GM & eBay launch new-car sales site Tuesday August 17, 2009

General Motors has teamed up with eBay to sell new cars online using ebay motors as an experiment.

The GM program to sell new cars on eBay involve 225 dealers or 90% of dealers in California.

This experiment will be a four week test and chose California because sales have been below average and buyers are tech savvy in this state.

This allows buyers to shop online avoiding the auto dealers showrooms which simplfies the process.

The new Web site, gm.ebay.com will be available through Sept. 8, 2009 and if successful then GM would roll this out nationwide.

GM dealers buy and sell used cars on eBay but this will be the first time they sell new cars on eBay.

Even though you can buy the car on eBay you must still conclude the transaction at your local GM dealer.

Cars sold on eBay Motor’s will have

• Buy it Now (you pay the advertised price)
• Best Offer (buyers tell what there willing to pay and negotiate)

Consumers can use cash for clunkers program online and if not sure the local car dealer will determine the value of your car.

Most of the time a car dealer will give you KBB trade in value wholesale so this is a rough estimate.

J.D. Power & Associates research showed new 75% of car buyers in 2008 used the web and 70% in 2007.  They said in 2008 was the largest year over year increase in online automotive shopping since 2001.

In summary, this is a smart move by GM because car buyers hate going to car dealers and getting ripped off.

Now car buyers can pick there cars online and just go to the car dealer to sign all the papers and pickup their new car.

Here’s what you need to be aware of when you go to the dealer

1. You need to know your credit score in advance and what interest rate your bank will give you, dealers can charge up to 3% points higher on a loan or more.  So know what your bank can do for you and if your bank gives you the best deal, have GM give you the buyers order and get a check from your bank.
2. You need to know your cars value, go to KBB and use the trade in value for your car, wholesale so you have an idea what the dealer will pay you. What the dealers pay you is going to be interesting, because they have no incentive to buy your car, they can’t play games by giving you more for your car because you bought online?
3. They will try to upsell you on extended 100,000 mile warranties, gap insurance, paint protection, etc. I recommend gap insurance for the low fee it protects you in case you get in accident and you owe $20,000 and insurance company says your cars only worth $15,000 then the gap insurance pays this gap and if you don’t have this you have to pay out of pocket.
4. Every $1,000 you borrow will cost you $20 per month in payments with excellent credit, so if your credit is bad this number will go up, but is a good rule of thumb.  $20,000 car is $400 per month in payments

by

Robert Reuter “Black Belt Bob”
www.AskCarExpert.com

Short URL: http://www.askcarexpert.com/?p=445

Posted by blogadmin on Aug 16 2009. Filed under Car Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.