Edmunds.com Releases Used Car Best Bets List; Carfax Reports Increase Confidence of Used Vehicle Shoppers
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Edmunds.com Releases Used Car Best Bets List; Carfax Reports Increase Confidence of Used Vehicle Shoppers
Santa Monica, CA - July 10, 2002 - The used car market has always been the place to turn for the best deals in the industry, and now it's especially ripe for the picking thanks to a variety of factors working in the used car shopper's favor. For example, the popularity of leasing means many two-, three- and four-year old vehicles regularly come "off lease" and enter the marketplace as nearly new used vehicles. Additionally, excellent financing opportunities, the relatively strong economy and the large variety of vehicles introduced in the last decade have encouraged many people to buy the new models and trade in their perfectly capable used vehicles.
But with so many used vehicles to choose from, how can consumers be sure they are making the best choices?
To guide consumers through the wide selection available, Edmunds.com (http://www.edmunds.com), the Web's leading consumer resource for unbiased automotive information, has just released its Used Car Best Bets, a list of vehicles that will likely provide dependable and safe service for years to come. The vehicles on the list were selected based on criteria such as crash test scores, reliability and availability. Every popular used vehicle category is covered, including economy cars, minivans, SUVs and pick-up trucks.
"Some of our picks will be familiar and expected, while others may surprise you," stated Karl Brauer, Editor-In-Chief at Edmunds.com. "And we want to remind shoppers that even with respect to the models we recommend, it is important to closely examine any vehicle for potential problems before making a purchase."
Edmunds.com also recommends going to Carfax.com for a detailed Vehicle History Report on any used vehicle they are seriously considering. For a nominal fee, CARFAX can help car shoppers avoid hidden problems like rebuilt wrecks, lemons and odometer fraud. Consumers can also view free CARFAX Vehicle History Reports on any CARFAX Certified Car simply by using the "Find A Car" option on Carfax.com and entering the make, model and their zip code.
Used car shopper Julie Hall used CARFAX to avoid a problem vehicle. "I think using CARFAX's services saved me from buying a lemon, and also from wasting time and gasoline going to look at unsuitable cars. I would definitely recommend your service to others, and in fact I already have."
Edmunds.com's Used Car Best Bets
Economy Car: 1996-2000 Honda Civic
Midsize Car: 1995-2000 Subaru Legacy / Subaru Outback
Large Car: 1995-2000 Ford Crown Victoria / Mercury Grand Marquis
Luxury Car: 1994-2000 Mercedes-Benz C-Class
Sporty Car: 1994-2000 Honda Accord Coupe
Mini-SUV: 1997-2000 Honda CR-V
SUV: 1999-2000 Nissan Pathfinder
Minivan: 1998-2000 Toyota Sienna
Small Pickup: 1995-2000 Ford Ranger / Mazda B-Series
Large Pickup: 1994-2000 Ford F-150
See http://www.edmunds.com/reviews/bestbet/articles/index.html for specific explanations why these vehicles were selected.
About CARFAX
Founded in 1984, CARFAX pioneered the concept of the vehicle history report - the instant background check on any used car. CARFAX Vehicle History Reports can confirm a clean title history or identify serious problems with any used car, including salvage history, odometer fraud, flood damage and more. CARFAX helps millions of consumers and thousands of car dealers avoid buying used cars with costly hidden problems. Using the 17-character Vehicle ID Number (VIN), used car buyers can access nearly 2 billion vehicle history records from hundreds of different sources in the CARFAX nationwide database at www.carfax.com. Every CARFAX Report that confirms a clean title history is backed by the $5,000 Clean Title History Guarantee. CARFAX, Inc., based in Fairfax, Virginia, is a wholly owned subsidiary of the R.L. Polk & Co.
About Edmunds
Headquartered in Santa Monica, CA, Edmunds.com is the Internet's pioneer and leader in providing free, third party automotive information, tools and services for consumers. Edmunds.com empowers, educates, and engages visitors by providing them with straightforward information on all aspects of buying, selling, and owning a vehicle. Edmunds.com True Market Value® products inform the general public of the actual transaction prices of cars and trucks while Edmunds' PowershopperSM offers car shoppers the opportunity to research and pursue online and offline purchase options in an informative, consumer-friendly environment. Visitors are also provided extensive automobile reviews, current incentives and rebates, consumer advice, safety information, auto show highlights and the Town Hall automotive community. Many of these resources are powered by Edmunds Data Services, which provides a comprehensive automotive data set to the Edmunds.com Web site and licenses its data, content and tools to third parties. Edmunds.com was named "best car research" site by Forbes ASAP, is viewed by consumers as the "most useful Web site," according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2001 New Autoshopper.com StudySM*, was ranked number one in the Survey of Car-Shopping Web Sites as reported by The Wall Street Journal, and was named as one of Yahoo! Internet Life's 50 Most Incredibly Useful Sites and one of Money's 50 Most Useful Financial Web sites.
*J.D. Power and Associates is not affiliated with Edmunds and does not endorse Edmunds.com or any other Web sites.
