Guide to researching your new car purchase online

Reader question:

I’ve saved up a down payment and am ready to go get my car, but I want to research the new car online before I go buy it. How do I do this?

Gabriel

The internet is just full of information.

A lot of it is useless, but when it comes to buying a new car, most of the information you find, regardless of the source, will at least be marginally helpful. Think about it. You can search for car prices, bargains around the country. You can find out all of the features that come with the car or can be added for a little extra. You can find out how the car has been performed on crash tests, or what its rate of theft is, or how much you would pay for insurance if you have it. You can also, outside of the less professional sites, get opinion and experiences of other people who have used or know about the car you want.

There are three main kinds of websites that you want to look into when trying to research the purchase of your new car. You can stray from this guide, sure, but using these sites is the best way to get the most information, the most accurate information, in the least time.

• The website of the manufacturer. Here’s the website that you want to make your starting point in this research, and a quick search will take you to it easily. Here is where you will find all of the basic features of your vehicle, from what kind of upholstery it has to how many airbags. You can also see here the price that the manufacturer suggests for the car, and also check out any kind of financing deals or rebates they have to offer.
• Websites about cars. These are great places to get tons of information about the car you want, especially information that the manufacturer doesn’t want you to know. These sites are full of writers and researchers and test drivers and insiders that are complete geeks about cars and live for the automobile industry. They know a lot, and you can use them to get break downs of the invoice and price of a vehicle. Sites like Edmunds and Blue Book, you can get reviews and estimates of the market value of your car.
• Websites from the government. These have lots of great information, especially if you’re looking for a car that will get you good rates on car insurance. Check out the National Highway and Transportation Safety Administration for results from crash tests for cars going all the way back to 1991. You can also get results from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety–these crash tests are more strict than the ones the federal government requires, so if they pass it, then the car is really safe. If you’re looking for a car that’s good on gas and good for the environment, swing by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Cheers,

Fashun Guadarrama.