New-car buyers flocking to Internet -- Page 2

Reed says an Internet buyer needs to let a dealer know they are serious about a car and are not "some 12-year-old price-checking a new Porsche.'' Edmunds.com buys many of the vehicles it road tests for its Web site and Reed -- who says he doesn't identify himself as an employee of Edmunds.com when making purchases -- says he rarely has a problem with cementing a deal through the Internet.

To best navigate the world of Internet car-buying, you need to know the three main categories of Web sites:

• Manufacturer sites: These are good places for general information about options, colors, rebates and manufacturer-linked financing deals. These sites will have suggested retail prices -- the number that you see on the car's window sticker -- and many will even have a search engine that will locate a dealer that has the car with the specific options you want. What manufacturer sites cannot do is tell you how much you can really buy that car for. They sell product to dealers and are prohibited by law and contract from enforcing any set prices or selling directly to consumers.
  
  
• Third-party sites: These are places like Cars.com, Edmunds and others that provide editorial information -- reviews, news and tips -- and then direct buyers to dealers that may have the vehicle they're looking for. When an e-mail inquiry from one of these sites -- or in the case of Cars.com, a call through the site's toll-free phone number -- arrives at the dealership, it identifies the buyer as someone who has already done the research and will be treated a little more respectfully than someone who just walked in off the street.
  
  
• Dealer sites: These are what they seem -- sites set up by dealer groups or individual stores to capture Internet buyers. Some dealers link their sites to the fleet or Internet department, while others funnel all e-mails on a rotation basis to the sales people on the showroom floor.

Reed says if you're seeking an ideal online car-shopping experience, start by researching the vehicle you want, and then find a dealer that has the exact model, equipped the way you want it. Next, e-mail a request for a price quote. Reed says a dealer who is genuinely into the Internet experience will arrive at a price either on the first or second e-mail exchange.

Based on his buying experiences, Reed says most Internet negotiations start out within $200 of a dealer's absolute best price, whereas someone who starts out on the showroom floor may have to negotiate down thousands of dollars from the manufacturer's suggested retail (factory sticker) price.

Is it possible to buy a car without ever setting foot in a dealership?

Absolutely. Most dealers can arrange financing through the Internet and will deliver the car to your home or office. Although only about 1 percent of all car buyers go that route, JupiterResearch estimates that number could rise to 5 or 6 percent by 2008.

Golub at Cars.com is skeptical that totally online car-buying will ever become the norm. There's the matter of trade-ins, where values cannot be set without a dealer first inspecting the trade-in.

Moreover, Golub argues, buying a new car sight unseen goes against a consumer's instincts. "The Internet can make the whole process easier, but at some point before they commit, most consumers want to see the car, touch the car and see who's going to stand behind it after the deal is done.''

Terry Jackson is an automotive expert, journalist and author. He is the former editor-in-chief of AMI Auto World Magazine and has written for dozens of publications, including Automobile, Road & Track and AutoWeek. He has penned seven automotive books and evaluates more than 100 new cars each year.