers jostling for a shiny set of wheels can be overwhelming: An estimated 17 million people will buy a new car in 2006.
Don't be fooled, though. It's still a buyer's market. American manufacturers, facing the weakest October in years after summer's barrage of "employee pricing" offers, are in the mood to deal, and discounts and rebates have hardly ever been higher. The average incentive for a large SUV is now about $4,700. Plus, cars are only getting more comfortable and more reliable. Sure, gas prices may be soaring, but consumers are saving a bundle on repairs: In 1980, there were an average of 88 problems per 100 vehicles; today, that number is less than 20. Above all, though, the Internet has given shoppers a powerful new tool, one experts think may finally put an end to the drawn-out misery traditionally associated with car buying. U.S. News talked to automotive analysts, dealers, and buyers to get a picture of the new world of car buying--and offers suggestions of how you can get the best deal.
THE RIGHT CAR--AT THE RIGHT PRICE
Good news: The bad old days of spending most of the car-buying process at a dealership, under the watchful eyes of a horde of pushy salesmen, are over. Instead, consumers are spending their time online, where they can decide from the comfort of home which of a dozen different styles, say, of the Subaru Outback, they like. In 1998, only a quarter of car buyers were using the Web to research cars. This year, a whopping 67 percent are. And with information comes power. Phil Reed, a consumer advice expert at Edmunds.com, is often asked what people should do when they walk on a car lot. "Right away," he says, "I tell them, 'Don't walk on the lot.' " Savvy customers now use a simpler method, going to the dealer for only two reasons--to take a test-drive and to seal the deal.
Smart car buyers have always started with research, of course--but with companies flocking to the Web to lend consumers a hand, it's never been as easy to do your homework. Manufacturer sites are a good place to start if you're not sure what kind of car or accessories you need, or if you know which brand you want: GM.com , for example, allows searches by brand, body style, model, and price--and provides information on local dealer inventory. So, if you're interested in a 2005 Chevy Malibu, you can choose between several levels of accessories. They range from a base model for $19,825 to a loaded LT with a rear spoiler, automatic climate control, and a flat-folding front passenger seat for $24,685. It's still not quite like buying a T-shirt online--most customers prefer to be there in person to ink the final deal. But times have changed. "We sold cars for 100 years without this, and it's hard to look back and know how," says Dennis Galbraith, senior director of online marketing solutions at J. D. Power & Associates.
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