I want the old internet back!

[MikeHawthorne]

Hi

I want the old internet back, the last time I wanted to buy a new car I got online and spent weeks looking at new cars and getting prices that showed what people had really paid for them.

I went to look at a new Honda Accord V6 Coupe with a 6 speed manual transmission.
The salesman said he could give me really good deal, $1500 off the sticker price.

I offered them the price that the web sites suggested, almost $5,000 less then the sticker.

The sales person walked over to his computer looked something up and said OK that sounds fine.
He didn't even say I need to clear this with my manager.

Now I'm looking again, I go to the new car price sites and everyone of them wants me to fill in all kinds of data about myself, my address, phone number, name, email address etc.

If you don't put in the info it won't go any further.

I made the mistake of filling in one of them, to get info on a Chevy Volt, big mistake, not only did it not show me the lowest prices paid, my phone started ringing off the hook, I got emails, and was generally bugged to death.

I finally got everyone told I wasn't ready to buy yet and they stopped calling me.

Imagine if I'd done this for more then one car.

I've found a lot of things like this, things that aren't as useful as they were a few years ago.

It drives me crazy, I really want to look up car prices without having to give every car dealer in my area my name and address.

Mike

 

[whoosh]

I am sure for a price we could get the old internet back.
48K or less and downloads that stop when you least expect them to. Hours spent waiting for a 1MB file.
I remember it oh so well. I actually missed that when I first got cable. The wait was so much a part of the old internet.

 

[MikeHawthorne]

I don't want it that old, lol, I use about 60 gigabytes a month of band with, or about a 5 years worth on dial-up.
But I wouldn't mind going back a few years to when it was still mostly free access to things like car prices.

I do remember when it took 20 minutes to download 1 mp3 file!
Something that now takes a couple of seconds.

I guess you have to take the bad with the good, but I've had a 100 mbps connection for so long I can barely remember what it was like then.

My friend Paul has a one gigabyte per second connection.
Not available where I live.

Mike

 

[pnamajck]

mike … i really get what you're saying … and, in many ways, i agree with your sentiment. many things have been locked down … veritably, the ongoing consensus seems to have become "pay or leave". guess that's why we should appreciate what little there remains … such as youtube 'n vimeo 'n others.

if i was a programmer, i'd gladly create programs for others to use … not accepting one penny. and why would i do such a crazy thing? because i can do something others value. i have donated some vector illustrations in the past … animated gif/png images also … as well as writings and other gems.

but the internet is not static … it archives data to make room for additional traffic maybe? how far back can you go into cnn.com's archives, mike … and multitudes more. am sure you and i could discuss an amalgamation of issues 'n propaganda which would continue late into the night.

yes … the internet has a great past … but it also has an untold future. let's update our av ref-files and then have a drink.

 

[MikeHawthorne]

The thing is that it's kind of short sided discourage me from looking for info on buying a new car.

I'm not going to fill in all my personal data over and over for every model and make of car I look at.

That would put me on many more lists so that I would have dozens of people calling me.

Instead I'm going to just not bother using their service.

The last time I looked for a new car I could find the data on whatever I was interested in just by typing it in.

I didn't have to make a commitment to be contacted by every dealer in my area.

I quit watching the news videos on my comcast home page because I had to watch a one minute commercial to view a fifteen second video, over and over for every video I wanted to watch.

 

[pnamajck]

example:
got my 2015-honda-civic last september (2015) using google and couple filters such as new-honda-civic and +john-eagle-honda and +sale-promo. just for argument's sake, today i checked again … and found similar listings. all without demanding email, phone# or name.

www.eaglehonda.com/new-inventory/index.htm
www.eaglehonda.com/new-inventory/index.htm?search=&model=Accord&year=2017
www.eaglehonda.com/new/Honda/2017-Honda-Accord-71df561f0a0e0ae8294096d1af672aa8.htm​

another example:
five years ago, while shopping for my weekend car … i consulted a porsche-cayman configurator … with no headache also. investigating locally, the park-place dealership's website offered adequate coverage without subjugating any personal info either.

addendum:
while at work and searching for, say, a certain font … pull up google, and go to the third or fourth page … weeds out some of the cockroaches.

so, mike … placing your guinness cap on my head, and testing out your computer 'n chair … i looked up www.foxhondausa.com (grand rapids, mi) … s'relatively close to your location. scrolling down the window just a bit, a "know what i want" category of their search-applet pops into view with three search-filters:

• new
• 2017(94 choices)
• accord (46 choices)

i ignore the "know my budget" field altogether … and then hit their "search" button … bam! so, the results pop into view … total of 44 new accord models in their inventory. right-clicking their second vehicle, provides for me a complete description of everything that specific model offers … including what seems to be an accurate pic of the vehicle as well.

as for the "idiot-chat" applet on the right side that slides into view from the right edge … i block it with my ad-blocker extension … for now, i can concentrate on the car i've always dreamed of.

Spoiler: inventory

www.foxhondausa.com/new-inventory/index.htm?listingConfigId=auto-new&compositeType=new&year=2017&model=Accord

Spoiler: specificity

www.foxhondausa.com/new/Honda/2017-Honda-Accord-Grand+Rapids-249bbec60a0e0adf748d53f4a9da8f75.htm

mike … i see no hindrances at all. matter of fact, much easier this way than driving to a dealership to ogle the stickers displayed on windshield … and being barraged with mouthy/pushy salesmen.

edit:
replaced the background of image with augmented transparency.

 

[MikeHawthorne]

Hi

Thanks for the input, Fox Honda is where I got the Accord coupe that I have now.
What I really want are the actual selling prices for the cars.

I'm not finding that easy to find as I did in the past.

If I hadn't known that they would take almost $5,000 less then the sticker going in I would have settled for a higher price.

Now the sites I used in the past, like Cars.com and Edmund's don't want to give you that info without information from you.

On the other hand, I'm finding lots of good information about the cars themselves.
Their are a lot of video reviews and tech info.

The Honda Accord Hybrid is looking like a really good prospect.
A reasonable price, 48 mpg average and good performance all round plus the new tech stuff like automatic cruise control, blind spot sensor, back up camera etc.

I'm also looking at the Chevy Volt and Bolt.
The Volt would let me drive using almost no gas and the Bolt no gas at all.

But I trust Honda, though I don't really have any complaints about our GM SUV either.

I've never had a car with an automatic transmission, (my Accord is a V6, 6 speed manual) but going on 79 I think the time has come. LOL

It's a good time to buy a green car, because of gas prices demand is down and so are prices.

Mike

 

[pnamajck]

no worries, mate … hats off to you … carry on.

 

[pnamajck]

well, mike … s'been a couple weeks … and, here i am, sending another post your way.

it's like this, mate … got bad news and good news. bad news … you (and i) are not getting younger. good news … the configurator for chevrolet's bolt is now online! actually … s'been online for 1½ weeks … but too many people leap-frogged their way onto the website … kept crashing. this afternoon, it came up without a hitch.

have a go at it, mike … see if it rustles up the feathers.

Chevy Bolt EV for Sale: 2017 Bolt EV Pricing | Chevrolet

 

[MikeHawthorne]

Hi

Thanks for the link, I hadn't looked for it for a couple of weeks so I didn't see this.
I did finally fine a site that had the information on retail sale prices that I was looking for.

Car Prices & Inventory | Savings on New & Used Cars | TrueCar

I'm looking at several cars, but I'm not going to purchase until next spring.
I like doing the research.

The only reason that I really want to get a new car is that at 78 I finally feel it's time to get a car with an automatic transmission, backup camera and other aids, otherwise I'd be happy to keep my present Honda Accord MT Coupe for the rest of my life.

But at my age I finally decided that I no longer need a car that will do zero to sixty in under six seconds, and a hundred miles per hour in the quarter mile. LOL

Believe it or not, I've never bought a non manual transmission car, (my wife's cars are all automatics).

My present car has a 6 speed manual transmission.

So I decided that if I was going to get something new I'd get something more environmentally friendly.

So I'm looking at Volts, Bolts, Prius's, Honda hybrids etc.

To bad that you can't get a Civic SI Coupe with an automatic, the best of both worlds.

Anyway thanks again for the link.

Mike

 

[pnamajck]

correct, mike … though the 2017 civic-si is helluva sporty car … only tranny is manual. but they don't say if the clutch is hydraulic or mechanical. last september, i finally let go of my 2002 civic-sedan. she had 420+ on the odo … and still retained the original clutch (hydraulic). the 2015 civic-sedan i chose as replacement has one of those back-up cameras … absolutely hate it. lol i'd rather have integrated garage-door opener.

 

[MikeHawthorne]

Hi

Well my Accord has a integrated garage door opener, but it's hard to see backing up because of the rear spoiler.
Plus the fact that I have a lot of trouble turning to look now that I'm getting on towards 80.

I was looking at the Civic EXL coupe today.

Looks just like the Accord coupe but gets up to 40 mpg.
With the turbo engine it should still have pretty good performance with 178 hp.

I could probably get my nephews mechanic to tweak the computer like he did on my Accord.
It made a noticeable increase in performance.

I'm still serious about the Bolt though, I just like the idea of an electric car.

Mike