SHOPSMART AUTOS – CUSTOMER INFORMATION – AUGUST 14, 2020
SHOPSMART AUTOS – CUSTOMER INFORMATION – AUGUST 14, 2020 Is Now the Right Time to Buy a Car? (Part 1) By the time the coronavirus was sweeping the nation, Ali Jian, 42, a consultant in northern Virginia, already knew he wanted to replace his 2014 Subaru Forester with something bigger for his growing family. He decided on a new minivan but held off buying because dealers wouldn’t budge much on price. But the pandemic forced many dealerships to close in March and April, and auto sales plummeted. The glut of inventory from the slowdown in sales led to deals and incentives, including 0 percent financing, deferred payments, and big discounts. Jian decided this past spring was the time to buy. He focused on a 2020 Honda Odyssey he found through Costco’s car buying service, which gave him access to a nationwide network of more than 3,000 dealers. Costco offered a guaranteed price that was more than $6,000 below the manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP), and connected him with a local dealership that had the vehicle in stock and a buy-at-home option The dealer offered to bring the car to Jian for a test drive, as well as other models for comparison. He decided instead to stop by the dealership to test-drive the Odyssey alone and also to look at other colors. The sales staff, who had sanitized the car and wore masks and gloves, stayed 6 feet away from him. After Jian confirmed the purchase, dealership representatives—wearing masks and gloves—delivered the minivan to his house with the final papers he needed to sign.“We worked on the patio; they didn’t even come in the house,” Jian says. “In 5 or 10 minutes, we were all done.” As foot traffic dried up earlier this year, car dealerships were forced almost overnight to change how they sell cars. Buy-at-home “contactless” options were already a small but growing part of the market, but the pandemic significantly increased the number of dealers taking part. Michelle Denogean, chief marketing officer at Roadster, a company that specializes in helping dealers set up the infrastructure for online sales, says these transactions used to comprise 5 to 10 percent of car sales. By mid-May that had risen to about 27 percent. “The pandemic threw us five years into the future in about five days,” she says. Depending on where they live, many prospective buyers can now arrange all aspects of a new- or used-car purchase from their couch, including securing financing and arranging for a test drive. Specific rules vary from state to state, but a typical online sale involves several steps outlined below. CR recommends doing a lot of research on models and dealerships beforehand. Choose a car. If you have a model in mind, you can probably build a vehicle virtually by mixing and matching options on a “configurator” application at an automaker’s website. It can be helpful to keep a spreadsheet of attributes—such as cargo space, passenger room, available safety systems, and fuel economy—so that you can easily compare different vehicles. All-Access and Digital CR members can go to our ratings of tested models to find high performers and those with the three advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) we think are essential for safety: forward collision warning (FCW), blind spot warning (BSW), and automatic emergency braking (AEB) with pedestrian detection. We also offer ratings for predicted reliability and reliability history based on member surveys that typically cover more than 400,000 cars of various makes and model years.
Our April 2020 print edition of the magazine is dedicated exclusively to vehicle ratings. Car shoppers can go to our online store to order it or one of our specialty publications featuring ratings and buying advice, such as our New Car and Used Car buying guides. Find a local dealer. Search online for a dealer that has the car you want and offers a buy-at-home option. Most new-car dealers have an online presence, and a simple search will find one nearby that has the model you want or can order it from another dealer. You can usually negotiate the price and any options you want with a salesperson by email or phone.
Car buying services like Costco’s can also usually find the model you want at a nearby dealer. Autopia, another service, allows online users to input options they want into an algorithm that searches for incentives and finds the best deals nearby. CR members can use our Build & Buy program, a service that allows them to configure the car they want, compare local transaction prices, and have dealers provide their best offer. Our service taps TrueCar’s network of more than 15,000 dealers, many offering contactless buying or buy-at-home options, including at-home test drives and home delivery, which might be offered by dealers that don’t advertise it. Set up the test drive. Make sure the dealer you choose offers an at-home test drive, if that’s what you want. In some cases, a dealer might agree to bring you more than one car to test-drive so you can compare. It’s important to understand how the car feels on the road, says Gabe Shenhar, associate director of CR’s auto test program. You can also test the controls and experience other features, such as gauging seat comfort and assessing how easy the infotainment system is to use. Dealers that won’t bring a car to you may let you take a test drive without a salesperson if you show your driver’s license and proof of insurance. Secure financing and other incentives. Many dealers now offer special financing approvals online. It means you’ll never have to set foot inside the dealership’s finance and insurance office, where someone might try to sell you extras, such as an extended warranty. Most automakers are offering low- or no-interest financing if you have good credit, and some dealers are also willing to negotiate. Some loans from other online sources can be finalized with electronic signatures; others require paper documents with signatures.
Make It A Champion Day!
Brandon K. Hardison
Champion Strategies
For further Information contact Brandon @shopsmartautos@gmail.com or brandonhardisoncpo5@gmail.com
Tags: 2019 Subaru Forester Touring, 2020 BMW iX3, 2020 Chevrolet Suburban, 2020 dodge charger, 2020 EQC, 2020 Ford Super Duty, 2020 Honda Pilot, 2020 Kia Optima, upcoming car, Volkswagen, Volvo Car
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