Shoes and Vehicles, a Comparison Shopping Comparison*

Greetings Divas!

I know women who will go into a shoe store and spend a couple hours trying on 50 pairs of shoes to find that perfect $49.99 pair they’ll wear 4 or 5 times over one season.

Some of those same women will purchase a car for over $25,000 that they plan to drive every day for 3-4 years without even getting in it first.

(I don’t entirely blame them, with some of the stories I heard about how bad they’ve been treated at dealerships--but that doesn't make it okay!)

Even women who do plan to test-drive the car tend to "over-research." All the knowledge about pricing, fuel economy, rebates, financing, etc. isn't going to help you if you sit in the car only to find that the seat pokes you in one spot on your back, or that you can't see out the back window or that you can't possibly fit that car seat and your other children in the back seat together.

To begin putting this blog together, I began by scouring the internet looking for “women car-buying tips” in the hopes I’d find a neat little list that I could just expand upon after giving proper credit to the original author. Unfortunately, I was a little disappointed.

I found a bunch of sites out there offering tips, but they typically said the same thing—“Do your homework, go online and research.” It’s great advice; everyone should go online and research. That’s how you walk into a dealership with the advantage. It’s advice I even gave a Subie Diva who was kind enough to make a comment about my last post who was concerned about feeling gouged by a dealer.

Most women I know, though, are so horrified by the experiences they’ve had or heard about that they do ALL their research online. While there’s a lot of good information out there, it’s a HUGE purchase. I would think that #1 on every women's car-buying tip list should be, “GO TEST-DRIVE THE CAR.”

Sure, it seems simple and kind of one of those things that should go unsaid. But I speak with hundreds of women each month who are online shopping for a car, and I’m always surprised by how many are really thinking they’ll go ahead and pick out a car without driving it.

My goal with this post is to try to outline when to move from “Go online” to “Go on in” to the dealership.

To decide where to draw the line, I ask you to consider the decision making process you might use for shoes. There are 5 steps, no matter what the decision. I’ll use a table comparing a shoe purchase to a car purchase to illustrate:

Decision Step	Shoes	Cars
Need recognition	Bought new dress, no matching shoes	Lease is up on your current car
Information gathering/criteria determination	Consider various types of shoes and where you might purchase them	Peruse internet for details on the 200 car models currently available (600-800 if you’re considering a recent model year certified pre-owned car)
Evaluating alternatives	Once you’ve narrowed down the type of shoes and where they’re available, go in to a store or two and try on a few styles and sizes	Once you’ve narrowed down a few models that work for your needs and budget, go into dealership to experience the cars (and dealerships!!!)
Purchase decision	Grab a pair or two and walk up to the cashier with your credit card out	Decide which vehicle you want and at which dealership you’ll buy it and go and sign all the paperwork and pick up your new car
Post-purchase evaluation	Wear the shoes out and think about how they look and feel with the new dress	Drive your car and consider if it meets all the criteria you established and whether you’re happy with your purchase experience

See? The process is the same no matter the purchase. Obviously the car process might take a little longer. But at some point you’re probably going to want some first-hand experience with either product. And if there’s one you’d want to buy without trying, it’s the shoes, not the car.

As the customer care representative who handles inbound emails and phone calls, I thought I’d give you the top things you can and cannot do online:

TOP 5 THINGS YOU SHOULD DO ONLINE BEFORE YOU VISIT A CAR DEALERSHIP:
1) After you determine your budget, determine which vehicles fit and do some checking at the dealer level for pricing
2) Make sure your “have-to-have” features will be in the model that fits your budget (the car advertised at that low, low price may not have leather or even an automatic transmission)
3) CHECK OUT THE SAFETY FEATURES AND RATINGS on the car—go to third party sites like the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/) that show crash-test results, recalls, and other safety ratings
4) Read thirty party reviews of the vehicles you’re considering such as Edmunds (http://www.edmunds.com/)
5) Contact a local dealer to set up your test-drive appointment (your first email/phone communication is really where your test-drive of the DEALERSHIP begins—if you don’t feel comfortable, call/email another dealer. (Wanna skip all the usual runaround? Call me—1-800-411-4551 or email sales@premiersubaru.com)

TOP 5 VEHICLE TOPICS YOU CANNOT RESEARCH ONLINE:
1) Does the driver’s seat feel comfortable to you and do you find the controls for radio, etc. easy to reach?
2) Are there blind spots at your particular height?
3) Will all of your family members and their necessary cargo fit comfortably in the car?
4) Is the salesperson respectful of your time and budget?
5) Do you trust the dealership’s service department and do they offer any perks for customers who buy and service there?

Hopefully by following these steps you’ll have a happy, easy buying experience! Remember, you’re the one with the pocketbook, so you’re the one with the power. If you don’t feel respected, don’t spend another minute with the dealership. There are good dealerships and good sales representatives out there—stop by Premier and I’ll introduce you to a few!

Keep an eye out for Nama Mullen’s tips on how to get the most out of your new car test-drive experience.

*These tips, of course, are really only necessary if for some strange, silly reason you are forced to purchase a car not sold by Premier Subaru. If you are in the USA, though, and you realize that the Subaru is the best car for the money, you are welcome to skip reading this and come on into the Premier to pick out a car. Perhaps it’s not a Subaru, but one of our pre-owned cars. You won’t need to worry about how to get a great deal or being treated right, those are our specialties. Thanks for reading my shameless plug, I’m done now. Well, after I mention that all the great deals are posted at http://www.premiersubaru.com/.