One of the hardest parts of buying a new car is knowing where to start.  In 1903 Henry Ford founded Ford motors, which would later produce the Model T giving America their first affordable automobile.

The Model T came in only one color, Black, but because it was so new there was nothing to compare it with and it was an instant success.

Today there are so many options in the current automobile market that deciding which car you want to buy is only half of the task.  There are many issues that you need to deal with including finding where to purchase the car, financing for your car so you can pay for it, and maintaining your vehicle.  Conveniently car dealerships have brought all of these concerns to one place and even offer you a chance to trade in your old car towards the purchase of a new one.

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The Internet is a great resource when looking to buy a car; it gives consumers the most options possible and makes searching these options much easier.  Buyers can check both national and local resources to find the best fit for what kind of car they are looking for, also the best price.  This has caused dealers to become more competitive to respond to online sales techniques and the gap between the used and new car markets has become much closer in terms of their audience.

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Another way that the Internet has helped the automotive sales industry is websites like Carfax and Kelley Blue Book.  Both of these websites are designed to provide impartial information regarding car history and pricing standards.  Carfax is used by dealers and buyers alike to find out information about used cars, this information ranges from water damage, to accidents and is based on the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN).  This helps all parties concerned guarantee that there is nothing suspicious about the vehicle and that no hidden maintenance fees exist.

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Kelley Blue Book on the other hand is an important resource used by both used and new car dealers alike, this book (today it’s more commonly used as a website) gives anyone access to the industry standard of car pricing based on mileage and condition.  With Kelley Blue Book consumers are able to determine the actual value of the car they are purchasing based on the industry standards.  With these two methods of security in place the risk that comes with buying a car, from a dealer or person is greatly reduced.

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The National Automobile Dealers Association is an organization, which is responsible for representing the dealerships within the organization to the government and also regulating pricing on new and used cars.  NADA was founded in 1917 and has close to 20,000 dealers in their organization, in many ways it acts much like a union.

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Car Dealerships are created to link the automobile manufacturer with a consumer and provide services that factories are not able to.  A dealership’s main role is to sell the brand of cars that they are usually certified for, although they can represent multiple brands, anything they sell outside of those brands is a pre-owned vehicle traded in.  The extra services that a buyer is looking to gain by working with dealerships is access to financing in case you are unable to afford the car up front, also maintenance packages and extended warranties.  Cars usually sell for an up front price but dealerships are known for being negotiable in the sense that there is leeway in pricing, which mostly comes from a salesman’s commission or off dealership specials.

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The way a car dealership is set up is that there is typically a parking lot out front bordering a major highway or main road.  This lot features the newest models of cars as well as the dealerships used car selection.  Inside the dealership office a few select cars are featured and walk-in customers are able to look inside and get a feel for the interior.  This office also houses the sales team, and service team, which are in charge of selling new cars and repairing old ones.

With multiple teams working together in one centralized location, dealerships are able to provide customers with a one-stop shop, and a long-standing relationship can be formed between car buyers and their dealership.

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Very popular choices for ex-professional athletes is to own a car dealership, simply by using their name and capital they are able to create revenue.  The owners of car dealerships in many cases have multiple dealerships that sell different brands of cars, this gives the appearance that the buyer has options, when in fact the dealerships are working together.  Last names are the most popular choice as well for naming a dealership because there needs to be a type of branding involved.  Branding is the number one marketing tool for a car dealership and that branding continues even after the car is sold.  By adding a customized logo on the back of all cars sold, or a customized license plate cover, they are putting their name out around town so people become familiar with it.  If a consumer is wondering which car dealership to go with, they’ll probably decide to buy a car from a place they feel they can trust, maybe it’s the name of a professional sports player or maybe it’s the name they’ve heard in a commercial or seen on a license plate cover, either way it creates confident buyers.

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Many times car dealerships will go to car auctions to buy cars not from the factory, but from banks and independent sellers.  Cars purchased from the bank will typically come from repossessions where people are unable to make their payments and the bank has to take the car back.  There are also cars at auctions that have been seized by the criminal justice system, cars that have been stolen or bought with illegal profits.  All of these types of cars at auctions are unavailable to the public and you must have a car dealer license to make a bid on them.  The cars are usually at a very good price making them profitable to dealers.