EasyAutoSales Blog

Your car shopping experience typically starts online in the research phase.  Many of you will start by reading reviews.  What types of car reviews do you find the most helpful? If you had to choose between one lengthy detailed car review written by an automotive professional and a collection of 50 quick car review blurbs written by your peers what would you choose?  Here’s are two examples of the short reviews I’m talking about:

 Loading ...

We’re hoping that you’ll find quick peer car reviews at least somewhat helpful as you shop online for cars.   That’s why we’re adding them to our site when we launch the redesign very soon.  What will be even cooler is that  you’ll be able to connect with these peers on Facebook, Twitter and our own community section to continue the discussion as you decide if the car is right for you.  Before we can make this Car Shopping Utopia a reality we need to collect these quick car reviews from YOU.  If you have a second please submit your quick car review here.

Thanks a ton!  We really appreciate your time.  If you car to share your thoughts on professional vs peer car reviews we’d love to hear what you have to say in the comments…

As of Friday Jun 19, 2009 5:00pm, the controversial Cash for Clunkers has just passed Congress and is now heading to President Barack Obama for signature as a piece of legislation meant to help get gas guzzlers off U.S. roads and replace them with new, more efficient vehicles. Many say the act is too lenient and is merely being pushed through as a measure to help get Detroit’s unsold inventory off dealer lots.

Called the “Consumer Assistance Recycle and Save Act of 2009″, or more commonly, “Cash for Clunkers,” the $1 billion program will provide a voucher of up to $4,500 (effectively just knocking that much off the price tag — dealers will get electronic payments from the feds) to help offset the cost of new car purchases or leases over the next five months. The cars that you’re limited to must cost no more than $45,000. So that means I can’t trade in my old 1998 Dodge Caravan (MPG rating of 18) for a 2009 Lotus Elise (MPG rating of 26) because the MSRP is too high ($47,500). However, that awesome new 208HP 2009 Mini Cooper S John Cooper Works (MSRP of $29,200) would not only get me the basic $3,500, but it’s combined cycle of 28 MPG (10 more than my current car) will get me an additional $1,000 for a total of $4,500 off the price of the car! Not a bad deal, in my humble opinion. This rebate also works with other rebates from the manufacturer or hybrid car rebates offered from the Federal Government.

So what is going to happen to all these old cars now that they are off the road? Most will have their engines taken out and destroyed (to ensure these “high polution” drivetrains stay off the road). However, miscellaneous parts like doors, bumpers and other non-drivetrain parts will still be around to make sure those cars that are running can be repairs and made roadworthy.

The House bill would go into effect within 30 days of enactment but it is not retroactive for new purchases made earlier this year. For a more complete description of all the applicable situations, see the chart below:

Passenger Car		Light-Duty Truck		Large Light-Duty Truck (6,000-8,500 lbs.)		Work Truck (8,500-15,000 lbs.)
Minimum fuel economy for new vehicle		22 mpg (EPA combined)		18 mpg (EPA combined)		15 mpg (EPA combined)		Not applicable
$3,500 voucher		Mileage improvement of at least 4 mpg.		Mileage improvement of at least 2 mpg.		Mileage improvement of at least 1 mpg or trade-in of a work truck.		Trade-in must be at least pre-2002.
$4,500 voucher		Mileage improvement of at least 10 mpg.		Mileage improvement of at least 5 mpg.		Mileage improvement of at least 2 mpg.		NA
Source: House Committee on Energy and Commerce

Here at EasyAutoSales we are always brainstorming ways to improve our services to help car dealers more effectively sell cars.  While we will never stop coming up with ideas on our own, whatever we come up with pales in comparison to YOUR collective feedback.  Because of this undeniable truth we have created a Car Dealer Online Marketing survey using Survey Monkey.  It will take you 5 minutes or less to cruise through, and will really help us learn how we can help you sell cars better online.  Once we get enough responses we will compile the data and post our findings on this blog.

Please click the following link to take our Car Dealer Online Marketing Survey http://bit.ly/sidY5

We really appreciate your time!

This month we have some very important and exciting developments!

1. It has come to our attention that SPAM and fraudulent listings are becoming a problem on the system. While we have been taking action previously from user reported listings, we will soon be able to actively remove fraudulent listings shortly after they appear even if the users don’t catch it first. Car shoppers are still recommended to report any questionable postings to us for review by flagging the users or vehicles.
2. We are also excited to be working on version 3 of our new web design! Our goal at EasyAutoSales has always been to help dealers showcase their vehicles in the best light possible. Like the earlier versions, we will provide support for unlimited, large photos and video in version 3. In addition to photos and descriptions, we have put a lot of effort into making sure the information flow on the new design makes sense. Our goal with the new design is to help educate casual shoppers and give them more information to make quicker choices. We hope this will mean more phone and email leads for the dealers.

   We should be launching the new version of the website by the end of June and we will look forward to your feedback once it’s available.

Finally, we are excited to be working on some new premium services for this website that will help dealers sell cars faster online. If your dealership currently advertise on Craigslist, we invite you to take our short 2 minute survey to let us know how we can help. Even if you don’t use Craigslist, we would love to know why.

Click Here to take survey!

Thanks!

Summer is a lazzzy time. While most people are taking a break in the Sun, we are taking this time to iterate and improve our UI to make shopping on EasyAutoSales even better. Below is a preview of our new search box with a hint at our new styling.

What do you guys think? We welcome all comments below.