Shopping around for a car is an exciting yet intimidating prospect. You want to be sure that you find a model that’s best suited to your lifestyle needs, at a reasonable cost. Fortunately, there are a number of apps on the market that can help you buy or sell your car with ease. The following are five of the top picks for iPhone users.
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1. eBay Motors
The granddaddy of all auction sites has a specific department just for automobiles. The eBay Motors app is useful whether you plan to buy or sell a car directly using it. Buyers can use the slick interface to sift through a slideshow at your fingertips, while sellers can place an ad by uploading photos directly from their smartphones. You can also use the app simply to shop around for spare parts or read reviews before you visit a dealership.
2. Cars.com
Browse through cars either by dealership or by make and model on the Cars.com for iPhone app. You can choose up to three cars at a time, and compare them side by side once you’ve narrowed the field down. The app also features a loan calculator to help you compare financing options, with specific figures for a down payment and interest rates.
3. Carsales
Coming from an Australian listings site, the Carsales app allows you to browse through a wide range of vehicles for sale. You can check out car news, reviews, photos, and side by side comparisons using Carsales on your iPhone. Sellers can also make use of this app with its “snap n’ sell” feature, which allows them to snap photos using a smartphone and instantly create an online listing. Details of the ad can be edited at any point, and sellers can keep track of traffic with live statistics. If you have placed an ad or see one you like, you can share it with friends on Facebook.
4. Edmunds
Although you can’t purchase a car directly through Edmunds, the app will connect you to local dealers if you see a make and model you’re interested in. The app is particularly useful if you plan to purchase a used car, because it will show you the pricing info for a certain make, model, and year. You can then use this fair price as a baseline for other offers you’ve found. The Edmunds app is also useful because it gives you an estimated cost of ownership over time, so you can look beyond the sticker price.
5. Equifax
Before you start shopping around for a new or used car, you’ll need to get your finances in order. If you plan to take out financing to help pay for your car, you’ll want to have up-to-date credit information. The Equifax agency helps you monitor your credit score with their app, which is available for any subscribers to their usual credit monitoring service. This helps let you know if there have been any recent changes to your credit history that could keep you from obtaining financing.
From research to financing, these five apps will help ensure that you get the car you want, at a fair price. Best of all, they’re all free or low in cost to download.
