That’s a good question. Who do you trust in the auto space and why?

When I was buying a used car in 2005, the answer was no one. This surprised me at the time; I’m not typically a cynical person and even I felt like if someone was going to “watch my back,” it was going to me. So I labored for days, finding all the cars for sale that met my criteria, calling dealers all over the country, pulling Kelley Blue Book values, etc. etc. etc. I actually took off of work.

Did I get a good deal in the end? Yes. But boy was it painful. I started thinking about how great it would be if there was a company that would do all of that for me – for me, not for dealers or private sellers. Rather, a company that actually had my best interest at heart and was skilled enough to duplicate my good results.

That’s how Carsala started. The vision of Carsala remains focused on being a company that buyers can trust to do everything possible to make the car buying experience affordable (i.e. save money) and enjoyable (i.e. save time). What I didn’t anticipate is how hard it would be to convince others that we are what we say we are. Some simply have quit believing that there is anyone trustworthy associated with car buying. That’s unfortunate, both for their sake and ours.

Who do you trust in the auto space and why?

Below is a press release we put out awhile back revealing the results of a study we did:

Carsala, the new online service for people who are looking for a used car but hate the traditional buying process, today released results of its Carsala “Used Car Purchasing Survey 2009,” which shows that 73 percent of American used car buyers dislike negotiating with dealers, and a majority rated themselves either as poor or only fair negotiators.

In the wake of the federal government’s “cars-for-clunkers” program, the U.S. new car market collapsed in September to an expected 9.2 million car purchases annually for 2009, compared to yearly sales of 16 million vehicles seen earlier in the decade. On the other hand, a combination of tight supplies of both new and used vehicles and higher demand from a frugal public have pushed average used-car prices to the highest levels in years, industry watchers say.

In addition, at a time when more and more people are turning to used cars to save money, buying a used car still has all the uncertainty and frustrations traditionally associated with this purchase.

The Carsala-sponsored research, conducted earlier this year, indicates that 42 percent of respondents believe dealers sell higher quality used cars than private sellers. But going through the process of buying a used car from a dealer is not an easy experience, often involving many hours of work and requiring visits to numerous dealers.

The study found that majority (52 percent) of survey respondents expected they would need to visit more than three dealers to find a good used car and 43 percent believed it would take them at least nine hours to find and negotiate for the right automobile.

“Clearly, Americans see the value in used cars for financial and other reasons, but do not enjoy the process of buying a used car from a dealer,” said Tyler Elliston, Carsala CEO. “Nearly half of our survey respondents expressed interest in a trusted third party who would work on their behalf with dealers to get a good value for their money. And that is exactly what Carsala was created to do.”

One of the more interesting results of the survey was that although an overwhelming 93 percent thought they got a fair price for their last car purchase, a significant number (more than 20 percent) of respondents either got nothing off the dealer price, didn’t try to negotiate, or didn’t even remember what they paid.

And although price is important, 80 percent of those surveyed think it is more important to get the best value for their money than to get the lowest price.

The Carsala “Used Car Purchasing Survey 2009″ was conducted by a third party, via email, among a total of 461 American consumers (212 female, 249 male).

My question to you is, “do you enjoy negotiating”?

With the world at our fingertips now courtesy of the internet it really is quite easy to educate yourself about just about anything. But, just as reading every opinion on real estate can make you quite educated about neighborhoods’ square footage and school districts, signing a deal on the perfect house at the right price is not so easy. In fact, it can be extremely intimidating whether you have done it before or not.

In the online world of cars it is easy to trip over experts on everything from tuning to collecting, from buying to selling and from torque to trunk space but what seems to bind them all together besides their love of things with wheels and engines is an unabashed insistence that they can bring a salesman to his knees, begging for mercy when negotiating for cars. What all of these people often forget, myself included, is that buying a car is a very personal process and asking for help getting the best price on a car is not so simple. Sometimes folks like to pick their own car and figure out how to deal with negotiations on their own.

A recent third party study for Carsala has revealed that in reality, car geeks aside, 73% of used car buyers dislike the negotiating process and a majority of them rate themselves as being poor negotiators. What is shocking is that almost 20% indicated that they had not attempted to negotiate the price of the car that they most recently purchased.

That last sentence just makes me shudder but friends and family are constantly buying cars around me and never ask for my help despite knowing what I do in the car world. At first I would take it personally but then I realized that they were taking their investment in a car personally and wanted to do it themselves. I can tell someone over dinner or the phone which car I think they want because maybe they really do like the Malibu or an X5 and I would try to get them to consider something else comparable or better. They might listen. But what about when they really want help with the act of buying the car and the dreaded negotiation game at the dealership? Unless I have a good several months to help them search the car lots and an entire day to spend at the dealership while the sales guys play their game, I have my own house to clean and job to do so they don’t want to bother me. Fair enough!

Now if only real estate agents representing you actually were like Carsala, we would be moving in the right direction!

How do you feel about the car buying process?

At a time when I have become a bit “meh” about the automotive industry, Carsala has come up with some tools that appeal to the how and why I started writing about said industry. Okay, I say appeal but what I really mean to say is inspire! Yeh, that does sound really like some silly PR statement but I am serious. These tools, and by tools I mean applications that can actually help buyers in the used car market, haven’t existed before. I know we are all a lot more than “meh” about words like “appeal”, “inspire” and “unique” being thrown around a world where every car is going to do all of those things and get you to work and protect you children and change your life and help you find the love of your life and express exactly who you are AND not make you feel like you are the one being owned when you realize you are expecting a hunk of metal to do all of those things and you can’t even get your garbage disposal to work like you would like!

Follow me here for a few minutes and you tell me if you have seen anything like this before.

• Which car can you afford? I don’t mean one of those many calculators that asks you about expenses and APR and how many months you will slave before you see the title in your name and uses a little Java to pop up numbers that are not the crystal ball to your next car! Let’s start simple! Carsala Budget Search allows you to start with the simple idea that you want to know which car you can afford. Your parents want you to buy a safe sedan but, gosh darn it, you saved the money, have your job to pay for the car and you want to know if you really can afford a convertible or a crossover that reflects you and your lifestyle? How much do you want to spend, what is the oldest year of used car are you willing to consider and what is your ZIP code? Et, VOILA! Look at all of those cars that will make your dad squirm! See a sample result where I searched for $16,000 SUVs in my city. Pretty amazing, huh? Now click on one of the models and see how much Carsala says they can save me by negotiating for dealers in my area. Are you with me here?

• What about THIS car I found? You are standing on a car lot OR you found your dream car online through one of the many sites like eBay Motors, AutoTrader, Cars.com or another dealer classified site. Is it a good deal? Can you do better? With Carsala Price Checker you will know more easily than walking in and asking a random salesman, calling the salesman listed on the site or emailing and waiting for a response. By simply entering the VIN, ZIP and dealer’s asking price you can have a realistic price immediately. Believe me: I entered a VIN in my area for a 2008 BMW 3-Series that I know to be quite rare here and Carsala’s Price Checker told me the truth: “There are not many cars with this trim, engine, transmission, and color in your area. If this is exactly what you are looking for, you should probably buy this car. If you are flexible, request a detailed quote.” When I entered a VIN for a pretty standard Honda Civic Si for sale in my city, the results gave the dealer’s pricing 2 out of 4 stars and gave me the option of Carsala’s Full Service (where they will negotiate for me) or Self Service which showed me, “We searched through 6 million cars, analyzed 819 Honda Civics in your area,
  and found these 3 killer deals” and that Carsala can show me 3 “Killer Dealers” in my area up to 44% of the price I entered. See a PDF of a sample Killer Deals report here.

Anyone else know of a site out there that can do those two things (and, oh, so much more)?

Buying a used GM car right now is a good idea even in the middle of what sometimes seems like a catastrophic series of events for the car company. It is important to keep some keys facts in mind and be aware of some of the myths being thrown around.

1. FACT: Sales for GM’s new cars set a high in May (up 18% from April 2009 by core brands: Chevrolet, GMC, Buick and Cadillac) while GM Certified Used Vehicles, the industry’s top-selling certified brand May sales down 28 percent from May 2008.

What this means: As buyers rush to grab new GM cars, the used (but manufacturer certified) models are getting less love and dealers always love sales so negotiating a sweet deal on a 2008 or prior under their Certified program is in season.

2. FACT: Warranties on GM’s Certified Pre-Owned will still be supported by certified dealers and service centers.

What this means: According to Mark LaNeve, VP of GM North America Sales & Service, ” We will honor our warranty commitment given at the time of purchase to owners of current and future General Motors Certified Used and Pre-Owned Vehicles, such as the 12-month/12,000 bumper-to-bumper warranty for Certified Used and Pre-Owned vehicles, and focus on the customers’ needs from their sales to service experience.” Extended warranties are not always backed by the manufacturer and are sold on behalf of third party companies so those companies are responsible for claims.

3. MYTH: Leftover 2008 and previous years models have been sitting on the dealer lots and could suffer from “Lot Rot”.

What this means: Pretty much nothing because it is a bit of an extreme urban myth based on an interesting article about cars decomposing in landfills which states that metal head gaskets can begin to rot after 1 to 3 years. What they really mean is that rot can be accelerated if exposed “…to high moisture content, acidity and dissolved salts in the soil”. In other words, buried in the ground. Moving on.

4. MYTH: Your local GM dealer is closing as part of GM’s restructuring plan (or “reinvention” as GM likes to call it) so you will not be able to get your Certified Pre-Owned car serviced once they close.

What this means: GM vehicles will receive service and warranty work at closing dealers until they shut down. The remaining dealers will continue to provide service and warranty work and so you may have to drive a little further but there will still be twice as many GM service centers as Toyota centers.

5. MYTH: Hummer is going away but you can finally get the biggest vehicle of your dreams for little to no money.

What this means: Hummer is being tentatively being sold to a Chinese company who is expected to maintain Hummer service and sales after the contracts are completed for the brand’s ownership transition and although the perception is that Hummers are rotting on the lots, May sales for Certified Pre-Owned Hummers were the only GM Certified Pre-Owned brand saw an upswing in May (up 16%) Mind you, that was only 222 total vehicles across the country because those suckers still have a dollar sign as big as their carbon footprint.

Which car from GM’s Certified Pre-Owned inventory would I want? Well, I certainly wouldn’t say no to a Cadillac CTS.