The Car Connection

• Extensive Guides
• Comparison Tools
• Expert & User Reviews

Extensive Guides

Unlike some of its competitors in the car website genre which offers just a New Car Buyer's guide, Car Connection also offers a Used Car Buyer's guide. In fact, The Car Connection offers an extensive list of guides not seen on other sites, such as Maintenance Guides, Selling Guide, Shopping Guide, and Finance Guides. The full Guide List looks like this:

• Child Car Seat Guide
• Guide to understanding Vehicle Identification Numbers (VIN)
• Guide to Selling Your Used Car
• Car Selling Guide
• Used Car Buying Guide
  • Buying A Used Car: Negotiating Tips & Tricks
  • Buying A Used Car: Top Used Car Buying Tips
  • Used Car Lemon Laws: What Are They?
  • How To Avoid Used Car Lawsuits
• Guide To Selling Your Used Car
• Car Shopping Guide
• Recall Guide
• Car Care Guide
• Car Oil Changes
• Car Repair and Maintenance Guide
• Pets And Cars Guide
• Car Insurance Guide
• Car Loan Guide
• Cars 101

These guides offer negotiating tips and tricks related to the particular topic (as listed above).

Comparison Tools

The website provides shoppers with a standard comparison tool. Car seekers can choose up to three cars to compare features, pricing and ratings. An interesting feature is the option for dealers to buy leads through The Car Connection's affiliate site, CarsDirectConnect.com. This site puts its 5 years of experience, 35 million monthly website visitors and 150,000 cars sold to use, helping dealers turn online car shoppers into buyers. This is accomplished by one or more of Car Connection's/CarDirect Connection's products:

• New Car Connect: Dealers can acquire new customers and brand their dealership
• Special Finance: Dealers can get qualified car buyers - not just credit profiles
• Mobile Connect: Dealers receive a cutting-edge, turnkey mobile marketing solution
• Used Car Connect: Dealers get their used inventory in front of The Car Connection's 35+ million monthly visitors
• Advertising packages: Dealers are provided with flexible options to boost their marketing budgets

Expert & User Reviews

Although not as thorough as Car and Driver's vehicle search profiles, The Car Connection has a decent review page for its cars. Reviews are done by Car Connection editors with a brief bulleted summary at the head of each one to give readers a quick and easy snapshot of the car in question. How it looks:

• Quick Take section with a full car breakdown- plus pros and cons in blog format
• User review section with driver's experience of owning and operating a particular car

The user review section is extremely helpful, a standout feature not available on similar sites. It's a great asset to have editorial reviews from staff members and professional drivers who have tested the vehicles, (if unbiased, of course) but is a really great asset to have real, everyday testimonies and reviews from actual drivers and owners of the car that buyers are researching. A nice addition.

• Lacking Tools

Lacking Tools

Aside from the Comparison tool, The Car Connection offers close to no research tools, merely tips and advice. This flies in the face of the website's name, which implies it will connect customers with cars. Connecting them with cars, however, requires more than great, thorough reviews and tips.