Internet Auto Buy

The next task is to determine a "fair" price for the above models, http://www.edmunds.com site is excellent. It determines a wholesale and retail price for each model, then provides a link to the "blue book" to determine vehicle reliability, safety, pros and cons. The site lets you select a specific model, adjust price for mileage and options, then prints out a "window sticker price" from which you can negotiate with your local dealer or individual seller.

Auto trader at http://www.autotrader.com allows various car models to be compared feature by feature.The site has a a helpful highlight mode to show the advantages of one model over another. Best yet, you can print the page and keep it. The suggested prices are given in American dollars so before you rush off to buy a car change American dollars to Canadian dollars at http://www.xe.net/ucc/. Now you are ready to shop for the car of your choice.

As an experiment, I contacted some local Automobile dealers, few had web sites up, but I visited the savvy Internet dealers to determine how close their prices were to the suggested price I had complied. To my surprise I did find one of the selected models, in the Trail area, close to the suggested price. I also found a second model $600 greater than the suggested price at another local dealer.

The moral: do your research first, fine several car models to suit you, determine a fair price, then go shopping. My own result: I got the car I wanted '98 Olds Century after some lengthy negotiation with the dealer ship. It was an advantage to know how the reliable the car was and approximately what the dealer paid for it. Through my research it was evident that my particular Model was very reliable but I was told to purchase the extended warranty in order to cover our selves through the period when the car is 4 and 5 years old..