As we grow older, the world around us never stops changing. Online banking, cellular phones, web-based college courses and even how people go about purchasing a vehicle.

Ten years ago people, purchased newspapers or car magazines in order to find vehicles for sale. Many found their next automobile by driving by a dealership and looking over the fence. Today’s shoppers are different. The advent of internet shopping has changed both the way dealerships attract their customers, and how customers decide where to take their business.

Internet pricing, social networking sites, consumer reviews, eBay, appraisal websites and many more have gone a long way in educating the consumer as to what they should expect when making their next automotive purchase.

Today’s automotive customers have access to a dealership’s invoice costs, dealer hold backs, annual percentage rate (APR) offers and true market value. They know if they inquire through a dealer’s website they can almost always receive a discounted price prior to ever speaking with a sales representative, or physically seeing the vehicle of interest.

These customers have also discovered the advantage of online trade appraisal sites, which allow them to factor the value of their current vehicle into the car buying equation. These appraisal websites even offer to purchase the customer’s trade outright.

The various brand websites have developed unique interactive portals in which the customer can build a virtual model of the exact vehicle they would like to own and, often times, these sites even provide them with the exact manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) of the vehicle they built.

Some customers are even choosing to obtain their own financing prior to visiting a dealership in today’s market. What this adds up to in the end is a consumer who knows what they want, how much it should cost and what the dealer can do to help them.

The internet has also provided the consumer with options other then dealerships from which to make their next vehicle purchase. Craig’s List and eBay are the leaders in this front, however there are others. Why haggle to lower a price when you can bid against other consumers up to the point where you would no longer be interested in the vehicle?

Outside sites also allow consumers to create accounts in which they can add various vehicles and watch them over the course of a period of time. This allows the consumer to keep track of pricing on similar vehicles at different locations and watch as the seller slowly lowers the associated pricing as the inventory becomes aged. Somtimes these sites even include vehicles being sold by other consumers. These options open up the market for consumers to include vehicles from all across the country as opposed to just down the street like the olden days.

Although this plethora of information is available to the computer savvy shopper, there are still tricks of the trade available to them from those in the business. Often, shoppers will see advertisements for where they can choose either cash back or a great APR offer. But which is better? While the fine print may confuse a consumer untrained in finance lingo, these incentives are almost always equal in value. The benefit comes from knowing which one is right for the customer depending on how they intend to pay for their purchase.

This is where the expertise of a good finance manager comes into play for the consumer. With each option being of equal value, the finance manager is truly working for the customer at this point.

In today’s world, a bad reputation can do a lot of damage, while a good reputation can win you countless referrals. What customers have to say about their experience when they leave can make or break a dealership in the always on the go, always in communication society we live in.

The benefit is that sales personnel and dealers are on their best behavior and they’re willing to make deals. As they actively adapt to the changing communication and car buying environment, the real winner is the consumer.

About the Author:

Daniel Ward is a Client Advisor at Fields BMW in South Orlando. With more than 13 years in the auto industry, Dan has sold numerous classes of vehicles for several of the world’s leading automotive manufacturers.

Article by Daniel Ward