ConsumerReports.org Offers Advice For Auto Shoppers
By Dana Greenlee, co-Host WebTalkGuys Radio
With escalating car prices, buying new wheels is becoming a major
financial decision. Negotiating to buy a new car can be a nerve-wracking experience for a
consumer. What research do you need to do before you start visiting dealerships? What do
you need to know to negotiate a good price from the salesperson-and finalize the purchase
with the dealership?
The online world is revolutionizing the car-buying process, and if you learn to navigate
the Internet as part of your search, you can very likely save yourself hundreds, possibly
thousands, of dollars.
Listen to the audio interview with
Rob Gentile, Manager of Consumer Reports
Auto Price Service
6 min @ 20K Stream
Begins at 24 min. into show:
 Real WinMedia
ConsumerReports.org, the online branch of the popular magazine, provides thousands of
Web pages of information on auto specifications, crash test results, maintenance records
and buying tips.
 This month, ConsumerReports.org unveils a new
interactive tour of an auto dealership that's designed to take some of the anxiety out of
the car-buying or car-leasing process.
The Yonkers, N.Y.-based consumer ratings service researches and offers unbiased advice
about products and services beyond just vehicles, including personal finance, health and
nutrition, and other consumer concerns. They’ve been around in print form since the
1930’s and online since 1997. A lot of Consumer Reports clout comes from the fact
that they are an independent, nonprofit testing and information-gathering organization,
serving only the consumer.
We asked Rob Gentile, who tracks car prices for Consumer Reports as manager of their Auto
Price Service, how the car buyer can arm themselves with information before the trip to
the dealership.
Q: What some may not know is
ConsumerReports.org offers free automobile content in your website to coincide with the
Consumer Reports April Auto Issue, which went on sale in March. Let’s first start
with your interactive tour of an auto dealership. Take us on a walk-through of this
research tool.
Gentile: In conjunction with launching our
April Auto issue, we’ve developed the interactive virtual auto dealership on our
website at ConsumerReports.org. We’ve compiled a lot of the great content we’ve
had for many years on the site helping people with all parts of the buying process, from
the beginning where you’re deciding what car is right for you to the point where
you’ve actually negotiate the deal and picked up the car. The virtual dealership tour
walks you through that process step by step, helping you get the best possible deal.
Q: Another new interactive virtual tour on
ConsumerReports.org is the Auto Test track. You can get inside your auto testing facility
via streaming video footage. Take us on a virtual tour of the Consumer Reports' Auto Test
track.
Gentile: We have a facility where we test
all the cars you see in the April auto issue. The video application gives you little
snippets of the cars going though the actual tests, along with the information that goes
along with each of the tests. For example, you can see tests like hydroplaning, emergency
handling and braking.
Q: I liked "Rock Hill," 300 tons
of boulders set in concrete that's used for testing four-wheel-drive vehicles. Why
don’t you run down some of the other auto-related research information we can find at
ConsumerReports.org?
Gentile: We
provide information to all consumers no matter where you are in the buying process. If
you’re in the early stages of the process, we provide you with advice on how to
choose the right car for you. We have a car selector on the site that allows you to enter
some parameters based on the kind of car you’re looking for. It basically gives you
results of cars that might be best for you. At the point where you’re saying,
“This is the car I want”, we help you determine what is the fair price to pay.
The Consumer Reports New Car Price Service tells you what the dealer paid for the car,
what we call the wholesale price, and we help you determine how to negotiate a fair deal.
We also have Dealer satisfaction survey information, Consumer Reports Good Bets and
Reliability Risks and how to save money on routine auto maintenance.
Q: That could save lots of money. Is this
available for free? I know you have some subscription content, too.
Gentile: Much of it is available for free -
a lot of the general advice like how to deal with the dealership, safety alerts, recalls
and the interactive tours. At the point you’re ready to negotiate for a specific
vehicle there are fees. You can either subscribe to the website or, if you’re
interested in simply getting pricing information for a specific model, the Consumer
Reports New Car Price Service is $12 per report.
Q: What is the subscription cost?
Gentile: It’s $3.95 per month.
Q: That’s not far off from buying the
print issue, but you get tons more information at your fingertips.
Gentile: You also get access to all of our
past reviews and rating that goes back several years. And not just cars: appliances,
electronics. The whole gamut.
Q: You guys are the godfathers of consumer
protection! I imagine that the auto issue of the print magazine is a bestseller. Do you
find more visitors on the website during this month?
Gentile: Yes, the April auto issue is one of
our key issues. We absolutely do see more visitors to the website There is quite a bit of
information on the site that typically doesn’t make it into the magazine, simply
because there isn’t enough space. They complement each other very well because where
the magazine ends off, the site can actually pick up in many ways. The virtual tour is a
good example of that.
The website is at http://www.consumerreports.org;
their corporate site is at ttp://www.consumersunion.org.
A full audio interview with Rob Gentile of Consumer Reports
can be heard here:
http://www.webtalkguys.com/ra/webtalk-3-30-2002.ram
or
http://www.webtalkguys.com/msm/webtalk-3-30-2002.asx
~ WTG
(Dana Greenlee writes about technology every
Friday in the Tacoma Daily Index. She is
president of LoudVox.com, a recording studio and web development company. She is also
co-host of WebTalkGuys, a radio talk show featuring technology news and interviews. It is
broadcast on CNET Radio in San Francisco and Boston, on the web at CNET Radio, WebTalkGuys Radio and via the XM satellite network and on NexTel's
Wireless Web. Past show and interviews are also webcast via the Internet at http://www.webtalkguys.com). |
