Online Car Buying Tips and Tricks For Success

In the past, purchasing a car involved extensive visits to multiple dealerships and scouring classified ads for hours – if not weeks. However, the automotive industry is currently in the midst of a digital revolution, with online platforms fundamentally changing the way people go about shopping for vehicles.

The primary reason behind the surge in online car shopping is the unprecedented convenience it offers. Gone are the days of spending weekends driving from one dealership to another. Instead, buyers can effortlessly browse through available cars in stock with just a few clicks, accessing comprehensive information about each vehicle. Online platforms facilitate targeted searches for specific makes, models, price ranges, and the application of various filters to swiftly narrow down options.

Using the right car-buying tools

Thankfully, there are also plenty of good resources to find a wealth handy of information. This includes vehicle history reports, such as the government’s PPSR check that will tell you if the car you are looking at is recorded as free from debt, written off, or stolen. Some other services will provide this same information plus further details for an extra cost.

Other reputable businesses offer inspections of the actual vehicle for you and include virtual vehicle inspections through detailed photos, videos, and even 360-degree views. This helps to thoroughly assess the car’s condition, both inside and out, all from the comfort of your home.

Some online platforms also compare prices in the market, which can be particularly helpful given used car prices are changing rapidly due to the semiconductor shortage and supply problems. The end result for you is to negotiate a better deal by leveraging your knowledge of market trends and competitor pricing.

While buyers are no longer limited to local dealerships, it can be easy to use just one online car sales platform. It pays to look at different websites as this broadens the market and offers a more extensive selection, increasing the likelihood of finding the right used car at the best possible price.

We know, some of this can be overwhelming when you just want to get into your new car. So when it comes to extra services like finding the right finance, we can help take the stress off. Yes, a quick little plug from us here at Get You Finance: When you are looking for the right car finance, we will go out of our way to understand your circumstances and how you’ll use your car – and then find the most suitable provider from our network of partners.

You can find out more about our car finance services here.

Online car scams

It is important to note that, while the convenience of shopping online might seem second to none, there are not always faithful businesses in operation. The proliferation of the internet has brought with it new opportunities for scammers.

There is unfortunately a range of methods that scammers operate, including fake photos of fake stock that doesn’t exist, and usually offers that really are too good to be true. As they say, if it’s too good to be true…

The ways in which scammers operate are changing – and can be quite sophisticated – but the Australian government’s SCAMWATCH website provides updated information on what to look out for. Always be careful when deciding to hand over any money to an online entity you don’t know much about.

The future of online car buying

The future promises some very interesting developments such as virtual reality test drives, AI-driven chatbots for personalised assistance including for accessories, and advanced data analytics for those that really want the nuts and bolts of prices and stock movements.