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More Than 1/4 of Used-Vehicle Buyers Use the Internet in the Shopping Process

2 August 1999

J.D. Power and Associates Reports: More Than One-Quarter of Used-Vehicle Buyers Use the Internet in the Vehicle Shopping Process

    AGOURA HILLS, Calif., Aug. 2 -- More than one-quarter of
used-vehicle buyers log onto the Internet for assistance during the shopping
process, according to the inaugural J.D. Power and Associates Used
Autoshopper.com Study(SM), which is based on nearly 10,000 responses from
consumers who recently purchased 1994 through 1999 model-year used vehicles.
The study provides analysis on how used-vehicle buyers use the Internet to
find vehicle information.
    Study results indicate that used-vehicle buyers access the Internet to
find a wide variety of information, ranging from used-vehicle prices to
reliability and safety data.
    "There are always risks associated with buying used vehicles, but the
Internet provides easy access to the information people need to avoid buying a
lemon," said Chris Denove, director of consulting operations at J.D. Power and
Associates.
    According to the study, Kelley Blue Book was the most frequently visited
Web site for the purpose of finding general used-vehicle and pricing
information.  Other top Web sites visited by used-vehicle buyers, listed in
rank order, include Consumer Reports, autobytel.com, Edmund's Online, and
Microsoft CarPoint.
    The study also reveals that 50 percent of Internet shoppers searched
online classified Web sites in an effort to locate sellers of the exact
vehicle they want.
    "Despite the fact that online vehicle-locator sites are in their infancy,
we were amazed to find that some of these sites already offer a wider
selection of used vehicles than the typical newspaper classifieds," Denove
said.  "The online locators are so versatile that they could one day make
traditional newspaper classifieds obsolete."
    Out of all the online locator Web sites analyzed in the study,
autobytel.com was visited most frequently for the purpose of locating used
vehicles for sale.  Auto Trader Online, Microsoft CarPoint, autoweb.com and
cars.com round out the top five Web sites in this area.
    Headquartered in Agoura Hills, Calif., J.D. Power and Associates is a
global marketing information services firm operating in key business sectors
including market research, forecasting and customer satisfaction.  The firm's
quality and satisfaction measurements are based on actual customer responses
from more than one million consumers annually.  J.D. Power and Associates can
be accessed through the World Wide Web at http://www.jdpower.com.  Media e-mail
contact: john.pepitone@jdpower.com.  This press release is provided for
editorial use only.
    No advertising or other promotional use can be made of the information in
this release or J.D. Power and Associates survey results without the express
prior written consent of J.D. Power and Associates.

    Companies discussed in this press release

    Name and URL

    Kelley Blue Book -- http://www.kbb.com
    Consumer Reports -- http://www.consumerreports.org
    autobytel.com -- http://www.autobytel.com
    Edmund's Online -- http://www.edmunds.com
    Microsoft CarPoint -- http://www.carpoint.com
    Auto Trader Online -- http://www.traderonline.com
    autoweb.com -- http://www.autoweb.com
    cars.com -- http://www.cars.com