Another day, another survey suggesting that Americans would prefer to buy cars online. This time, the data comes from an Autolist poll. While most respondents say that they're okay with the current car sales model, a significant number dislike the muss and fuss of salespeople and haggling. To...Read More»
Love them or hate them, there's no denying that smartphones make life easier for many of us. Need a ride? Book it on Uber. Want to skip the line at the cinema? Open an app and grab some quick tickets. Shocked to see that your beloved new videogame costs $60 in the big box store? Haul out your...Read More»
Earlier this year, a Nissan dealership in Spain sold a car via Twitter. There was no face-to-face interaction with the shopper--not even a test drive. The buyer didn't actually sit in his new ride until after he'd paid for it. At least one observer thinks that such hands-off transactions are the...Read More»
If you're like many folks, you have an aversion to conventional car dealerships. (Honestly, no one likes haggling.) Also, if you're like many folks, you buy a lot of things online. So, you might not be surprised to hear about a new survey, which shows that 76 percent of consumers around the globe...Read More»
Another week, another study about the many differences (and fewer similarities) between men and women. This time, the study crossing our desk comes from KBB.com, and it shows that women and men have their own approaches to finding and purchasing the right ride. To reach that conclusion, KBB.com...Read More»
In vehicles with three rows of seating, it's often hard to make everyone happy. And while fitting three across in a second row before trying to fit people in a third row probably makes the most sense, from a design standpoint (with many vehicles narrowing near the back for wheel wells or other...Read More»
If you're a car dealer and you're unfamiliar with the term "best practices", listen up, because the Federal Trade Commission may soon be knocking on your door. The FTC has investigated consumer complaints at ten U.S. auto dealerships, all of whom were accused of deceptive advertising. The agency...Read More»
Like many other states, New Jersey is a study in contrasts. It's the birthplace of the working man's hero, Bruce Springsteen, and the appallingly self-entitled cast of Jersey Shore. It's home to some of America's finest educational institutions and the glittery, mindless joys of Atlantic City. It's...Read More»
In case you missed the memo, today is Earth Day -- a day that's meant to focus the world's attention on pollution, climate change, and other environmental issues. Once upon a time, the auto industry was wary of being entangled in environmental discussions, afraid that it could never win arguments...Read More»
SkyMall is the Hammacher Schlemmer of the skies: a catalog of the utterly useless and completely extravagant that we may pull out of the seat pocket in front of us when we're cruising at 36,000 feet, but we typically don't take too seriously. But what if there were more to SkyMall? What if, instead...Read More»
Affluent status-seekers pay quite the premium to get into exclusive luxury cars—like the $119,975 Jaguar XJL Supersport or $216,205 Mercedes-Benz CL 65 AMG. You'd think that the image and prestige of such models would be sought-after on the used-car market, too. But the moment these models...Read More»
Shopping for a car can be a real pain. But according to a new survey, there's one thing that consumers hate above all else: negotiating the price of their new ride. This isn't entirely surprising. Heck, that hatred led to the creation of an entire auto lineup: Saturn, and its no-hassle, no-haggle...Read More»
By now, most of us have visited an Apple store, or at least passed one at the mall. When they debuted in 2001, some analysts laughed at their spartan design and hands-off sales approach, wondering how Apple would ever make money in brick-and-mortar retail. But by 2008, Fortune magazine pointed out...Read More»
There are a lot of ways to measure customer satisfaction. J.D. Power talks to recent buyers. Polk looks at sales stats and customer retention. But the folks at Pied Piper do it the old-fashioned way: with secret shoppers. Between July 2011 and June 2012, Pied Piper hired 4,419 secret shoppers to...Read More»
Yesterday, we reported that sales for most automakers hit record levels in March. (Honda was the notable exception, its slipping figures due in part to the underwhelming 2012 Civic.) But who's buying all these cars? And what are they getting for their money? J.D. Power has some ideas. Today's...Read More»
Gas prices are on the rise, and some analysts predict that U.S. drivers will pay $5 a gallon by summer. According to AutoTrader's New Car Insights Report, that's giving shoppers a big reason to look at smaller, fuel-efficient cars. AutoTrader tracks consumer shopping behavior on its sales site...Read More»
Have you shopped for a new car lately? If so, how impressed were you with the dealerships you visited? If you stopped at a Lexus or MINI showroom, chances are good that you walked away happy -- and with a new set of wheels. That's according to the latest study from J.D. Power. Power's 2011 Sales...Read More»
Not so long ago, most new-car buyers had one option to track the status of their order: wait for the dealer to call and say, "It's in." Chrysler has changed that, though, with a new series of websites that keep shoppers up-to-date about their vehicles' whereabouts on the assembly line. The program...Read More»
A couple of weeks ago, we mentioned a survey that showed Americans' growing dissatisfaction with domestic brands. On the other side of the Pacific, there's a similar story to tell in China's burgeoning, booming auto market. According to a recent study from J.D. Power, Chinese shoppers are wary of...Read More»
