# Buying car off internet

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-car-off-internet/358681>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [May 30, 2006, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-car-off-internet/358681 "2006-05-30T01:08:57Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![LorieSmurf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a587f6/32.png) [@LorieSmurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LorieSmurf)\
**Post date:** [May 30, 2006, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-car-off-internet/358681/1 "2006-05-30T01:08:57Z")

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Have any of you bought your new car off the internet? Why did you do it, and how? For a few months I’ve been researching cars on the net, went a couple of weeks ago and testdrove a few. I know what I want, but I hate the thought of going in and haggling with a car salesman.

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**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\
**Post date:** [May 30, 2006, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-car-off-internet/358681/2 "2006-05-30T01:19:32Z")

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I haven’t done it myself but I know people that have and the internet is far from screw-proof as far as cars go. Some dealers advertise low, no-haggle prices on the web and then tack on lots of extra fees at closing. Something like a $500 processing fee (filling out the forms) is something to watch out for. Other places may charge ridiculous fees like advertising fees.

You can get a good deal without much pain but the fact that it is sold on a web site rather than a newspaper ad won’t protect you. If you are talking about used cars, then the same rules as a traditional car auction apply and there are many scams out there.

Make sure you know the final price that you will actually pay rather than something like “$100 over invoice” that can end up being much more when you sign.

Good luck and caveat emptor.