Netting the right car

If you're looking for a Honda City or a Toyota Innova (new or second-hand), check out the online auto dealers. Hitherto car shopping meant you had to personally visit multiple dealers to find the right car that fits your style and budget, and their salesperson would tell you which car to buy. Now, online portals allow you to choose a model, make modifications on the web and then shop around the best deal in the auto world. The portals let you compare prices and zero in on bargain offers. While automobile sales on the net account for around 30 per cent of all vehicles sold in developed markets such as the US, it's just beginning to gather momentum in India as more people turn auto shoppers in the comfort of their homes.

So, what's a good place to start? There are at least half-a-dozen portals that offer you a wide range of cars based on brands, budget and segment and even give you videos, pictures and detailed technical specifications to let browsers make an educated choice. For example, indiacar.com offers interior and exterior surround videos on some models, and pictures of the latest models. It also offers to find you finance and insurance for your new and used cars. Other portals such as carazoo.com allow you to click and compare different models from different manufacturers before zeroing in on your final selection and also let you modify the car with alloy wheels, stereos and security systems to give a one-stop shop for visitors. Cartradeindia.com offers you the chance to look for not just cars, but even hunt around for a bargain on commercial vehicles and two-wheelers, besides offering spot valuation for vehicles online.  
 
The Used Car Street

Aside from selling new cars, websites in India have become a useful resource to scout around for a good second-hand bargain and most auto portals have dedicated sections that allow you not only to hunt for second-hand bargains, but even sell your old car online. These sites also help you to value your vehicle, post pictures and text of the car you want to buy and directly contact buyers and sellers to speed up the buying process. While some mainline automakers such as Maruti Suzuki have their own initiatives like True Value, these websites let browsers compare cars across manufacturers and budgets. Sellers, on the other hand, can advertise their vehicles for free and in the process avoid dodgy agents and middlemen most people turn to when they try to sell their cars.

Despite the potential offered by the internet, there are a few hygiene factors that people need to consider before they start using any of these portals. At the outset, it's imperative that you do your homework by checking on the background of the site, their record in buying and selling cars and even check for references to steer clear of scamsters. Once you've zeroed in on a model, it's essential to undertake a complete road test of the car, checking for apparent physical defects such as bumps, dents and scratches as photos can be deceptive and, more importantly, take a peak under the hood for any concealed disfigurements that could give you clues about any previous accidents the vehicle could have encountered. Sites in the US offer complete vehicle history, but potential buyers may need to enlist the services of a trained mechanic to spot defects in bodywork and even on the underside of the car, where floodwaters could wrench off or corrode metal body work.

The Online Roadway

How to bag your car online and steer through the speed bumps.

•   The internet may be a good place to locate a specific model, make or colour which may be missing at local dealerships 
  
  
•  Check prices offered by dealers when you visit them. Some may offer festival discounts, for example, which could be a steal
  
  
• Get quotes from multiple portals and see if you can bargain on the cheapest one
  
  
• The price on the internet may be different from what you finally pay since road tax and other duties could add to the final rate you receive
  
  
• You could also work out smaller details like rust proofing, sun film on windows as part of a deal 
  
  
•  Have a mechanic (or at least someone who knows his way under the hood) take a close look at the car
  
  
• For second-hand vehicles, don't just conduct a physical check, but see if it is possible to get your hands on its service history and check for previous accidents
  
  
• Do a background check on the sites you are browsing; who owns the portal, for how long it has been operating and check references to be doubly safe 
  
  
•  See if banks will lend you money for the car; the portal's own partner may not offer the best rate in the market
   

Websites allow you to choose not just a make (for example, a Suzuki Swift), but also second-hand or new cars and for specific features such as abs, power steering, music systems, xenon headlights, tinted glass and navigation systems. Based on these and more parameters, it may be important to draw prices, reviews and other metrics from at least three or four sites before initiating a sale. Rather than act as dealerships, some sites such as driveinside.com prefer to act as marketing front-end for large auto companies and ask visitors to contact one of the dealers listed on the site.

You may also want to finance your car online. Most websites either link to third-party sites or offer to arrange financing for you. While it's easy to lean on an in-house agency to arrange (or provide) the financing for your car, it may be worthwhile to hunt for other options too if you're looking for the cheapest deal in the market. Interest rates on loans could vary by around 100-200 basis points and that margin makes a significant difference in your down payment and EMIs (equated monthly installments). Much like buying a car offline, browsers may also want to keep their eyes open for discount offers and special deals around the festival time or when a company is looking to get rid of inventory of a dated model. Automakers usually offer sizeable discounts and/or cash benefits to consumers willing to buy these cars.

At the end of the day, while the rules of the game are the same across all categories of e-commerce, the higher value attached to buying cars means that people need to be more cautious than usual while dealing with portals. Despite the growing popularity of the internet, it's perhaps the second-hand market (and deals between consumers) that has seen more traction on the internet. But with more cars and more portals, the online driveway is only just strapping up.