Best Car Shopping Apps

Planning & Saving
on April 30, 2013

When shopping for a car, the sales people are not your friend. They want to earn as high a commission as possible. You need to be armed with your own stockpile of information so you can negotiate based on facts, not on your emotions. Do your basic research before going to the car lot.

These apps can be accessed by iPhone or iPad users. You can use them both at home and while visiting dealerships. These top apps will save you money when shopping for a car.

Websites and Apps

Auto Trader provides a website, and a free app for mobile users to help you search for new and used vehicles in your area.

Car and Driver Buyer’s Guide lets you access detailed reviews of new cars and study their features. You can search their database using various categories, such as vehicle type, price range, or fuel consumption.

Cars provides a comprehensive set of online-based tools you can use to shop for new or used vehicles. The free app makes many of the website’s tools available to mobile users.

Edmunds has a website and a free app for mobile users. They provide car pricing information, research about vehicles, and dealership inventory data. You can also use their proprietary True Market Value pricing to help you negotiate with dealers.

Kelley Blue Book has a website and a free app for mobile users. They provide authoritative pricing data and a directory of new and used car dealerships. They provide the information needed for saving money when buying a new or used car.

Strategies when shopping for cars

Use the Kelly Blue Book for value and pricing information. If you have a trade-in vehicle, determine its current value. Make a short list of the likely cars you want to buy. Then determine their current purchase price. Settle on the highest difference between the purchase price and trade-in value for the likely cars you want to buy. This helps you when your objective is saving money.

Now you are ready to negotiate with the sales people in the car lot. Be prepared to walk away if you can’t get a car at your predetermined maximum price.

When buying a used car, ask to see the CAR FAX report, check out the mileage, give it a test drive, and have a mechanic look at it first.

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