What was the last thing you bought on the Internet and had delivered to your door? For me it was a couple of books and a cell phone car charger that I got to give as a birthday present. I buy a lot of stuff online – so much so that Amazon Prime is actually of value to me, perhaps more so than my annual CostCo membership. Thing is, I’ve never bought an entire car online.
Used cars are bought and sold online everyday, whether through eBay auctions or other intermediary means, but buying a new car, that’s another story. Tesla is presently doing so, and in fact that’s the only way you can get a factory-fresh one, as they are eschewing the whole dealer network deal. That has angered a number of politicians in states where car dealers like to see a return on their lobbying dollars, but it’s only a matter of time before other makers follow suit. Then a new ride will only be a mouse click away. How scary is that?
It once was a pretty scary proposition as buying a car required a complete 360° walk-around and the opening of every door and hatch to ensure you weren’t getting one of the maker’s less-attentive builds. Today cars are generally of such consistently high quality that they have become a commodity and one example of a model is typically just the same as another. That means that buying one should be just as painless as ordering a pizza, right? Well, maybe not. What would it take to get you to buy a car – sight-unseen – online?
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Hooniverse Asks: What Would it Take to Get You to Buy a New Car Exclusively Online?
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29 responses to “Hooniverse Asks: What Would it Take to Get You to Buy a New Car Exclusively Online?”
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I did probably 75% of the work online when I leased my Leaf. The going lease rates were pretty well known. We had actually driven one the week before at another dealership. We came in picked out a color and did a cursory test drive, got all the paperwork in order. They had 100+ Leafs at the dealership, all equipped the same. Went to the finance guy, got a sales pitch for an extra damage insurance policy (which went from $900 to $450 in the course of a few minutes, I still passed). Did a walk around and left.
It would take a lot more to get me to buy a used car online. I have seen one too many ads that make a car look perfect, only to show up and be disappointed. The once that comes to mind is the 1995 Mustang SVT Cobra Convertible I was looking at in 2004. Showed up with cash in my pocket. Left when I realized the 2nd gear synchros were shot.-
I used to photograph used cars – one vehicle I’d been asked to do looked like it had been t-boned – the entire passenger side was smashed in. Needless to say, that side of the car wasn’t photographed.
Drove nicely around the lot though.
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I could have bought my ST online easily. No real options, I wanted white. I negotiated thru email and once I had the price, I could have bought it there.
I wanted to walk in, sign some papers and drive home in my new car. But Salesman Steve insisted I sit in the car, drive the car and program my favorite stations in the radio. 3 hrs later I had my car.
So yeah- I’d rather bought the car online.-
Salesman Steve wanted to make it seem like he’d sold you the car, rather than it selling itself. Maybe he had some unwritten criteria that he had to satisfy for his sales manager to believe he put in the effort.
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More likely Steve was new and following the prescribed checklist.
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He was- he wasn’t much of a car-guy. If he went off script, he’d back up to the last paragraph he memorized.
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It wouldn’t take much. Invoice price and the ability to make the down-payment online. I know….to much to ask.
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Can I still go to a physical location and “test” out what I want/need/like? If so, I have no problems and I guess it would really be no different than our last 2 vehicles. The pickup was custom ordered and the Saab was bought on-line through GM SmartAuction.
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I agree.
I think the car dealership will go the way of the bookstore, or the electronics store, with people going in, listening to the advice of the “experts”, finding what they want, and then buying what they want, at a much cheaper price, online.
The problem with this model is that the physical locations, although crucial to the process, don’t make much money, which why electronics stores and bookstores are all closing. If the high-ups could be made to see the big picture, I see no reason why this wouldn’t work…
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I bought a used car online in a 1000 miles-in-each-direction fly in, drive out transaction. The car was old enough and unique enough that certain parts could be hard to find if there were mechanical difficulties. In fact, I did break down on the side of the road, but fixed the problem myself with stuff I already had in my toolbox.
A new car, with a new car warranty should be a lot easier, particularly if they deliver it. -
I probably could’ve easily bought my Mazda online, I had already selected the car from an ad online (the dealer’s one manual 2 in stock), there wasn’t much wiggle room in the pricing on something that cheap (dealer’s opening bid was right around what I was prepared to ask anyhow), and I’d previously driven the 2 at a Mazda event. The only reason I set foot in a dealer before negotiating was that I hadn’t tried out the manual, as the auto is gutless, but I liked how it drove otherwise.
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Can’t buy a car without driving it first, don’t know how you’d do that entirely online, so nothing.
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Done it with a used car, once. Probably would not do it again unless the car was sufficiently rare that there were no alternatives.
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You know how at the final page of most online configurators there is the button to “Check Local Inventory”? You know how even though it says that there are 23 results, precisely zero of them are even close to what you “built” in the configurator?
Replace that “Check Local Inventory” button with a “Order This Exact Vehicle” button, and I’d be willing to buy a new car exclusively online.
For most things, including cars, I’d prefer a real-time transaction. I give you money, you give me the product. I’m willing to pay a slight premium to buy things locally (when available) versus online. If I can’t get what I want locally, I’ll order it. Make a car that I want for a price that I’m willing to pay, and I don’t care how we finish the transaction.-
The bigger problem for me has been there is usually a significant rebate on what I’m looking for (GM due to family discount) and the rebate states “Must take delivery from dealer stock.” So I have to find something close enough to what I really want.
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Yeah, that “must take delivery from dealer stock” clause on the rebates is a bitch. That’s when you have to start doing the math.
“This car has navigation that I don’t want, but it costs less than the rebate, which I would forfeit if I ordered one without it, so they’re essentially paying me to have navigation.”
versus:
“I’d have to order one to get the manual transmission, but I forfeit $4500 in incentives by doing so. That’s an expensive transmission.”
versus:
“If I order one with the manual, but without the navigation, I’m only $2500 over what I could have taken from dealer stock. That’s a reasonable premium to get exactly the car I want.”-
It was more like I want this $900 option, but I have to take another $4000 in options or lose the $8000 rebate. Hasn’t been worth it for me. In the case of my 2004 Trailblazer I wanted the $250 (or so) stand alone traction control option. Couldn’t find one without another $5000 or so in options. In the case of my 2011 Silverado I wanted the 4.8L V-8 in a WT. Couldn’t find one at the time. The 4.8L was a $900 or so option, the next step up was an LS or LT for about $7000 more.
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This thread nails it. I’ve been thinking about getting myself a certain car that has an available manual transmission, but that would require a special order.
If I decide to buy, here’s my plan. I’ve watched the incentives over the last couple years, and they’re usually best for this particular situation in February–these are incentives that are “must take delivery by” rather than “must take from existing stock.” So I’ll monitor the fleet delivery lead time websites and then put an order in so that delivery lands inside the incentive window.
If I could take all available incentives at a given time and order the car in my particular specification online, there’s no doubt that I’d do that instead.
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It would take a lot to get me to buy a brand new car to begin with. Having said that:
-ease of use
-price
-availability of options-
How about granularity of options? Can I get the upgraded stereo without the sunroof and leather? Can I get my seats heated without the leather? Can I get the sport-tuned suspension without the leather?
Basically, I hate leather.
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You pretty much or very nearly can right now, you’re just going through a dealer’s internet sales team rather than straight to the manufacturer. What would be revolutionary to the traditional Manufacturer-Dealer model would be to be able to do the online configurator then order that specific vehicle. It could then assign the order to your local or a favorite dealer so they get the commission and the manufacturer stays within the bounds of franchise laws. Essentially, it would be like ordering a pizza through the Domino’s Pizza website then going to the local store to pick it up. Just with something a few magnitudes greater in value.
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complimentary engraving http://i1308.photobucket.com/albums/s607/EngravedEG/Engraved%20EG%20project%20build_Sequential%20Order/09_2010/00056a3a09-2010_zps78b36ca7.jpg No actually it would be neat if you could select individual options instead of packages that way.
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Cars come in “new”?
Huh. Will wonders never cease? -
Hmm… after reading everybody’s opinions, here’s my preference, mixed and matched from everybody else’s:
-Dealers are still a necessity. They need to carry a small stock with a few of each model to represent major options (trim levels, engines, transmissions) so that people car do test drives and find what they like.
-Online configurator should be easy to use, with the ability to pick specific options, instead of packages.
-Rebates should be available online.
-Cars should be delivered to dealers. It would be easier and cheaper to ship, and that way dealers can still get a commission and make a profit. Also, that way people can do their transactions in person, because it’s uncomfortable transferring that much money purely online. -
I’ve “bought” my last 2 dozen cars on line. I get new company cars fairly regularly and the process is quite simple. Go into the website, click the model and options I want, wait 8 weeks, and then go get it.
Obviously I would be a little more concerned if I was spending my own money and was going to be keeping the car more than 6 to 12 months. However the only thing I would want is a better description of what the option packages were.
I suspect that going forward the lower margins will be offset by lower inventory carrying costs. -
I’ve been ready to chuck the dealer franchise system.over the side for years. Lets face it, the internet has totally transformed the car experience. Research can be done easily. Owner websites tell you more than you could possibly want to, and more than you ever have. Dozens of road tests on even obscure models are readily available. With today’s technology, there is nothing to stop someone from going to an OEM website, configuring the car EXACTLY as you want it, having a build sheet produced at the factory, and having it delivered in two weeks. Costs would be cut by AT LEAST 10%. No more settling for dealer stock, no haggling with lowlifes or bait and switch, just a normal purchase. Its gonna happen. Even the NADA will have to fold its tent.
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I’ve bought a couple used cars online (two imported from Japan, which were pretty much flawless, one imported from the U.S., which was a disaster) so I wouldn’t have any objection to it I guess.
– it be possible
– I have money
… so, not happening anytime soon I guess 🙁 -
I bought my 2007 Prius and negotiated the trade of my 2010 Saturn Outlook all online a couple of years ago. The car was 100+ miles away, so I only went to the dealer to drive it (I was already sold on a Prius, just needed to make sure this one was ok), have them drive my Outlook and sign the papers. It was wonderful.
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Never going to happen. Sure, I’ll use the internet to find the type of car I want, but ultimately I’ll want to test-drive the car.
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