Sunday, March 24, 2002
Many people find the car they want without setting foot on a sales lot.
By DON SHILLING
VINDICATOR BUSINESS EDITOR
YOUNGSTOWN -- Gene Winter didn't mind flying from Missouri to Ohio to pick up a van he had bought from a Boardman car dealer.
To save $4,000, it was worth the trip.
Winter, 56, of Sweet Springs, Mo., bought the 1996 GMC conversion van last year off Youngstown Buick-Pontiac-GMC after his wife found the dealership on the Internet. The price of $15,900 was $4,000 cheaper than he could find at dealers in the Kansas City area.
After arranging the deal online, Winter and his wife flew to Cleveland, where staff from Youngstown Buick picked them up in the van. They drove back to Boardman, signed the papers and drove off in their van.
"We take a lot of weekend trips, so we just looked at this as one of them," Winter said.
Car sales on the Internet started a couple of years ago, but area dealers say the volume keeps increasing.
E-mail: Bill Osso of Youngstown Buick, who calls the Winters one of his favorite customers, said he receives between 30 and 48 e-mails a day from people who are inquiring about vehicles. The number has gone up in each of the past four months.
He said he's sold cars to people in Michigan, New York and California after inquiries were made on the Internet.
Such customers are looking for a specific car with certain options, and they send e-mails to dealers that have that car. Quickness is the key to getting the deal, said Osso, who is the dealership's Internet sales manager.
He carries a pager that alerts him when he receives an e-mail. He responds to the e-mail as soon as he can, but the company's computer system also sends a message back to the person immediately.
Used cars: Matt Meredith, Internet coordinator at Donnell Ford in Boardman, said most Internet buyers from outside this area are looking for used cars. The same new models can be found everywhere, but the selection of used vehicles varies widely.
Last year, he had a customer fly here from Washington state because Donnell had a good price on just what he wanted -- a Buick Roadmaster station wagon with about 30,000 miles.
Lots of local people are using the Internet to shop, too.
Meredith estimated that nearly 70 percent of Donnell's customers go to the Internet to at least conduct research on car models. JD Power and Associates, a California consulting company, said in November that 62 percent of all new car buyers nationwide go online to research their purchase, up from 54 percent last year.
Online applications: They can do a lot more than research, however, because dealers now have inventories and can accept credit applications online.
For used cars, dealer Web sites often list each car with options, mileage and a bottom-line price.
Sites also carry prices of new vehicles, although they often are sticker prices. Shoppers can call or e-mail the dealership to determine a final price.
GM dealerships are linked directly to GM BuyPower, which allows buyers to search for certain models. It will list all dealers with that model within a 25-mile radius.
Ed Yohman, Internet manager at Greenwood Chevrolet in Austintown, said between 10 percent and 20 percent of customers who use the Internet for buying a new car go as far as asking for a final price over the Internet. The others use it for initial steps and then come to the dealership to see the car before they try to settle on a price.
In rare cases, people know exactly what they want and they don't come to the dealership until they pick up the car, Yohman said.
He receives between six and 10 e-mails a day from shoppers.
Growing: Chris Whetzel, Internet sales manager at Diane Sauer's Martin Chevrolet in Warren, said more people are shopping for cars on the Internet as they get more comfortable with the technology.
Six months ago, he was getting only three for four e-mails a month that asked about vehicles in stock. Now, it is up to 10 a month.
Internet customers are a pleasure to work with because they know what they want, Whetzel said. "I love it. It makes it easy."
shilling@vindy.com