Have you ever been disappointed while searching a used car online? For example, never finding the car that you are interested in, hard to obtain the contact information about the seller, not getting satisfactory information relating to the car that you have found, that leads to total disappointments. After performing some researches for a week and based on my personal experienced, I found out two best websites to find a used car. They are http://www.cars.com/ and http://www.autotrader.com/. At first, these two websites seem to be alike, but if you go through the detail, you can see the strength and the weakness of both websites. These are what I am going to explain further in this paper.
Cars.com [2] and Autotrader.com [1] are comprehensive online resources for buying and selling a car. Both of these websites list all potential cars from dealers and private sellers. Cars.com [2], which is created in June 1998, is a division of Classified Ventures, LLC, which is owned by six leading media companies. Autotrader.com [1], which is created earlier in 1997 and headquartered in Atlanta, Ga., is a division of AutoTrader.com, LLC. Autotrader.com [1] is the world’s leading automotive marketplace online, more than 2.5 million cars for sale by dealers, private sellers, and manufacturers.
Both Cars.com [2] and Autotrader.com [1] are public websites; this means that these websites are opened to automotive dealers and private sellers throughout the United States. The buyers can search for a car all around the United States by entering their ZIP code. The individual sellers also can post their car on the website despite where ever location they are. Both of these websites provide free information on all aspects of the car shopping and processing procedure. You do not have to be a member to access the website. The website is free for car buyers. However, the sellers have to pay to advertise their cars on the website. Another income for these websites is from the advertisement that was posted in the websites from other car companies. Advertising on these websites helps both the dealers and manufacturers to promote their company as well, because more than 8 millions people averagely visit these websites monthly.
The outline of both of these websites seems so simple. At the top headline, both of them have lots of menus, but if we compare between these two, Autotrader.com [1] has more menus. Both of them have the menus of buy, sell, research, news and advice, but Autotrader.com [1] exceeds Cars.com [2] in many aspect such as providing car loans, insurance, and collector cars. The superior of Autotrader.com [1] comparing to Cars.com [2] would be relating to the menus upon clicking the used car button. This website is not only asking what car you are interested with, but it deals with the detail of the car, such as, what company that makes the car, model, body style, color, mileage, how many doors of the car, what year is the car, the range of the prize, even, the most detail of the car, such as, the engine, fuel, and drive type of the car.
Anyway, the best part of Cars.com [2] is shown after entering the detail of the car that you interested on, you can see that Cars.com [2] show the details of the car in one display. The year of the vehicle, the company that makes the car and the model of the car, the price, the mileage, the icon that shows that the thread has a picture, the seller of the car, the style of the car, the color, and the distance of the seller from your place are shown in one display. Compare with the Autotrader.com [1], it also shows the details of the car, but they are displayed in a small box that are hardly to read. For experiment, I try to search the Toyota Supra 93-94. From Cars.com [2], it sorts the car by the price, but I can see all the details in one display. It also stated in the title of the car, whether that supra has turbo or not. Anyway, Autotrader.com [1] displays all the detail in one box, so we can see the seller explanation without clicking the link of the car.
Cars.com [2] provides the best full detail with regard to car upon clicking the link of the car that you have found. In the full detail of Cars.com [2], you can find a link to the Kelly Blue Book value of the car. The best part is when one clicks the link to the CARFAX history report, CARFAX is another website that you can find the full report of the car. We cannot just trust the individual seller at times, if he stated the car is clean title. We cannot confirm for sure whether the car ever had an accident before or not. Unclean title would mean that the specific car has had an accident before, for it has been reported by police. So, how about if that car has ever had an accident but the accident had not been reported to police? The title is still proclaimed as clean. In CARFAX report, you will know that how many times the car has been repaired and what is the accident. I have an experienced when one of friends buying a used Nissan Integra 95. In the title paper, I saw directly that it stated clean title, but I found a huge dent from an accident on the left body of the car. So, I counter checked it later using CARFAX, truly as it stated that the car had ever had an accident in highway a year ago from year 2003.
The weakness of both these sites is not efficient with updating information. I personally have ever tried to call several sellers of the Toyota Supra 93-94 on both websites. I realized from four potential sellers of the car, at least one of them has sold their car. This is the information that frustrates a buyer most. It would be a major disappointing to realize the car that you like, together with the entire specifications match with your interest, but when you call the seller, that car has been sold. It frustrates me at times to know the updating process not as immediate as 24 hours.
Both websites provide the contact information of the car’s seller. Some of them stated their phone number and their address where the car located. They are also some people stated the term of payment. I have my own experience while I was looking for Audi TT 2000. I found in Autotrader.com [1] that there was an Audi TT 2000 with white color, and superb specifications, such as, full body modified, turbo stage III, all engines have been modified and off course, low mileages. The seller asked for only 18,000 US Dollars. As I know, the Audi TT 2000 price ranges from 18,000 to 20,000 US Dollars. The seller asked the payment with money order or paycheck. This sounds weird to me. So, I tried to call the seller via email that was stated in the web. He convinced me that the car was in superb condition and so on. He said that he did not have phone number and he could not accept payment from pay pal or other money transfer. I suspected that there must something wrong with his advertisement. Finally, I found the exactly same car in other website, and that car was in Leichesten, a small country in the Central of Europe. Finally, couple of days later, the webmaster of the website stated that the seller was a conman. There reason why I share this experience is to show that it is not easy to buy a car online. We should find the website that is fast and updated. The Autotrader.com [1] shows its capability by banning the conman.
The other thing is there are no stated rules in the terms and conditions of the website for the sellers to describe the car in a full detail. The sellers should be asked to provide more photos and describe the full detail of the car, even a small scratch on the car. From my experienced, I have ever seen a car that has lots of scratches and dings, but the seller did not mention it in the detail of the car. The seller only said that the car in good condition. Actually, this is not the fault of the website, but it should be totally the fault of the seller who does not mention all details of the car. Anyway, a good website should have its own way to prevent this matter.
My goal in writing this paper is to help the reader to find a used car using these websites. People always think that buying a used car online is easy to do. There are many of websites to find a used car. Each website has its own strength and weakness. In this paper, I have explained the strength and the weakness of Cars.com [2] and Autotrader.com [1]. Both of these websites are very easy to use and helpful. I myself bought my car using Autotrader.com [1]. Using this website, I can contact the seller easier and I do not need to pay the website for any fees. The detail of the car that provided in the website was fit with my expectation. Then, I also used Cars.com [2] to compare the price and to find the shortest distance of the car with my place. So, if you are searching for a used car, I am highly recommending these two websites.
References
----------------------------------
[1] www.autotrader.com
[2] www.cars.com
Cars.com [2] and Autotrader.com [1] are comprehensive online resources for buying and selling a car. Both of these websites list all potential cars from dealers and private sellers. Cars.com [2], which is created in June 1998, is a division of Classified Ventures, LLC, which is owned by six leading media companies. Autotrader.com [1], which is created earlier in 1997 and headquartered in Atlanta, Ga., is a division of AutoTrader.com, LLC. Autotrader.com [1] is the world’s leading automotive marketplace online, more than 2.5 million cars for sale by dealers, private sellers, and manufacturers.
Both Cars.com [2] and Autotrader.com [1] are public websites; this means that these websites are opened to automotive dealers and private sellers throughout the United States. The buyers can search for a car all around the United States by entering their ZIP code. The individual sellers also can post their car on the website despite where ever location they are. Both of these websites provide free information on all aspects of the car shopping and processing procedure. You do not have to be a member to access the website. The website is free for car buyers. However, the sellers have to pay to advertise their cars on the website. Another income for these websites is from the advertisement that was posted in the websites from other car companies. Advertising on these websites helps both the dealers and manufacturers to promote their company as well, because more than 8 millions people averagely visit these websites monthly.
The outline of both of these websites seems so simple. At the top headline, both of them have lots of menus, but if we compare between these two, Autotrader.com [1] has more menus. Both of them have the menus of buy, sell, research, news and advice, but Autotrader.com [1] exceeds Cars.com [2] in many aspect such as providing car loans, insurance, and collector cars. The superior of Autotrader.com [1] comparing to Cars.com [2] would be relating to the menus upon clicking the used car button. This website is not only asking what car you are interested with, but it deals with the detail of the car, such as, what company that makes the car, model, body style, color, mileage, how many doors of the car, what year is the car, the range of the prize, even, the most detail of the car, such as, the engine, fuel, and drive type of the car.
Anyway, the best part of Cars.com [2] is shown after entering the detail of the car that you interested on, you can see that Cars.com [2] show the details of the car in one display. The year of the vehicle, the company that makes the car and the model of the car, the price, the mileage, the icon that shows that the thread has a picture, the seller of the car, the style of the car, the color, and the distance of the seller from your place are shown in one display. Compare with the Autotrader.com [1], it also shows the details of the car, but they are displayed in a small box that are hardly to read. For experiment, I try to search the Toyota Supra 93-94. From Cars.com [2], it sorts the car by the price, but I can see all the details in one display. It also stated in the title of the car, whether that supra has turbo or not. Anyway, Autotrader.com [1] displays all the detail in one box, so we can see the seller explanation without clicking the link of the car.
Cars.com [2] provides the best full detail with regard to car upon clicking the link of the car that you have found. In the full detail of Cars.com [2], you can find a link to the Kelly Blue Book value of the car. The best part is when one clicks the link to the CARFAX history report, CARFAX is another website that you can find the full report of the car. We cannot just trust the individual seller at times, if he stated the car is clean title. We cannot confirm for sure whether the car ever had an accident before or not. Unclean title would mean that the specific car has had an accident before, for it has been reported by police. So, how about if that car has ever had an accident but the accident had not been reported to police? The title is still proclaimed as clean. In CARFAX report, you will know that how many times the car has been repaired and what is the accident. I have an experienced when one of friends buying a used Nissan Integra 95. In the title paper, I saw directly that it stated clean title, but I found a huge dent from an accident on the left body of the car. So, I counter checked it later using CARFAX, truly as it stated that the car had ever had an accident in highway a year ago from year 2003.
The weakness of both these sites is not efficient with updating information. I personally have ever tried to call several sellers of the Toyota Supra 93-94 on both websites. I realized from four potential sellers of the car, at least one of them has sold their car. This is the information that frustrates a buyer most. It would be a major disappointing to realize the car that you like, together with the entire specifications match with your interest, but when you call the seller, that car has been sold. It frustrates me at times to know the updating process not as immediate as 24 hours.
Both websites provide the contact information of the car’s seller. Some of them stated their phone number and their address where the car located. They are also some people stated the term of payment. I have my own experience while I was looking for Audi TT 2000. I found in Autotrader.com [1] that there was an Audi TT 2000 with white color, and superb specifications, such as, full body modified, turbo stage III, all engines have been modified and off course, low mileages. The seller asked for only 18,000 US Dollars. As I know, the Audi TT 2000 price ranges from 18,000 to 20,000 US Dollars. The seller asked the payment with money order or paycheck. This sounds weird to me. So, I tried to call the seller via email that was stated in the web. He convinced me that the car was in superb condition and so on. He said that he did not have phone number and he could not accept payment from pay pal or other money transfer. I suspected that there must something wrong with his advertisement. Finally, I found the exactly same car in other website, and that car was in Leichesten, a small country in the Central of Europe. Finally, couple of days later, the webmaster of the website stated that the seller was a conman. There reason why I share this experience is to show that it is not easy to buy a car online. We should find the website that is fast and updated. The Autotrader.com [1] shows its capability by banning the conman.
The other thing is there are no stated rules in the terms and conditions of the website for the sellers to describe the car in a full detail. The sellers should be asked to provide more photos and describe the full detail of the car, even a small scratch on the car. From my experienced, I have ever seen a car that has lots of scratches and dings, but the seller did not mention it in the detail of the car. The seller only said that the car in good condition. Actually, this is not the fault of the website, but it should be totally the fault of the seller who does not mention all details of the car. Anyway, a good website should have its own way to prevent this matter.
My goal in writing this paper is to help the reader to find a used car using these websites. People always think that buying a used car online is easy to do. There are many of websites to find a used car. Each website has its own strength and weakness. In this paper, I have explained the strength and the weakness of Cars.com [2] and Autotrader.com [1]. Both of these websites are very easy to use and helpful. I myself bought my car using Autotrader.com [1]. Using this website, I can contact the seller easier and I do not need to pay the website for any fees. The detail of the car that provided in the website was fit with my expectation. Then, I also used Cars.com [2] to compare the price and to find the shortest distance of the car with my place. So, if you are searching for a used car, I am highly recommending these two websites.
References
----------------------------------
[1] www.autotrader.com
[2] www.cars.com
MLA Citation:
"The Two Best Websites to Find a Used Car." 123HelpMe.com. 08 Dec 2011
<http://www.123HelpMe.com/view.asp?id=31159>.
"The Two Best Websites to Find a Used Car." 123HelpMe.com. 08 Dec 2011
<http://www.123HelpMe.com/view.asp?id=31159>.
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