Car-Buying’s ‘Best-Kept Secret’: Getting Your New Vehicle Delivered to Your Door

NEW YORK (MainStreet) — U.S. auto sales are up moderately on a monthly basis. Maybe they'd be even higher if drivers knew the industry's "best-kept secret."

Data from Edmunds.com reveal U.S. auto sales for August should reach 1.26 million, up from 1.15 million vehicles sold in July. Sales were especially brisk for BMW, GM and Honda, which saw vehicle sales rise by 14%, 11% and 12%, respectively.

Edmunds attributes the news to “loosening credit” and increased incentive programs for the higher numbers. “Whether the manufacturers can keep sales going at this pace through the end of the year [and beyond] remains to be seen,” the auto trading website says.

Edmunds also has some advice that can make new car buyers feel like VIPs: Have the new wheels delivered straight to their home or office.

“The new car delivery process can be agonizingly slow at the dealership, with buyers spending an average of more than four hours on location before they get to drive off,” explains Edmunds.com’s senior consumer advice editor, Philip Reed, in a press release. “But when the salesman brings the car and contracts to you, not only can you reduce the delivery process to a fraction of the time, but you have the advantage of concluding the deal on your home court.”

Reed calls it the “best-kept secret in the car-buying business” and strongly urges consumers to demand home delivery before signing off on any deal.

“The benefits to home or office delivery are clear,” Edmunds says. “You eliminate waiting times and also the inevitable hard sell for additional products and services that takes place in the finance and insurance office.”