Lately, the most popular trend among consumers and car shoppers is the “no hassle” experience in car buying. In the past, car buyers would have to haggle for the best price on a particular car. Nowadays, this has become far from popular. Among the companies and platforms have made their names due to this trend is TrueCar.
In this guide, we will review what TrueCar is, how it works, what it is good at, what it is not, and if you should consider using it.
What is TrueCar
Founded in 2005, TrueCar is an automotive pricing and information website for new and used cars made for buyers and dealers. It uses data acquired from various sources and market information to compile averages and ranges of statistical information on both local and national values for cars. All this data is then presented to the buyer in the form of different factors such as factory price, dealer price, and the MSRP. You are then presented with the TrueCar price, which can then be compared to the local dealers that work with TrueCar at the moment.
TrueCar works with and is mostly funded by dealers. Once buyers have made clear they want a specific vehicle at a specific cost, they will give TrueCar their contact information, which will then be forwarded to the dealers. This creates spamming, which is a disadvantage. The prices offered are relatively good and they do show you how much you can save on both new and used vehicles on the market now, but the deals offered are not the guaranteed absolute best.
How Does Buying Cars through TrueCar Work
TrueCar acts as a middle man. You are not necessarily buying the vehicle through TrueCar, nor are you getting any kind of deal from the platform. What you do get from TrueCar is information on market values and the dealerships that you can go to in order to buy the vehicle you are interested in.
The “no haggle” aspects of this process lies in knowing the price beforehand and simply going to the dealership to buy the vehicle you want. However, you still have to go to the dealership and run the whole buying process on your own. The truth is that TrueCar cannot guarantee that you will find the exact vehicle you want and TrueCar does not show you all of the possible dealerships you can buy from locally.
In one case, an individual was looking for a specific type of Nissan model and after making some contact with local dealerships, he found prices lower than those on TrueCar and lower than what the suggested dealerships offer. This means that TrueCar really serves as a way to know the market value and avoid haggling for the dealer; not so much for the buyer.
The Benefits of TrueCar
No Haggling
This can be argued both ways, but if you are able to find the car you want for the value you like, you won’t have to haggle for the price to be lowered.
Accessibility to a wide Variety of Cars
With data acquired over 3 million transactions, TrueCar has data on thousands upon thousands of cars and you can expect to find various models of the car you like on the platform. This means you will not be limited to what the local dealerships offer, should you be willing to travel a bit for the car you want.
Access to Market Pricing
The information on the platform gives you insight into both the market, factory, and TrueCar savings values of thousands upon thousands of cars. Although there is no guarantee that you will find a dealership for that car nearby, you will nevertheless know what to expect and where you can go to buy that car, whether new or old.
The Disadvantages of TrueCar
The Suggested Dealerships are Not All of the Possible Sources
Many would argue that TrueCar works for the dealerships rather than for the consumer. This is a controversial subject, but the truth is that the dealerships that they suggest are paying for TrueCar’s recommendation. In other words, the data and pricing provided by TrueCar is not “all” of that there is.
The Spamming
Having collected your information, TrueCar can easily send out your data to dealerships working with them. This leads to a bunch of dealerships spamming your email inbox and even possibly your phone with generic offers on cars you showed interest in. Nobody likes this and it does not look like this will go away anytime soon.
The Prices are Not the Cheapest
As mentioned before, the data presented is limited and there are many cases of individuals finding the same vehicles for much lower prices at local dealerships not suggested by TrueCar. All of this means that you can find great prices and know the market values on TrueCar, but those prices are likely not the cheapest you can find.
A Great Alternative to TrueCar
Although using an intermediary such as TrueCar and doing online research on cars can guarantee a “no hassle” experience, there is another way to avoid the haggling scenario. If you really want to save money on the purchase of a used vehicle, you can find amazing deals on places like AutoAuctionMall.com.
Such places are known as online dealer auctions. Dealer auctions work like any other online bidding services. At Auto Auction Mall you can bid on your car online to get prices only dealers get, which is much lower than you could ever get at a local dealership. What makes online dealer auctions like Auto Auction Mall great is the support that they provide. This support comes in the form of an expert that you can reach out to for help and advice throughout the whole purchasing process. This gives you peace of mind when buying your car.
What makes online dealer auctions like Auto Auction Mall shine is the opportunity you get to buy the vehicle that best suits you with advice and counsel provided by the platform at the same time. Not only will you save money, but you may even be able to acquire the vehicle you want while saving up to 70% off of the market value.
What is Auto Auction Mall?
Many of the vehicles available at Auto Auction Mall have salvage titles, and that’s one of the reasons why they are so cheap. But don’t let that scare you. Not all salvage vehicles are piles of scrap. Many have only suffered some damage and are perfectly repairable.
In fact, salvage is a generic designation given to vehicles the insurance companies are not willing to spend money to repair. This may be because they have suffered extensive damage, to be sure, but often that’s just a matter of comparing the repair costs against the value of the car. Sometimes, it’s just not worth it for the insurers. In those cases, they will pay the owner and take over the vehicles to then sell them at auctions for a fraction of the price.
This means that salvage cars come in a variety of conditions. Many of them can be repaired and put back on the road. At Auto Auction Mall you can bid on these vehicles and take advantage of the savings. Even after taking into account other costs, such as repairs, parts and paperwork for registering the vehicle, you will save a lot of money, when compared to what you will pay by using CarMax.
Current Example Auctions
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Buying Cars at Auction
Rest assured that Auto Auction Mall will give you all the information you need to make your decisions. This includes giving you the opportunity to check the vehicle’s history by using the car’s VIN. Make sure especially to check how many previous owners the car had and if there is a history of accidents and structural damage.
However, you need to be aware that insurance for a repaired salvage car may be harder to get. Some insurance companies are reluctant to give coverage to rebuilt and repaired salvage cars. But with some research you will find insurers willing to do so. You should, nevertheless, keep in mind that you may need to submit your vehicle to another inspection to make sure everything is up to scratch.
You should set you budget carefully when buying at Auto Auction Mall. Don’t forget to factor in repair costs, the price of parts and fees and administrative costs related to having the car registered again. Insurance premiums may also be higher.
We Can Help
With Auto Auction Mall, buying a car becomes a lot easier. You will easily find the car you want by using the powerful search function at the website. Furthermore, you will get access to auctions that are otherwise inaccessible to ordinary buyers. Auto Auction Mall will act as a proxy bidder and use its dealer’s license to bid on your behalf. You will be the one setting the budget, of course, and you will have a much better chance to get the car you want with Auto Auction Mall’s expert advice.
If you are interested in our help in finding repairable or salvage vehicles, you only need to contact us for more information. We will get back to you as soon as possible.
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