Online Car Dealerships: The Best Way to Buy A Car

Today, buying a car can be a totally different process than it was just years ago. In the past, there was basically only one way to do it: walk into a car dealership and take your hand at negotiating with the salesman who happens to be working that day. Although you can still do this, there are so many other ways to purchase a car in today’s world. 

Online shopping

A few years ago, if you asked someone what they were doing and they responded, “I’m doing some online shopping,” you’d probably shrug and assume they were talking about clothes or jewelry or household items. The thought, “Oh, maybe they’re looking around for a new car!”, would never even cross your mind. But, nowadays, thanks to a variety of different online car vendors, it’s totally possible and arguably just as common as walking into a dealership to buy a car.

In 2012, Carvana came to fruition with the mission to “change the way people buy cars.” Well, if you ask us, they’ve succeeded. Carvana (and its competitors) use their internet-centric buying and financing platform to sell people cars from their phones, tablets, and laptops. In just a few clicks, you can have a car on its way to your driveway. 

Image source: Autotrader

Bypass the traditional car buying experience with online car dealerships

Sounds like magic, huh? We Americans love to do things from home. It’s taken some time for the world to get used to, but this is our new reality. Online car-buying platforms like Carvana and Vroom have tapped into the market by offering something we can’t pass up: a stress-free, no hassle, no negotiation, no talking to the salesman, no dealership drama way to buy a car. For many people, the idea of bypassing the traditional car dealership is too good to be true. And, that’s all the reason they need to make the decision to buy online. 

After all, that’s what’s made this new purchasing model so successful… According to Beepi, an online marketplace to buy and sell cars, a survey they conducted found that 87% of consumers disliked something about buying a car at a traditional dealership. On top of that, the same survey found that 61% of respondents felt like they were taken advantage of at some point in the dealership. 

Bad reputations 

Those numbers, although quite high, don’t shock us. Unfortunately, car dealerships have earned themselves this reputation over the years. Although a dealership’s goal is similar to any other business (to make as much money as possible), an array of unethical sales tactics has led many consumers to feel quite happy to move away from traditional car buying. 

Unlucky for dealerships everywhere, the market is switching to online platforms to escape any sort of negative car-buying experience. Consumers are thinking: “maybe if I can get rid of the dealership, I can make a smarter, better decision all while saving money.” Nobody should have to leave a car-buying process feeling like they were “taken advantage of.” For that reason, we believe online car-buying is here to stay. It just might be the best way to buy a car.