Best new car research website! (How NOT to ask/take advice)

[GuestUser303]

I'm trying to see the need.

Many on this site are car enthusiasts. I would put myself into this category. We are absolute stat, numbers, and research junkies. This site doesn't do us any good because when we start shopping for a vehicle we know exactly what we are looking for, how much hp they make, their 0-60, quarter mile time, average prices, etc. NADA.com and other larger sites already target the "noob" car shopper market by letting customers shop by style. I don't see your features attracting anyone but someone who wants "XXX amount of HP for $XXXXX". Those people already buy new mustangs, so I guess this is a mustang shopping tool.(<--- This is a joke, please no angry mustang fan messages, they ARE a performance bargain lol)

I know you are research junkies. My site will save you hours, if not days, of research time.

 

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[GuestUser303]

Thanks for all the feedback so far. It seems the biggest issue is probably the website design. I have a family member that does website design that I will have look at seeing if she can improve it for me.

 

[Argue]

My website is for new car research. Again, if you already know what you want, than you would want to use cargurus or some other website. You like the Ford Mustang? Great. Now, do you want to know what other options you have on the market, for new vehicles, that have similar criteria? Let's say you like convertibles, that have at least 400 horsepower, are RWD, and are manual transmission. Now tell me, using cargurus what your options are?

On my website, I can tell you after just a few seconds of selecting the criteria:
View attachment 14551

I was able to find you have 10 options ranging in base price from $43,320 to $132,350. Again, this is for new cars only, that is the purpose of the website, for people looking at new cars.

I can do this on car gurus.

 

[GuestUser303]

I can do this on car gurus.

First of all, show me. Second of all, can cargurus also let you select cars that are less than 4000 pounds, less than 200 inches in length, under 55 inches in height, have only six cylinders, are turbo, and are less than 13 pounds per horsepower?

 

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[GuestUser303]

He's lucky MJ got here before I did.

It's too bad such is the case. I would think you would like for your readers to find out about such a great new tool they can use that would save them a lot of time that is completely free to use, that was inspired to be created by someone that read The Millionaire Fastlane . Such is the world.

 

[Argue]

First of all, show me. Second of all, can cargurus also let you select cars that are less than 4000 pounds, less than 200 inches in length, under 55 inches in height, have only six cylinders, are turbo, and are less than 13 pounds per horsepower?

Filtered for convertible, RWD (all stangs come in RWD), manual transmission, V8 (GT) 400+ HP, new condition.

The only thing I don't see on your site or theirs is the details for HP and torque.

So yeah I can search for new cars with specific criteria/filters but I do admit I can't customize my search with "200 inches in length" etc. so good feature on your part...

 

[jon.a]

It's too bad such is the case. I would think you would like for your readers to find out about such a great new tool they can use that would save them a lot of time that is completely free to use, that was inspired to be created by someone that read The Millionaire Fastlane . Such is the world.

In any event it was an amazingly awkward first post.
I think that you were just dropping a high value link to a low value site.
Now I think that you should go grace us with your introduction post.

 

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[CycleGuy]

I know you are research junkies. My site will save you hours, if not days, of research time.

You can't be serious.... Save us hours from what? We know what we're shopping for and every major stat. We know about vehicles prior to release. We read actual good websites and talk to other owners of potential vehicles.

Like I said before, maybe if you get a schmuck with a pocket full of cash and no prior car enthusiast experience your site would work. Those are few and far between. Car guys have been car guys since they were kids in most cases.

Like I also said, NADA.com already has the "noob" car fan covered with a strong search of new cars in different categories:
Sports Cars Prices & Sports Cars Values

Easier to use, better comparisons, better search results for the customer.

You're hung up on how your site shows lbs/hp which your noob client doesn't even care about.

 

[BillyMaysHere27]

Personally, If I was looking for a tool like this to search for car options and saw the name of your website, there would be a zero percent chance I would click on your link... Not trying to be a dick, but the name just looks cheap and spammy. My advice would consist of a total makeover (name and overall design) and work on building a "brand". You're going to need a good amount of marketing to get your name out there if you're going to compete with the big household names in this market. Facebook ads, google adwords, and SEO would help tremendously once you get a clean site and fix the bugs. Looks like you've got a lot of work on your hands, but if you're dedicated and persistent you could make it work. Best of luck and thumbs up for taking action.

 

[GuestUser303]

Filtered for convertible, RWD (all stangs come in RWD), manual transmission, V8 (GT) 400+ HP, new condition.

The only thing I don't see on your site or theirs is the details for HP and torque.

So yeah I can search for new cars with specific criteria/filters but I do admit I can't customize my search with "200 inches in length" etc. so good feature on your part...

Okay, I finally found the search on cargurus. It is just like autotrader. So here is what you get with my website.

You don't have a slider bar for price. You can put in whatever you want. You can view 8 and 9 passenger vehicles (my extended family have large families, and they need to know what vehicles specifically are 8 passenger, 7 passenger is worthless for them). You can look for DCT, CVT, EVT, and Tiptronic automatic transmissions on whichride4you.com, not just automatic transmissions. You can search based on height, length, curb weight, horsepower, torque, and pounds per horsepower. I don't see any of those options on cargurus.

Whichride4you.com definitely shows horsepower and torque.

 

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[GuestUser303]

You can't be serious.... Save us hours from what? We know what we're shopping for and every major stat. We know about vehicles prior to release. We read actual good websites and talk to other owners of potential vehicles.

Like I said before, maybe if you get a schmuck with a pocket full of cash and no prior car enthusiast experience your site would work. Those are few and far between. Car guys have been car guys since they were kids in most cases.

Like I also said, NADA.com already has the "noob" car fan covered with a strong search of new cars in different categories:
Sports Cars Prices & Sports Cars Values

Easier to use, better comparisons, better search results for the customer.

You're hung up on how your site shows lbs/hp which your noob client doesn't even care about.

Okay then, if you know so much, please tell me what my options are for gas powered AWD cars, with trunks or lift backs, that have over 290 horsepower, are over 192 inches, have automatic transmissions, and four doors? Don't use my site and let me know how long it takes you to figure out. I also want to know what the base prices are, possible loaded prices, as well as base and top trims of the models. I also want to know what type of automatic transmissions they have as well as whether or not they are naturally aspirated, turbo, or supercharged.

 

[Argue]

Okay, I finally found the search on cargurus. It is just like autotrader. So here is what you get with my website.

You don't have a slider bar for price. You can put in whatever you want. You can view 8 and 9 passenger vehicles (my extended family have large families, and they need to know what vehicles specifically are 8 passenger, 7 passenger is worthless for them). You can look for DCT, CVT, EVT, and Tiptronic automatic transmissions on whichride4you.com, not just automatic transmissions. You can search based on height, length, curb weight, horsepower, torque, and pounds per horsepower. I don't see any of those options on cargurus.

Whichride4you.com definitely shows horsepower and torque.

View attachment 14553

Ok I see it now. Couldn't see it cause I'm on mobile. Yeah car gurus doesn't have that so +1 for you I give you that. I think it's a neat feature to have especially about the different automatic types etc.

I suggest changing the domain name and redoing the site. Fix the bugs too and you're good to go.

 

[GuestUser303]

Personally, If I was looking for a tool like this to search for car options and saw the name of your website, there would be a zero percent chance I would click on your link... Not trying to be a dick, but the name just looks cheap and spammy. My advice would consist of a total makeover (name and overall design) and work on building a "brand". You're going to need a good amount of marketing to get your name out there if you're going to compete with the big household names in this market. Facebook ads, google adwords, and SEO would help tremendously once you get a clean site and fix the bugs. Looks like you've got a lot of work on your hands, but if you're dedicated and persistent you could make it work. Best of luck and thumbs up for taking action.

Word of mouth is the best advertising. Most people don't click on random websites, regardless of the name.

 

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[CycleGuy]

Okay then, if you know so much, please tell me what my options are for gas powered AWD cars, with trunks or lift backs, that have over 290 horsepower, are over 192 inches, have automatic transmissions, and four doors? Don't use my site and let me know how long it takes you to figure out. I also want to know what the base prices are, possible loaded prices, as well as base and top trims of the models. I also want to know what type of automatic transmissions they have as well as whether or not they are naturally aspirated, turbo, or supercharged.

You're not F*cking getting it are you? You're focusing on shit that doesn't matter to the uninformed customer.
That's why NADA, Car Gurus, KBB, AutoTrader do not list searches like that.

Common shoppers who aren't hardcore "car people" look for style first, then price range, then features needed, then stats.

 

[GuestUser303]

You're not F*cking getting it are you? You're focusing on shit that doesn't matter to the uninformed customer.
That's why NADA, Car Gurus, KBB, AutoTrader do not list searches like that.

Common shoppers who aren't hardcore "car people" look for style first, then price range, then features needed, then stats.

You are wrong. My friend is looking for a new SUV, and she had no clue what to look for. She currently has a Nissan Juke because she didn't know what was out there. I helped her with my website and she was blown away. She was able to look by height, length, and turbo to find what she wants. My brother-in-law needs SUVs that seat 8. He was having a very difficult time figuring out what his options are. Sales people at dealerships had no clue which of their vehicles seat 8. Now with my website, he was able to easily figure it out.

So no, I am not focusing on stuff that only hardcore researches care about. Passenger capacity, length, and height are something the uninformed care about.

Another thing, you are talking to a car nut. It wasn't until I built my website though that I was able to figure out exactly what it was I wanted, using the exact search criteria I gave you before.

 

[EvanOkanagan]

Word of mouth is the best advertising.

How's that working out for you?

 

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[Under-Dog]

You are wrong. My friend is looking for a new SUV, and she had no clue what to look for. She currently has a Nissan Juke because she didn't know what was out there. I helped her with my website and she was blown away. She was able to look by height, length, and turbo to find what she wants. My brother-in-law needs SUVs that seat 8. He was having a very difficult time figuring out what his options are. Sales people at dealerships had no clue which of their vehicles seat 8. Now with my website, he was able to easily figure it out.

So no, I am not focusing on stuff that only hardcore researches care about. Passenger capacity, length, and height are something the uninformed care about.

Another thing, you are talking to a car nut. It wasn't until I built my website though that I was able to figure out exactly what it was I wanted, using the exact search criteria I gave you before.

A simple google search of "8 passenger suv" took me to car.com where I found all of my options. Car.com that's a name I can easily remember, your website name? That I can easily forget. Plus it sounds spammy so something I wouldn't use nor recommend even if someone told me it was the best I still wouldn't use it.

 

[GuestUser303]

How's that working out for you?

Well, I just finished the website this week...

 

[GuestUser303]

A simple google search of "8 passenger suv" took me to car.com where I found all of my options. Car.com that's a name I can easily remember, your website name? That I can easily forget. Plus it sounds spammy so something I wouldn't use nor recommend even if someone told me it was the best I still wouldn't use it.

And what were the results? Let's see if they got it right. Oh, and he also wants to know how much horsepower and torque they have, as well as the length and price range. Did they give you all that info as well?

As to the name, I am a little late in the game getting something easy, like car.com. If you would rather waste hours or days researching on other sites, that could take seconds on whichride4you.com, than that is your choice.

 

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[lowtek]

Word of mouth is the best advertising. Most people don't click on random websites, regardless of the name.

The $30,000 in monthly ad spend I manage for AdWords says otherwise.

 

[GuestUser303]

The $30,000 in monthly ad spend I manage for AdWords says otherwise.

Well, at the least word of mouth is the cheapest.

 

[lowtek]

Did you go to car forums and ask people what features they thought the mainstream sites were missing?

 

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[Michael Burgess]

I haven't even bothered to look at your website. I don't want to jump in and add anymore hate to this discussion, just a question and thought.

What do you really think potential customers search for when they're buying a new car?

Frankly, I don't think it's the wheelbase, whether or not the car has a turbo, or whether or not it's under 54" tall. If you're serious about making this website do well and help lots of people, don't just add features just to claim you have more. Make them really useful.

If you could build a site or app that lets me add your search variables / filters to USED cars that are posted on craigslist and Kijiji, that would be a really useful idea. Just my thought.

 

[GuestUser303]

Did you go to car forums and ask people what features they thought the mainstream sites were missing?

I did not.

 

[GuestUser303]

I haven't even bothered to look at your website. I don't want to jump in and add anymore hate to this discussion, just a question and thought.

What do you really think potential customers search for when they're buying a new car?

Frankly, I don't think it's the wheelbase, whether or not the car has a turbo, or whether or not it's under 54" tall. If you're serious about making this website do well and help lots of people, don't just add features just to claim you have more. Make them really useful.

If you could build a site or app that lets me add your search variables / filters to USED cars that are posted on craigslist and Kijiji, that would be a really useful idea. Just my thought.

You would be wrong. I have a friend who loves turbo vehicles, she is not a car junky. She loves the fact she can use my site to filter by turbo. She also loves the fact she can filter by height and length so she can get something bigger with more cargo capacity.

I don't have data for used cars. Manufacturers unfortunately don't keep that data once new models are released.

As to your question, I really think people will use different criteria to choose a vehicle. And [link removed] gives them the most criteria to look at compared to any other new car research website.
For example, myself, I wanted an AWD car with at least 290 horsepower, at least 195 inches in length (my wife really likes big cars), with a trunk, four doors, and automatic. I found out Chrysler 300s meet the criteria perfectly by using [link removed] , which is what I bought. I also now know if I do ever make it rich, I will be getting an Audi S8 Plus for my daily driver.

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

You are wrong

My friend is looking for a new SUV

My brother-in-law needs SUVs that seat 8. He was having a very difficult time

The problem is, these people are not an impartial audience. They are your family/friends, who will not judge your offer impartially.

We will.

Many people on this forum are car people. I know I wouldn't use your service because I know exactly what type of car I might buy -- I go from there.

That said, there still might be a need/value prop here.

Your market indeed might be the casual car buyer (not an enthusiast) so therefore, this could be very useful to them. Your two cases above could signify that fact.

However, the casual car buyer is not going to care about torque, wheelbases, and car length. (this seems more for an enthusiast)

Ultimately, the market will decide if this has value.

Do you have monetization plans? Lead gen? What's the business model?

He was from the NE.

He was not. But Ill give you the benefit of the doubt. Good luck on this venture.

 

[GuestUser303]

Do you have monetization plans? Lead gen? What's the business model?

He was not. But Ill give you the benefit of the doubt. Good luck on this venture.

Monetization plans are simply to get enough traffic to get advertising. It will probably take hundreds of thousands of visitors a month.

As to where he was from, I do know he was from somewhere cold and wanted to go somewhere warm. I believe you are the author right?

 

[G-Man]

Your market indeed might be the casual car buyer (not an enthusiast) so therefore, this could be very useful to them. Your two cases above could signify that fact.

As the most casualest of casual car buyers, I visited the site, and it's definitely not for me. Info overload.

Also, when you post an ad posing as a request for feedback, probably best to not double down when you get actual feedback.

 

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[G-Man]

I believe you are the author right?

grabbing popcorn now.

 

[RyHi]

I did not.

This is the problem is the vast majority of failed sites. They are catering to an audience that does not exist. Niche is one thing, creating a site that does nothing better than established sites except a few things no one ever asked for is a recipe for failure. Your first step should have been to determine what the need actually was.

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