Where to Buy Cars

There are many sites online that have cars for sale on them, but very few of them are buyer friendly and tend to favor the sellers. Why?

On 99% of the websites online, the seller is the one covering the operating expenses of the website, so it's only in the websites best interests to keep the sellers happy. This usually means giving the buyer as little information as possible about the vehicle so that they can't make a informed decision. Most websites don't do this on purpose, it's just what we are used to seeing.

Autotrader is the largest and most recognized brand when it comes to buying and selling anything with a motor. For years autotrader has has been publishing auto classifieds online & offline. But if you ever look at one of there listings offline or online the only thing you ever see is what the seller is telling you. If you want to compare prices and options you have to do all the research yourself; and since most of us don't buy a car everyday it's not something everyone knows how to do.

With the ever growing demand for more information on the internet a few car classifieds websites have been pooping up that are starting to shift the power into the buyers hands.

Below is a list of the sites I think are doing a good job; beside each site is a reason why I like it and some of the problems that I still see.

1. LemonFree.com

Why I like it
It's free to both buy and sell cars on the site, so there is no bias to either the buyers or sellers.

They provide a lot of extra information right beside the listing: Fuel Economy, Crash Test Ratings and the average price of that exact same year make model of car.

They have a big reminder message on every listing about how to avoid being scammed.

There website is very clean looking and not cluttered with a ton of advertising. It reminds me of Google's search interface.

2. Cars.Com

Why I like it
Although cars.com doesn't provide any extra information along with each listing; something I really like is there "ask a question" section which lets you post a car related question and have it answered by someone (i'm assuming a car expert)

Check it out here Ask Cars.com

It's a great service, but if your looking just for answers to questions; Yahoo Answers is the place to go.

3. Craigslist.org

Craigslist doesn't have added value information beside each listing, but the one thing it does well is make the buyer aware of potential scams and fraud.

Vote for your favorite site below