The Single Best Way To Save Cash On A New Car: Stir the Competition

We all know competition breeds lower prices but how can you use the internet to get the most out of your next new car purchase?

First you need to be aware of what is out there. Cars.com, AutoTrader, KBB, Edmunds, Manufacturer sites, Dealer sites - it can all be a little overwhelming.

When it comes to getting a great deal, kick out the Manufacturer sites. They provide a great starting point but do little for negotiation other than pointing you to your local dealer.

The Dealer sites are a hodge-podge collection of designs whose goal is to get you on the lot. After all, Dealers excel at selling face-to-face and there are very valid reasons why the buying public has such negative connotations of their local car dealer.

And then there are the "Informational" sites. Some of these provide actual inventory, some contain dealer advertisements. Yet they all provide access to pricing and allow you to "Get a Quote."

But there is a very real drawback to these sites - they are working an angle that is not necessarily in the consumer’s best interest. In addition to advertising revenue, they make their money selling consumer contact information to large numbers of dealers.

Under this model, the dealers can then contact you to “Give" you a quote.

Sounds good, right? Not when you really think about it.

Many of these dealers begin to send you voluminous emails and repeatedly call you (even when you indicate email is your preference). The goal of their online strategy is exactly the same as their more traditional radio & television advertising - THEY WANT TO GET YOU ON THE LOT!

And while there are some dealers who will actually give you a quote via email, these are far more the exception than the rule.

BUT EVEN THEN, you can still bet that the quote they give you is not their best offer.

Does this strategy sound good now?

Enter the newest way to shop for your next new car - AutoBidsOnline.com. AutoBids simplifies the negotiation process and works in the best interest of both the consumer and the dealer.

“How can they do that?”, you might ask.

First you have to look at it from the dealers’ perspective. For the last several years, dealers’ internet departments have been flooded with the online quote requests described above. Yet many of these requests are from nothing more than online tire-kickers or even 10 year old kids fooling around on the net. At best, dealers can only expect to make a deal with 8-9% of all online quote requests. Most are in the 2-3% range.

Imagine you are a car salesman whose livlihood depends on closing these type of leads. It's pretty troubling. And none of this is setting well with dealers who are struggling just to stay afloat. In fact, there is a growing trend of dealers dropping third-party internet leads altogether.

Now take a look at the AutoBids model from the consumer’s perspective. Unlike the other "Informational" sites, AutoBidsOnline charges its members a nominal one-time fee to keep their data private. Instead of "Getting a Quote," AutoBids members can "Set Their Price."

Dealers can then either accept the bid as-is, make a counter-offer or suggest another vehicle that may better fit the consumer’s needs. Either way, the dealer knows the consumer is a serious buyer and can be confident he stands a good chance of making a deal.

As you can now see, AutoBidsOnline greatly simplifies the car buying process. It creates a competitive environment that leads to a great deal for the consumer. And while the dealer may lose a slight amount of margin, his people are more productive, he has a much happier customer and he is free to turn his attention to the more profitable aspects of his business.