| REVIEWS
Cruising
Cyberspace
Web
Site Pick Of The Month
By Pam Wegmann
Perhaps your business
is expanding and you're thinking of buying another van, truck or car to
use as a delivery vehicle. You've decided to buy a used vehicle, but before
you start negotiating with a seller, you want to be armed with the fair
market value. You can get that information by going to
http://www.kbb.com
This is the site
of the Kelley Blue Book where you'll find the retail prices and trade-in
values for both new and used vehicles of all types. For new cars, the site
can give you information on 900 models of the new 1999 model year. The
pricing reports are blue book suggested retail value and are delivered
free of charge to your computer screen as a car buying customer. (The cost
of doing so is supported by the sale of banner advertising on the site.)
This site is really
easy to use. It navigates you through the information with simply stated
categories, menu driven search requests, and clear, easy to understand
language.
The site has six
main buttons, two of which are the main focus of this review. To use these
features, your browser must support tables.
Clicking on the Used
Car Values button will give you two choices: Goin' Shopping for a used
car or What's My Car Worth? For either, you will be led through a
series of screens where you select year, make, and model. You then
enter more detailed information such as engine, transmission, drivetrain,
mileage, equipment on the vehicle, condition of the vehicle, and your zip
code. You'll receive back a report with the current Blue Book price/value.
The New Car Pricing
button will provide prices for the newest model year, which at this writing
in late September of 1998 is the 1999 model year. The prices are
for both foreign and domestic models being sold in the U.S. automotive
market only. For this function, you'll first enter a zip code, then choose
a category (all cars, luxury, SUVs, etc.), then the make and model.
Be patient because at this point, this page takes a while to load since
it includes multiple photos of the cars in various colors and styles. The
report is fairly detailed and will provide both the suggested retail price
and the dealer invoice. It also gives a list of standard features and lists
the prices of optional features.
Either page will
then let you actually make your purchase online, if you desire. You can
also complete two other tasks associated with purchasing a vehicle at this
site: shopping for financing and shopping for insurance. There are
two options for each.
Kelley's Blue Book
site also provides reviews of new cars and links to other related sites
to help you make an informed buying decision.
So the next time
you want to take a test cruise in a new or pre-owned vehicle, spend a little
time cruising cyberspace first.
October, 1998
Knowledge is Power!
Happy cruising! ;-)
Questions/Comments
can be sent to pam@info-matters.com
or faxed to 504.738.0016. You can also reach Ms. Wegmann at 504.738.0070.
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