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Auto
sales numbers show car shoppers are venturing back onto
dealer lots. Many are toting smartphones and tablets,
too. Even when you’re car-shopping on Craigslist,
car-hunting applications will help you identify the
better deals.
Looking
for the nearest Lamborghini or Lotus dealer? The Edmunds
app, by the car site Edmunds.com, is free and
advertising-supported for Android and Apple.
Using
your device’s location service, the app finds
dealerships, maps the way there, and provides
shoppers’ comments about dealers. Loan and lease
calculators can help you decide how much you can afford
to spend on a fresh set of wheels.
The
Edmunds research function allows you to dial any make,
model, and year to view a vehicle’s features and
specifications, safety ratings, driver reviews, and
local pricing for new or used vehicles.
For used
cars, Edmunds delivers a handy chart showing what the
car is likely to be worth as a trade-in, private sale,
or dealer retail.
But
results behind an “inventory” button on the Edmunds
screen were missing during a recent hunt for specific
makes and models of used cars. Instead, a note said:
“Used cars coming soon! Currently, we are working to
fill-up our virtual lot with cars in your area.”
AAA Auto
Buying Tools is a new-car-shopping app for iPhone
that’s free from the national auto club. It begins by
asking for your ZIP code.
Then you
can “build a new car,” or, if you happen to be
wandering the local car lot, enter a specific car’s
vehicle identification number, or VIN. You find the VIN
for a new car on its window sticker. The app retrieves
the factory specs for that car.
You can
enter a used car’s VIN, too, and view its safety
ratings and other details, but the results will include
the old car’s price when it was brand-new.
Information
on cars includes estimated dealer costs, options, and
safety ratings. The app also includes a “AAA Member
Price” for vehicles, representing a discount that some
dealers will honor for auto-club members.
NADA
Pricing is the free, advertising-supported iPhone
application from the National Auto Dealers Association,
publisher of the traditional yellow and blue car-price
books. It identifies nearby dealers for whatever make
you like, and uses Google Maps to locate them.
On
pricing for used cars, it delivers a quick guide based
on make, model, year, options, and mileage. Some user
reviews of the app complain that it only goes back to
the 1998 model year.
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