Click to drive: GM, eBay join to sell new cars online

General Motors and eBay will start a trial program Tuesday to let Californians buy cars online.

Dealers at 225 locations in California will participate in the program, which will run from Tuesday until September 8. It will be available at the co-branded Web site, gm.ebay.com.

The site will allow people to compare prices, arrange financing, and check a used car's eligibility for the Cash for Clunkers trade-in program. There is the "Buy It Now" option where people agree to pay the advertised price or can make an offer using eBay's auctioning system.

The trial will be started with 20,000 GM models from 2008, 2009, and 2010. After purchase, cars will be picked up at the dealership.

Gathering information online when buying a car has become commonplace in the United States. GM and eBay cited a J.D. Power & Associates study that found that more than 75 percent of people did research online while buying a new vehicle.

"As the dealer showroom expands from the parking lot to the laptop, this makes it easier for a customer to browse available new-car inventory, make an offer, buy it now, or send a message asking for more information from a dealer," Mark LaNeve, GM vice president of U.S. sales, said in a statement.

eBay said that its eBay Motors site for selling used cars has been getting 12 million individual visits per month.

One car dealer in California, Inder Dosanjh, told the Associated Press that he already sells used cars on eBay and plans to put his new vehicle inventory on the new site this week. "I think they should have done this a long time ago," he told the AP.

[Mortgage100]

Wow that will hopefully be a big revenue boost to the car industry.

[jscott418]

Can I pay with PayPal? Come on, is this a act of desperation or what. First they have too many dealers and kill a bunch of them off. Now they are selling on EBay? What's next Craigslist? They still don't get it.
Let's take another missed opportunity. The cash for clunkers rebate. Except for FORD Chrysler and GM have little to offer. While Honda and Toyota can't keep enough cars on the lot for the demand? Oh did I mention that some of those cars are not even built in the US. I am all for government stimulus when we can afford it. But with trillion dollars of debt do we really need to do these sort of temporary boosts to the economy? Its a very expensive way to help the economy. Plus, it hurts the small repair shops who were fixing those clunkers. Sorry, but it helps one area and hurts plenty more.

[ewsachse]

Are you a shill for the right wingers? Does it get your undies in a bind that an African American is President of the United States.

This GM-eBay partnership has nothing to do with any government programs. It does not cut out dealerships; they are partners with GM and eBay. The last paragraph quotes a dealer that is fully supportive of the program. Did even read the article, or were just just frothing at the mouth to criticize the current administration?

[ferricoxide]

Are you really that much of a twit? The "partner with eBay" thing is a realization that consumers tend to want a one-stop shopping experience. It's part of why places like Mall of America and the other more normal-sized malls exist. Previously, if you wanted anything approaching one-stop shopping, you'd have to go to a car buying-service's website or some place like CarMax. Prior to this, the primary way of shopping for cars online - particularly used cars - was to go to each, individual dealer's website and try to sort through things. You might be able to go to an individual marque's website and get a referral to a local dealer, but those rarely told you inventory on hand and *definitely* didn't say anything about used cars on the lots.

But, hey: must be an act of desperation to explore business models that make sense.

[MastrCake]

Bad, uncalled for "Government Motors" jokes in 3...2...1...

[w0rdwarri0r]

About time. The car industry is hopelessly behind the times when it comes to their practises. For instance, when I bought my last (first) car, the amount of paperwork I had to file was unbelievable. I had to sign and initial a total of about 30 pages of documents. Once my credit check went through, they *faxed* me the document with my serial number. You'd think in this modern era, much of this could have been done online with webapps. What's worse is that this wasn't one of the Big Three. It was Hyundai. Granted, the auto industry is heavily regulated (at least where I come from), with fees and taxes up the ying yang.

[YankeePoodle]

Dealers were doing this from long time. I bought my car from a dealer in 2006 on eBay. The only thing new about this approach that the car company is participating in it, which would add some credibility because you are not always lucky to buy stuff on eBay that works as advertised.

[gsmiller88]

How long it'll be before we can cut out the middle man all together, in this instance the shady dealerships, and order directly from the manufacturers?

[talking poo]

Exactly. That's where things are heading. I really don't see the point of a sales man.

Even for used car buyers its easy to shop online. I identified 5 or so cars I liked, e-mailed each dealer to give me their best offer for the "total cost" of the car--which included taxes, fees, etc... Two companies balked and tried to persuade me to come in to negotiate, I immediately crossed them off my list. Three companies put offers, I went for the one with the best value (not the cheapest), told them I'd come in to inspect.

I also mentioned I'm walking if they tried to charge me one penny more.

Went to the dealer, spent a good half hour to check out the car/test drove it. Was satisfied, completed the paperwork. Done.

[EvanSei]

I wonder if they will send it UPS :)

[Been_there_Saw_it_before]

Good idea, that way I do not need to bother a friend to take me to the dealer.

Will it also include a return shipping label in case I do not like it?

[sharmajunior]

whats the shipping cost???

[WeCanBeHeroes]

Yes it may look desperate from GM but dealers have been doing this for a while. It just gives people more option on where to buy, and in a way that is more comfortable for them. It is also because it can be cheaper. People are going to eBay and other online auctions, like government and police seized car auctions, to get much better deals.

=================================
Hero
http://www.usa-car-auction.net/

[ns_svk]

I just checked the website and it looks like its still not up. Also for all cars I chose from my zip code which is incidentally in Troy,MI, i got a message that there are no vehicles in the area.

[libertyforall1776]

*ONLY* Californians?! What about other states? Will all cars be available, and can you select ALL the options you want including colors?

Will they exclude popular cars like the Camaro?