Terms of Use:   

Here are some helpful Web sites to check out when buying a new or used vehicle:

Better Business Bureau - www.bbb.org 

Carfax, Inc.- www.carfax.com

Edmunds.com, Inc. - www.edmunds.com - gives the True Market Value, or average selling price, for a particular vehicle in your region.  

Consumer Reports. - www.consumerreports.org/cars

Kelly Blue Book - www.kbb.com 

J.D. Power - www.jdpower.com/cars 

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration - www.nhtsa.gov  - for federal crash test results & recalls

US Department of Energy -  www.fueleconomy.gov  - for gas mileage info.

Highway Loss Data Institute - www.iihs.org - gives rankings for injury & property losses for any vehicle, plus a list of the most- and least-stolen models.  These factors affect insurance costs as well as your safety & peace of mind.  

If you want to buy a car on the web, there are two kinds of Internet service:

(1) Dealer Referral: AutoWeb,  Fill in the website's form detailing what vehicle you want and your color and options preferences. Then you will get a phone call or e-mail from a local dealership. At that point, you will get a price quote and some idea of whether the dealer has -- or can get -- the vehicle you want.

If you've already researched the True Market Value price from Edmunds, you can tell if the offer is a good one. AutoWeb prices are supposed to be non-negotiable, but dealers actually will sometimes budge from their initial offer.

(2) Direct Internet Service: With CarsDirect, you can go onto the web site, fill in the vehicle you want and get an immediate, non-negotiable price. These prices usually are competitive and may be a little above or below the Edmunds True Market Value number depending on the vehicle.

Lots of other online car buying options abound, such as:  Carvana,   Carmax,  Cars.com,  CarGurus,  TrueCar

(3) Car Buying Service: For a fee which typically depends on the level of service, they go out and get competitive bids from dealers and do all the negotiating for you. These services communicate with you via e-mail and telephone. One such service is AutoAdvisor (www.autoadvisor.com; 800-326-1976) .