Poll: How you research buying cars

My dad's car lot has been slow recently. We usually sell toyota, honda, ford,etc around 4-8 thousand, I was wondernig what you guys use to find cars to buy, i.e. Craigslist, Autotrader, cars.com etc.
Thanks for comments/votes!

 

Once I know which product I'm interested in I go for price man. I've used all the sites you listed above to compare but, it's really hard to do given that no two used cars/trucks are exactly the same.

I've bought only a few used cars and they were from people I knew/know. But, the overall driving factor is getting a good deal. Lowest price is great but, not always the best deal for me.

What are you guys doing to drive business? Type of advertising? Extended Warranties? Co-marketing? Has the area changed...I mean have other large draw / high traffic businesses moved away? Are other car dealers near your location? Does your inventory reflect the current demand?

But to answer your question...I like to be able to search inventory on line (all the sites you listed) and see it in print. I don't often use printed news paper type but, those car books one might find at the entrance of a grocery store.

 

My dad came to The US In 1970 with 100 dollars, he got his masters and met my mom. He started the business in 87 by himself and has stayed on Miramar Rd since then. I usually do ads on Craigslist and autotrader, but no Craigslist the past month, because school has taken up my time. My dads not good with computers, so he doesn't know how to do Craigslist. We do auto trader still, and this cars.com rep keeps e-mailing us and calling. I just say not interested. All our cars are clean title and most come with a 30 day power train warranty at the list price only. I just wanna help out my dad because he seems really stressed sometimes when he doesn't sell anything.
Ryan

 

We usually go through all the possible places we can (craigslist, local dealers, carmax, ECT...)

Does his lot happen to be mirramar trucks?

 

No, it's a small lot across from the base near harbor freight

 

Ok, not real familiar with that area, if it was Miramar trucks i'd be able to put in a good word.

 

I have bought 4 vehicles from ads on craigslist, and a couple from ads on autotrader. I've also sold 4 vehicles on craigslist.
I actually prefer buying cars from private sellers and hate going to dealerships, so craigslist is better for that

 

Sorry man I cut out the car lots.. I go to the wholesale man in my C.U. I got this with 5k on it for 7k less then the lots.

 

I search every source I can find. Dealer inventory on the web is very useful. Autotrader is probably the first thing I check after I decide on make and model.

 

I search strictly craigslist personally, but haven't bought a car recently. We typically search anything we can when looking for cars (I'm our family's resident obsessive researcher so they all typically tell me what they want and set me loose on the internet). I will say that I typically shy away from dealer ads on craigslist at first, but that's just my preference.

 

All of the above!!!

 

I used a little bit of everything. When I was pricing Tacoma's didn't take long to realize that I might as well buy new because a used one cost every bit as much. A wiser man would probably check out consumer's digest. I just associate that with how smart wealthy old people decide on what to buy.

 

CL is SO easy, and invaluable in his industry. It's time for your Dad to learn, especially if there's a measurable difference in sales when you post CL ads for him. Gotta adapt to market changes to stay competitive, especially in such a marketing-technology driven business.

 

When I was looking for my truck I mostly used cars.com. I also use Craigslist when I'm looking to buy private-party. Like others have said, your dad should learn how to use Craigslist. It's extremely easy to use. And also, get a dealer website, like someone else said. I always check a dealer's inventory online before I stop and checkout a vehicle.

 

I go to the dealership and buy what I want. I have a good idea what the invoice price is before arriving and and good idea what my trade is worth. I walk in with a 10 day payoff and use the equity that I have built up in my vehicle as a down payment toward the new vehicle. I never finance past 4 years.

I get the value of the vehicle that I am trading from our Fire Dept Credit Union and also check KBB for a cross reference.

 

Thanks for all the replies guys! I really appreciate all the feedback! Yeah we have a webiste, but it's like an Autotrader based website caliautoimport.com a.k.a. all the cars on there are from whatever we have on autotrader. Thanks!

 

Also keep in mind that alot of the dealers are using the internet to bring people in from alot farther than what used to be considered the normal sales range. It used to be that people looked around at local lots and dealers as they went by,or planned a day to go test drive stuff and that was it. With the internet, they look at what they want and who has the best price. I bought used when I bought my truck,and had to travel roughly 3 hours to take a look at it and go for a test drive. I just couldn't find a 6 speed around here..and that was something I wanted. I did my research on here first,to see who was having problems with what. Then I started looking..found what model and what options i wanted,and found my truck. Cars.com and autotrader are invaluable as a resource when doing your shopping,and most people know about them. It might not be a bad idea to look into both those sites.

 

Generally, car auctions. I've bought about 20 or so cars from some type of auction or another. No, I'm not a dealer and don't have a connection to one.

 

Go to tacomaworld; buy a tacoma. End research.

 

I used cars.com and autotrader a lot when buying my truck. I traveled 10 some hours away via plane train and cars to pick up my truck because I was picky with features. I too shy away a little from dealer Craigslist ads but I so t think they hurt.

I judge a business a lot by a well done and updated website. If I click the autotrader ad or google it, I feel very confident when a website pops up with more pictures, information, hours, an about us section, and good contact info. I also take google reviews serious as well, as if someone was pissed enough to go on there and leave a bad review, and the business didn't take the time to google themselves once a week and either reply or fix it, I think it shows a lot.

Best of luck and hope things turn around!