CarFriend can be my "wingman" anytime.
As a "car guy" and a career automotive industry employee, I like to think I stay up-to-date on vehicle trends; I get a lot questions from other people: "What car should I buy?" So, when I found CarFriend, and noticed it was a free car purchasing concierge, I decided to try it out. Finally, I can ask someone in addition to me: "What car should I buy?"
CarFriend helped me in a couple key categories: Budget and Requirements. Initially, I entered my survey questions how I would answer them, but since our new vehicle would be primarily driven by my wife, I entered another profile as if I were her. CarFriend was able to customize our profile/requirements accordingly, using their process of cross referencing our important categories: budget, needs, wants, vehicle style (i.e. SUV, sedan). This "tailoring" made discussions with my wife about potential vehicles more focused than had I only relied on vehicles/vehicles features I was biased towards.
The wife is always right – but price is really important too! Sedans traditionally are priced lower than SUVs; our first vehicle matches were suggesting mid-size sedans. I knew the wife really "wanted" an SUV even though financially and mathematically, (size, weight, fuel economy, performance, ownership costs) sedans were statistically the preferred choice. Through multiple discussions with CarFriend about my wife influences in vehicle requirements, SUVs soon became higher ranking suggestions. Remarkably – CarFriend was able to quantify a cost of ownership savings in a sedan vs. an SUV in the amount of $1000-1400 annually. This information can really be useful when trying to justify a specific type of vehicle while weighing "needs" vs. "wants". I really appreciate a service that acknowledges "prices" over the long term, not just on initial purchase.
Time is money. Furthermore, CarFriend provided reasons why vehicles I was "positive" would have made our list, didn’t. Thankfully, CarFriend provided reliability/cost of ownership concerns on these vehicles which instantly reversed my decisions to test drive. That saved me a lot time!
Our match is FOUND! Lastly, not only does CarFriend factor all the items I mentioned above, and they find the perfect vehicle for you once you’ve made your "match"!
Thanks again CarFriend!