If you're looking to buy a car, often times we begin our search online. Certainly you've encountered some issues where you simply didn't have enough information on the vehicle. Why not? What was missing?

Personally, I like a pic of the front, back and both sides as well as under the hood. Give me half dozen pictures of the exterior and then a handful of the interior.

Engine size, model, make, year, mileage ...


List off everything you need and want to know for purchasing a vehicle.

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I use to be more fussy about what car I drive. Not anymore.

We have a couple of dealerships insured. I just go to the owner and tell him to get me a car at the auction. I don't even think about it and it has worked for me.

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Alright, lets turn the clock back several years to a time that your response can be included to this topic. When you were "fussy" as you say, what things would have been greatly beneficial to you as a potential buyer of a vehicle?

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alright I will turn the clock back.

no internet. the end. :P



If I wanted to use the internet as it is today what would I look for- (I actually have helped others shop online in the past year.)

Photos.

Carfax report. I bought a 10 yr old car from the dealer above when I saw it was a 1 couple owner and had only 50,000 miles. I could see some but not all the maintenance.

Price. It seems to me that even on the net they start out too high and hope to make a few sales without haggling. I hate haggling. Just tell me what you really want for a car and I will tell you if I am willing to pay that much or not. After we get through that part we can discuss my trade in if I have one. I know dealers like to link the 2 together. I don't. One deal has nothing to do with the other. One of the largest dealers around wants to look only at how much a month. I don't care about that so much. I want to see the total price and I will decide if I want to go monthly or not. I have a client who is a farmer. He went to their place because of their tv ads (before the internet was this big.) and tried to a pick up for his farm. Of course it is a work vehicle so he is even less impressed by the extras than me. He wanted to know the cash price and they wouldn't give him one. Only x amount per month. He told them he got paid once a year and doesn't do money payments. he left without buying . They would not give him the full price only monthly.

I look at Kelley blue book and NADA site for a price comparison. I then go back and check the dealer price.

Certainly I need to have all the other vitals as well. Year, make, model and engine size. Other features like leather seats or moon roof. Power windows and locks and what other junk is loaded on there. Personally I am not over enamored with a totally tricked out car. If they try to drive the price up because of the fancy plastic outside and the junk inside they can keep it. Years ago I was looking at a Malibu or something and a dealership had about a 50% mark up on the fancier sub model because it looked prettier. I didn't buy it. I was willing to pay a little more for extra features but not that much more.

A link to the safety rating is nice.

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Cost, milage, condition and in detail and dings dents etc (but dont have to get too carried away). Pics would be great - how well the service has been (especially if more recent) - replaced this or that etc ...
Who drove it, and if they were a smoker or had smokers in the car.
Does it have air etc ... anything relevant to the car.

Lots of detailed pictures, new or used cars, but especially used cars. Some dealerships do a great job of this already, others not.

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Have you started working for some web-improvement firm, or something?

The thing I'd like to see is some more info pointed specifically at brands and makes.

For instance, I found out that the first car I was looking at, a Ford Ka, had huge problems with rust around the gas cap and at the sills. Had to do a lot of research to find that out, though. Made me turn down the first of that make and bought the second.

Whether it's about frequent powertrain problems, low qualiy gas lines or whatever. It would be great if you could find out stuff like that on a 2nd hand car site.

Don't know if that's realistic, though.

These ventures would be solo, not for a firm. I need a way to earn a few extra bucks because I have bigger plans for PH and since we don't use ads or anything, I need to find other sources of revenue. Unfortunately STATS Inc doesn't want me using their information at no charge. Go figure.

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