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The Best New Car Buying Sites

Where Can You Find the Best New Cars?

It's pretty much universally agreed that the "New Car” smell is one of the best feelings in the world. Getting into your dealership-clean car with brand-new features makes you feel like a little kid all over again. That's why buying a new car is one of the most exciting times in your life. But we're all also familiar with the dealership process. Haggling for prices and feeling pressured by overzealous salespeople can easily turn your excitement into frustration.

With online auto sales, gone are the days of heading blindly over to the nearest dealership, hoping to find something you'll like, and being largely at the mercy of the salesperson who greets you at the door. Now, you can do extensive research online before ever setting foot on the lot - and that's assuming you're not having the vehicle delivered directly to your home. Today's new car-buying experience is totally different from what it was even ten years ago.

Monday, November 4th

2024 New Car Buying Site Reviews

CarGurus Review Top Consumer Reviews Best-In-Class Blue Ribbon Award 5 Star Rating

CarGurus

5 Star Rating Top Consumer Reviews Best-In-Class Blue Ribbon Award

CarGurus, founded in 2006, ranks among the top US online automotive marketplaces, offering detailed car value analytics and a wealth of information under the Research tab. While its initial search tools are basic, CarGurus has an impressive inventory of over 32,000 new vehicles, with clear listings and a payment calculator on each. Despite some mixed feedback about dealership experiences, its massive inventory and pricing insights make it a competitive option, earning our 5-star rating and highest recommendation.

Kelley Blue Book Review 4.5 Star Rating

Kelley Blue Book

4.5 Star Rating

Kelley Blue Book (KBB) is a trusted name in the auto industry, offering detailed car pricing, reviews, and listings for new and used cars. With over 28,000 new vehicles, extensive filters, and a unique long-distance delivery option, KBB makes car shopping easy and informative. Despite some negative reviews mainly about its car valuation system, KBB stands out for its competitive prices and earns a near-perfect rating.

Cars Review 4.5 Star Rating

Cars

4.5 Star Rating

Cars, headquartered in Chicago, offers millions of car listings with an easy search function, detailed listings, and over 24,000 new vehicles available, Cars provides a wealth of options, though some details may vary depending on the dealership. Overall, Cars earns an excellent rating, praised for its efficiency and wide selection, but noted for some inventory limitations compared to other platforms.

Auto Tempest Review 4 Star Rating

Auto Tempest

4 Star Rating

Auto Tempest is a great tool for finding cars by combining listings from major car sites like eBay and Carvana into one search. You can build and price your dream car or browse used car listings with detailed information and comparison tools. Although it lacks free browsing for new cars, it offers a complete search experience, earning it a solid rating.

Edmunds Review 3.5 Star Rating

Edmunds

3.5 Star Rating

Edmunds has been a trusted name in the automotive industry for over fifty years, providing video test drives, detailed reviews, and comparisons to help you choose the right new car. Although their inventory of new cars is smaller than some competitors, they still offer 12,448 new vehicles with various helpful filters for easy browsing. While Edmunds has competitive prices and strong BBB ratings, delivery and return policies are handled by individual dealerships, which may require extra research.

True Car Review 3.5 Star Rating

True Car

3.5 Star Rating

True Car, launched in 2005, is an online marketplace for buying new and used cars, supported by services from companies like American Express and Sam's Club. It offers helpful tools for research, including reviews, rankings, and calculators, and even has a quiz to help you narrow down your car options. While it has a competitive inventory and good BBB ratings, some customers report issues with dealers not honoring True Car prices, making it more reliable for research than final pricing.

Driveway Review 3 Star Rating

Driveway

3 Star Rating

Driveway is a new platform for buying cars from home, offering over 41,000 new cars and a 7-day or 400-mile return policy. It has easy-to-use filters and detailed listings but lacks popular models like Toyota and Tesla. Despite its large inventory and convenient features, Driveway receives mixed reviews due to poor customer service and undisclosed car issues, leading to a mid-tier rating.

Autotrader Review 2.5 Star Rating

Autotrader

2.5 Star Rating

Autotrader is a popular site with over 3 million vehicle listings from dealers and private sellers, offering a helpful payment-based search tool and detailed listings. They have a wide range of cars, including home test drives and delivery options, but most new cars are from well-known local dealers. However, despite its extensive inventory and features, Autotrader has a poor reputation, with low ratings from the Better Business Bureau and other review sites, leading us to give it a lower rating.

Web2Carz Review 1.5 Star Rating

Web2Carz

1.5 Star Rating

Web2Carz may look outdated, but it offers detailed information on new cars. Unfortunately, you need to provide a lot of personal information just to see the inventory, which feels unsafe and inconvenient. With issues like lack of pricing transparency and difficulty contacting the site, it's better for research than for actually buying a new car.

Cars Direct Review 1 Star Rating

Cars Direct

1 Star Rating

Cars Direct, established in 1998, offers a limited filtering system and a small inventory compared to other platforms, with only 366 new cars available. Despite competitive prices starting at $17,015, the website lacks transparency in policies for delivery and returns and has a poor reputation for selling poor-quality cars and bombarding you with spam emails. With its browsing difficulties and low customer satisfaction, Cars Direct may not be worth the stress, and higher-rated services are recommended for purchasing new cars.

Compare the Best Reviews

Continued from above...

Buying a new car is an exciting experience, and getting one through online services can make it even more enjoyable. Instead of spending hours at a dealership, you can browse through numerous makes and models from the comfort of your home. Online platforms provide detailed information about each car, including safety ratings, features, detailed photos of the interior and exterior, and prices (including monthly payment or lease calculator tools). This helps you make a well-informed decision without the pressure of a salesperson hovering over you. You can take your time, compare different options, and find your dream car.

One of the biggest advantages of buying a new car online is access to a wide range of options that may not be available at your local dealership. Online car-buying platforms often have a larger inventory from multiple local dealerships (or those in completely different states if you don't mind making the drive to pick it up or paying for transport), allowing you to find the exact model and color you want. Plus, many online services offer home delivery, so you can have your new car brought right to your doorstep. This convenience saves you time and effort, making the new car-buying process smooth and hassle-free.

Plus, purchasing a new car online can help you pick out the newest models (even those that are just released and harder to find on dealership lots). When it comes to safety and mechanical features, you can find details and trim levels that offer advanced driver assistance systems, adaptive cruise control, automatic emergency braking, and lane assist. Since you're browsing the collective inventory of many dealerships and sellers, it's much easier to find that top-level model than it would be just shopping locally.

So, if you're ready to start the process of getting a new car, there are plenty of places to begin your journey. But if you don't know which site is best for you, don't worry. When looking for a new car online, here are several factors to consider to help you get the best deal and experience:

  • Resources. Look for websites that provide detailed information about each vehicle. This includes videos of test drives, comparisons between models, and articles to help you set a budget and choose the right car for your needs.
  • Transparency. Choose platforms that offer detailed information about the car's location, dealer, and pricing history. It's important to know exactly where the car is coming from and who is selling it. Being able to contact the dealer directly is a plus.
  • Reputation. Check customer reviews and ratings to see what others have experienced with the car-buying site. Look for feedback on the legitimacy of vehicle listings, customer service, and the overall buying process. The Better Business Bureau's rating can also be a useful indicator of the company's reliability.
  • Cost. At the end of the day, cost is a pretty big factor. Which site offers the car at the trim level you want at the most competitive cost? Does the cost include features like home delivery?

To help you in the search for your new set of wheels, Top Consumer Reviews has evaluated and ranked the best options for online car shopping out there today. Whether you're looking for a new family vehicle, something to haul your trailer, a first-time car for a new college student, or that dream sports car you've been saving up for, we're sure that this information will save you time and get you connected with a vehicle you'll love to drive!

The Best New Car Buying Sites Compare New Car Buying Sites Compare New Car Buying Site Reviews What are the best New Car Buying Sites Best New Car Buying Site Reviews

New Car Buying Site FAQ

Just like any other product you can buy online, you'll find a much bigger selection on the internet than if you try to go store-to-store, or in this case dealership-to-dealership. Other reasons to shop for a car online are to save time, avoid the haggling and negotiations of salesmen (sorry, not sorry), minimize the pressure to buy, and do everything at your own convenience. Buying new vehicles online is more popular than ever before and companies are jumping on board with making it as easy as possible for customers.
Make sure the company you're buying from has a good Better Business Bureau rating, high customer reviews, and is a service you've heard of before. It may help to call in and talk to their customer service team to get information about their processes as well. Beware of prices that seem "too good to be true”, try to buy as locally as possible, and trust your gut. Do research online about the car company you're interested in buying from and you should get enough information to make an educated decision.
When you're buying from a dealership that sells new cars, they are going to have salesmen and customer service experts on standby to talk whenever you need. All it takes is a quick phone call and you can go over details about the vehicle you're interested in. They may be able to walk you through the buying process online if you run into some hiccups and want to make sure you're doing everything correctly. When it comes to making a big purchase like a car, don't hesitate to reach out to the seller to talk things through!
Technically there are instances where you'll be able to return a new car to a dealership, but we don't recommend it. Make absolutely sure you're happy with the car you purchase online because dealerships either won't take the car back, or they'll charge a few thousand dollars in return fees. Either way, you'll be out a lot of money! This is also the case for buying a vehicle in person. Cars are not something you can easily send back!
One obvious reason to buy a new car is because it will be more reliable than a used one. You never know exactly how a used car was treated or if it's bound to start having issues. New cars come with factory warranties that cover the cost of labor and repairs if you run into a problem in the first couple years of owning it. New cars have hardly any mileage on them, so they will last a lot longer for you than a used car would. They will have new oil, factory-fresh tires and brakes, the latest technology, and you can buy them in any make, model, or color you want.
One of the perks of getting a brand-new car is that it already comes with a warranty. Usually, it's something like 36 months or 36,000 miles, whichever comes first. This covers parts and labor costs for normal usage. The exact warranty may differ slightly between makes and models of cars and the company you're buying from. You'll have the option of purchasing an extended warranty which would cover bumper-to-bumper issues for a period of time after the manufacturer's warranty is past. Some people choose to do this for peace of mind.
The first thing you should do when buying a new car online is to set a budget. You'll find so many beautiful makes and models with seemingly endless options for upgrades, so you want to know how much you can spend (or how big of a loan you can qualify for) before you even start looking. Do research on the car you're interested in to see if it gets good gas mileage, what other customers have said about its reliability, check crash test ratings, and what type of warranty it comes with. You might consider test driving some vehicles before pulling the trigger on purchasing it online. Take your time comparing vehicles online since you won't have the pressure or time constraints of looking around at the dealership.
Most dealers will deliver the car you purchased right to your house. How convenient is that? It will feel like Christmas morning when that shiny, new, fresh vehicle gets dropped off. If you buy from a dealer that's close by, you might be able to avoid some shipping costs or fees by picking it up directly from them. This allows you to stop and talk to the employees if you have any questions before driving your new car home.
The Best Reviews of New Car Buying Sites