4 ms·

Why You Can't Buy a New Car Online

8 points by soundsop 18y ago

cperciva 18y ago
There's a much simpler reason, which doesn't seem to be even mentioned in the article: You can't test-drive a car online. If I'm going to spend $30k buying something which I'm going to use for the next 5-10 years, I want to try it out -- or try out a very similar model -- first. Then again, maybe I'm just weird. I think people who buy condominiums before construction starts are crazy, too.
- gravitycop 18y ago
  If I'm going to spend $30k buying something which I'm going to use for the next 5-10 years Would it be safe to say that people tend to keep cars for a long time because cars are expensive? If cars were sold the way Dell laptop computers are sold (no test drive, shipped to you door), they might be less expensive. If cars were not built to last so long, they might be less expensive. If people were to buy cars more often, they might be less expensive. If people were less willing to keep old cars on life support, new cars might be less expensive. If I'm going to spend $30k Not every car costs $30,000. There are cars that cost $4,000. http://www.google.com/search?q=india+popular+cars http://www.google.com/search?q=india+popular+cars Even in America, there are cars that cost as little as $10,000, which is less than a Dell laptop computer can cost.
- vlad 18y ago
  There's a much simpler reason. You can't test-drive a car online. One wouldn't need to. One could test drive a car at a dealership. I'm not sure how that's a simpler reason than the fact that selling new cars without a dealer is banned in the US. Most buyers research their new cars on the internet even though they can't test drive them on the internet. Since they're on it already, ordering a car would not be difficult to swallow (there are already laws that allow buyers to return a new car for any reason within a certain time frame.) Programmers are taught to try to cut out waste and save time and money, and they've tried to do so here. From what I recall reading, web sites had been shut down because they tried to skip the dealers. This shows that it is not a lack of customer confidence, but the force of the law that is keeping things as-is. Finally, the argument that "one can't test-drive cars online" would be an important enough deterrent to an all-online purchase process does not consider that a new approach might be developed to allow potential buyers to test drive a car (such as for a price). More realistically, consumers will test drive the cars of their friends, that were already highly rated on the internet, such as... the cars that are already popular today. A downside is that with fewer dealerships and the new development of getting charged to test drive a car, cars will become less fun to drive and more feature- and safety-oriented. But, that is already the trend. Luxury car manufacturers will still have dealerships for that reason.
  - gravitycop 18y ago
    One could even rent a car (to test-own) from a business that rents cars.
jacquesm 18y ago
I don't know where the author has been for the last 10 years but it has been possible to buy new cars online for at least that long. They'll simply be dropped off at a dealers lot near you. It is also one of the cheapest ways to buy a new car. In America you may not be able to buy a new car online, but the world is a lot larger.
- vlad 18y ago
  "I don't know where the author has been for the last 10 years... the [cars] will simply be dropped off at a dealers lot near you." The article is about it being impossible to buy a car straight from the manufacturer. "In America you may not be able to buy a new car online, but the world is a lot larger." As the first word in the entire article is Americans ("Americans can buy virtually anything over the Internet, (...) but a new car"), I don't think the author was trying to write about the situation on the global scale. But even ignoring that, articles of American origins often limit their criticisms to those within their own country, same as British and Australian journalists often write about problems with their own.
  - jacquesm 18y ago
    the title is "Why You Can't Buy a New Car Online"
    - vlad 18y ago
      the title is "Why You Can't Buy a New Car Online" Thanks for the reply. That is the title, but there are three pages of text to go along with it. The first word of the article mentions that this is American-centric and somewhere in the first few paragraphs, the author clarifies that he or she is writing about buying a new car without a dealer. It is interesting to learn that you have been able to buy a new car directly from the manufacturer where you live. Do you know if the dealers complained when this came about? Also, do friends and family members buy new cars this way now?
      - jacquesm 18y ago
quellhorst 18y ago
I just got a new car a few days ago... I filled out a finance form online, made a call the next morning. Did some negotiation after I got there, got $5500 off and drove off the lot with the new car with the salesman following me with my old car. Old car is for sale on craigslist now.
- gravitycop 18y ago
  I just got a new car a few days ago... I filled out a finance form online, made a call the next morning. Did some negotiation after I got there Where was "there"? Do you generally do some negotiation after you get "there" when you buy a book on Amazon.com? drove off the lot with the new car Why was it not delivered to your home or office, like Amazon.com purchases are?
  - quellhorst 18y ago
    Does a book have options? This dealership would have driven it if I asked them. But people typically want to drive their own new car.

8 points by soundsop 18y ago

There's a much simpler reason, which doesn't seem to be even mentioned in the article: You can't test-drive a car online. If I'm going to spend $30k buying something which I'm going to use for the next 5-10 years, I want to try it out -- or try out a very similar model -- first. Then again, maybe I'm just weird. I think people who buy condominiums before construction starts are crazy, too.

gravitycop 18y ago
If I'm going to spend $30k buying something which I'm going to use for the next 5-10 years Would it be safe to say that people tend to keep cars for a long time because cars are expensive? If cars were sold the way Dell laptop computers are sold (no test drive, shipped to you door), they might be less expensive. If cars were not built to last so long, they might be less expensive. If people were to buy cars more often, they might be less expensive. If people were less willing to keep old cars on life support, new cars might be less expensive. If I'm going to spend $30k Not every car costs $30,000. There are cars that cost $4,000. http://www.google.com/search?q=india+popular+cars http://www.google.com/search?q=india+popular+cars Even in America, there are cars that cost as little as $10,000, which is less than a Dell laptop computer can cost.
vlad 18y ago
There's a much simpler reason. You can't test-drive a car online. One wouldn't need to. One could test drive a car at a dealership. I'm not sure how that's a simpler reason than the fact that selling new cars without a dealer is banned in the US. Most buyers research their new cars on the internet even though they can't test drive them on the internet. Since they're on it already, ordering a car would not be difficult to swallow (there are already laws that allow buyers to return a new car for any reason within a certain time frame.) Programmers are taught to try to cut out waste and save time and money, and they've tried to do so here. From what I recall reading, web sites had been shut down because they tried to skip the dealers. This shows that it is not a lack of customer confidence, but the force of the law that is keeping things as-is. Finally, the argument that "one can't test-drive cars online" would be an important enough deterrent to an all-online purchase process does not consider that a new approach might be developed to allow potential buyers to test drive a car (such as for a price). More realistically, consumers will test drive the cars of their friends, that were already highly rated on the internet, such as... the cars that are already popular today. A downside is that with fewer dealerships and the new development of getting charged to test drive a car, cars will become less fun to drive and more feature- and safety-oriented. But, that is already the trend. Luxury car manufacturers will still have dealerships for that reason.
- gravitycop 18y ago
  One could even rent a car (to test-own) from a business that rents cars.

jacquesm 18y ago

I don't know where the author has been for the last 10 years but it has been possible to buy new cars online for at least that long. They'll simply be dropped off at a dealers lot near you. It is also one of the cheapest ways to buy a new car. In America you may not be able to buy a new car online, but the world is a lot larger.

vlad 18y ago
"I don't know where the author has been for the last 10 years... the [cars] will simply be dropped off at a dealers lot near you." The article is about it being impossible to buy a car straight from the manufacturer. "In America you may not be able to buy a new car online, but the world is a lot larger." As the first word in the entire article is Americans ("Americans can buy virtually anything over the Internet, (...) but a new car"), I don't think the author was trying to write about the situation on the global scale. But even ignoring that, articles of American origins often limit their criticisms to those within their own country, same as British and Australian journalists often write about problems with their own.
- jacquesm 18y ago
  the title is "Why You Can't Buy a New Car Online"
  - vlad 18y ago
    the title is "Why You Can't Buy a New Car Online" Thanks for the reply. That is the title, but there are three pages of text to go along with it. The first word of the article mentions that this is American-centric and somewhere in the first few paragraphs, the author clarifies that he or she is writing about buying a new car without a dealer. It is interesting to learn that you have been able to buy a new car directly from the manufacturer where you live. Do you know if the dealers complained when this came about? Also, do friends and family members buy new cars this way now?
    - jacquesm 18y ago

quellhorst 18y ago

I just got a new car a few days ago... I filled out a finance form online, made a call the next morning. Did some negotiation after I got there, got $5500 off and drove off the lot with the new car with the salesman following me with my old car. Old car is for sale on craigslist now.

gravitycop 18y ago
I just got a new car a few days ago... I filled out a finance form online, made a call the next morning. Did some negotiation after I got there Where was "there"? Do you generally do some negotiation after you get "there" when you buy a book on Amazon.com? drove off the lot with the new car Why was it not delivered to your home or office, like Amazon.com purchases are?
- quellhorst 18y ago
  Does a book have options? This dealership would have driven it if I asked them. But people typically want to drive their own new car.