I have to apologize to my husband and admit that yes, indeed, you can buy a car over the Internet. Both of us have embraced the Internet as a buying and shopping tool for years. At first it was small things that wouldn't have made a huge difference to us if something happened and we didn't get the item. We had a dedicated credit card for Internet purchases and scrutinized the statements with a fine tooth comb. But, as the years went by and nothing happened, and as eBay took off in popularity, buying items online is as natural to us as going to the store. In fact, with gas prices and our time being very expensive and very short, it has been a real money and time saver for us. The Internet is always open and you can shop or research whenever you want to.
When we needed to buy a new car in 2006, he started doing all his research on the Internet, and I did mine by asking friends, coworkers and looking up cars in Consumer Reports. I drew up a list of cars I thought would work for us and then we went and looked at them. I told him "you can't buy a car over the Internet, you have to haggle in-person." Which we both HATE. But we didn't. After test driving all the different vehicles, we picked out what we wanted. Then, Scott emailed all the dealerships and waited for a response. This isn't a fast process, so if you need something NOW, it won't work. The salesmen are not too fast in responding and when they do, it's something along the lines of, "why don't you come in and we'll talk about it."
Scott was persistent and eventually one salesman started to negotiate price. Eventually, Scott and he agreed on a price and, more importantly, an actual car. If you don't negotiate on the actual car, they can switch the price on you when you go in to sign the papers because you haven't agreed on an actual, physical car. All of a sudden you are starring in "Fargo" paying for items you don't want.
When it came time to go to the dealership, we had written proof of the offer (emails) and there was no haggling, no switching of prices, and no confusion about the vehicle we wanted. It was fast, well as fast as it could be in a dealership, and we only had to go there twice. Once to sign the papers and next to pick the car up. I was skeptical when Scott did this, and the second time around I said the same thing, but not as loudly. It took four weeks, but eventually he found a dealership that would negotiate through email and we didn't waste time or gas running to several different dealerships. And, we knew which car we wanted, so we didn't have to go test drive anything this time around.
To go from buying something small and frivolous to a car through the Internet is quite the progression. And I don't think that we are atypical in this process. The Internet is a valuable tool for information, entertainment, and shopping. I just wonder how brick and mortar businesses that don't have commerce websites are going to cope with the future of shopping on the Internet. If any have doubts that Internet shopping is here to stay, they really need to update their business model or face going out of business. The consumer is savvy and will save money where they can, especially with gas close to $4 a gallon.
So, Scott, I'm sorry I doubted you that you could buy a car over the Internet. Now, if you could just get that house bought over the Internet, then I will really eat my words.
blog for the week of April 28th.
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