Free Reference: Cars.com, a Best-of-Show Consumer Car Site

When my beloved 1981, 255,962-mile-old Ford Crown Vic Morrow Police Interceptor recently started to hemorrhage oil, blow smoke, and hawk up carburetor cookies like an octogenarian Camel unfiltered four-pack-a-day smoker, I knew it was not long for I-35. So I switched reference librarian/library customer gimme caps and sought out www.cars.com, a best-of-show consumer car buyer’s site that is among the 2010 best free reference websites designated by the American Library Association’s MARS: Emerging Technologies in Reference Services section of the Reference and User Services Association (RUSA).

With ten million–plus visitations per month, this site is the web’s largest and most informative electronic car lot. Substantive and unbiased information is gathered from consumers and automotive industry experts to provide comprehensive information in all areas of interest to potential automobile buyers and sellers. The pleasantly simple homepage design features buttons on the lead banner to buy, sell, research, finance, and get advice. Below are three main windows representing the greatest areas of interest—searching for a car (with separate sections for new and used), selling, and conducting research. Video reviews, consumer reviews, a list of top tens, current news, and tips from the ubiquitous Car Talk boys (Tom and Ray, also known as Click and Clack) complete the homepage’s bountiful offerings.

Ever since I saw my first Subaru Baja several years ago on the back roads to Dripping Springs, TX, I have lusted after that bizarre-looking platypus of a car/truck chimera conjuring the spirit of the famed Ranchero and El Camino. A cult favorite with X Gamers and surfers, the Baja was only made between 2003 and 2006. Fortunately, in the gentlemen-start-your-research department, a cornucopia of factual information is immediately available for the car-fact inclined. A lengthy vehicle summary is a good place to start and can be followed up with photos, Environmental Protection Act fuel economy figures, technical specifications, standard equipment and options, J.D. Power Quality Ratings, consumer reviews, and Kelly Blue Book retail pricing. Should the vehicle successfully jump through all those hoops, you can plug in your zip code immediately to search local inventory. One of the muchísimo cool bells and whistles is the ability to compare up to four vehicles at a glance. This side-by-side approach is invaluable for evaluating multiple cars and trucks.

BOTTOM LINE Every serious buyer and looky-lou who still asks for that old-school stalwart Consumer Reports, should be advised also to check out www.cars.com. By the way, my Baja rules!—Barry X. Miller, Austin P.L., TX