Probably the last thing you want to do when you’ve decided to buy a new or used car, truck or SUV is sort through the vast number of automotive and auto finance websites to find those that might help you research your choices.
You want to get out there and drive something nice and shiny. We know. We’ve all been there.
But shopping online is necessary to thoroughly researching both car and financing.
“Dream in a fanboy magazine if you want, but to begin the new-car buying process, you need to get connected,” wrote Marty Padgett in the first rule of “Buying A New Car: The 10 New Rules” at thecarconnection.com. “Narrow down your shopping list by reading reviews of new vehicles, getting prices with the options you want, and figuring out what you can afford first.”
That’s where we come in. Over three days starting today, we’ll try to demystify the process of shopping online and arm you with some of the best automotive websites, auto blogs and online financing available.
Today, the top automotive websites, several of which probably are familiar, courtesy of ebizmba.com.
The top five websites in January 2014 for shopping online, based on estimated number of unique monthly visitors, are:
Yahoo! Autos. The most popular site with about 25 million unique visitors, Yahoo! Autos provides the tools to research car models’ pricing, fuel economy and other features, as well as car buying guides, tips and advice, news, reviews and research from TrueCar.com.
AutoTrader.com. The “ultimate automotive marketplace” and second-most-popular website with 12.5 million visitors, AutoTrader provides research on new, certified and used cars; news and reviews; car and dealer locators, and calculators for monthly payments and affordability.
Edmunds.com. This site generates about 12 million visitors by providing research on new, certified and used cars; car ratings and reviews; tips and advice; forums, calculators and more.
KBB.com (Kelley Blue Book). Billing itself as “The Trusted Resource,” KBB receives about 11 million unique visitors a month. The site provides research tools for new and used cars with a Fair Purchase Price calculator; expert reviews; car and dealer locators; advice, and useful top 10 lists.
Cars.com. With nearly 9 million visitors monthly, this website provides research tools for new, used and certified cars; dealer locator; advice; calculators; service tips and advice, and a blog.
Ebizmba.com also lists autoblog, MotorTrend, Jalopnik, CarAndDriver, and CarMax, which get between 2.75 and 4 million monthly visitors, as well as five sites with considerably fewer monthly visitors.
RoadLoans.com is a preferred direct lender, preferred lender and trusted lender for AutoTrader, KBB and Cars.com, respectively, as well as a financing center for ebaymotors.com.
Tomorrow, we’ll tell you about the top automotive blogs.
If you need fast-and-easy vehicle financing for a used or new car, crossover, pickup or SUV, www.RoadLoans.com empowers you to shop with confidence.