Buying a Car Online

Nowadays, you can buy almost anything online, including a new or used car. You can get an online car quote and buy a car completely online, without ever going to a dealership or even without leaving the comfort of your home or office. Some people may enjoy going to the dealership in person to look around, test drive the car and haggle on the price, but that can take up a lot of time. For those who want to be able skip all of that, there are several online options to choose from:

• Online quotes and info: If you aren’t ready to commit to a purchase or you aren’t comfortable with buying a car online, you can still save time by getting lots of free online information. You can see pictures of the vehicles your interested in, read reviews about them, get any other info you need and get free online car quotes with no obligation. You can comparison shop between different websites to see who is offering the best deal. Even if you are ready to buy it is still good to do a little research first.



• Complete online purchase with delivery: If you are ready to buy, you can do everything online. Browse vehicles, choose the vehicle you want, choose the options, agree on the price, buy it and have the dealership deliver it right to your door for free. The contract is usually delivered with the vehicle for you to sign. It’s surprisingly easy and you don’t have to deal with pressure from a salesperson.



• Concierge services: A new trend in car buying is to use a personal shopper service to buy or lease the car for you. This can save a lot of time, money and hassle. The personal shopper service handles everything. You just tell them what vehicle you want and they will do the shopping around and negotiating, the paperwork and all of the arrangements. These services claim they will get the best possible price for you without any personal hassle. They can even deliver the car to your home or office. The delivery service is especially valuable if the best deal that they find is not in your area. Some charge a fee to the client and some charge a fee to the dealer instead. If you have an old car to trade in, they can take care of that for you as well. The only thing they can’t do for you is test drive the car, you could still choose to do that if you want to.

You can also arrange financing, extended warranties and insurance online.

Anytime that you are going to buy something online, make sure that it is with a reputable, recognized company. It only takes a few minutes to Google a companies name or check with the BBB. Don’t buy a car online from an individual posting ads in classifieds as these could be scams. The safest way to pay for an online purchase is by credit card. If you are going to pay with your credit card online, make sure the website is secure. If you aren’t sure about the security of the online payment form, pay with your credit card by phone. Paying by credit card offers protection in case of a scam. If something goes wrong you can call the credit card company for assistance. Sending money by wire or check does not offer the same protection.