Until the dealer organizations co-opted them, it seemed like Truecar was a good place to go to get a rough idea of what a decent deal on a new car was. I also used to use Edmunds TMV when looking at late model(less than 10 years old), common used cars, but their site seemed to get harder to use the more they partnered with sellers, and I'm not sure they are all that accurate anymore. Is there anywhere free (or cheap) that I can still get an idea what transaction prices are?
Wow - no responses in 2 days. That worries me. Usually we're the fountain of knowledge around here. Admittedly, none of my searching has really found anything either...
I don't know whether they're any good, but the sites I've been checking recently are CarGurus and the CarMax site.
But really, no idea whether they're any good. Haven't been doing serious research.
You speak of Truecar in past tense. Are they no longer a good option for this?
drainoil said:You speak of Truecar in past tense. Are they no longer a good option for this?
They may not be a totally bad option, but as I understand they work a bit more closely with dealers now, instead of the model that had pitted dealers against each other earlier. Not sure if that has had an effect on their pricing, but it sure seems like it would.
I will need a newer truck in the next few months. Been cruising the autotrader site for used trucks, search for what I want, and select about a 300 mile radius. Watching that off and on for the past 120 days or so has given me a pretty good idea of what I will need to spend to get what I want. Seeing what gets snatched up quickly, and what seems to languish on the dealers lots helps you narrow down prices.
In reply to NoviceClass :
Good idea - I've started saving searches in autotrader for things I'm interested. in. Just wish i wasn't casting such a wide net.
I still use CarGururs on occasion, mainly because you'll find dealers on there that won't post to Cars.
My best suggestion would be to start tracking the certain cars you like on your own, using Excel and/or screenshots. Shouldn't take too long to see where the car(s) are getting sold at and what they're sitting at.
New cars it's fairly easy to figure out what is and is not a good deal. Stuff that's only a few years old these days seems to not be worth the trouble due to better financing deals on buying new. I'd have to guess that 5 year old vehicles is about where it makes sense to shop used and a trick I've learned is to look them up on CarMax and subtract about $2-3k to have a pretty good idea of what to pay. Your mileage may vary depending on what vehicle you're shopping for.
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