AutoHeroes Handle Hassle of Haggling

by Cromwell Schubarth
Boston Herald: Jul 24, 2003. pg. 040

There's no shortage of businesses looking to steer you to your next car today.

Internet sites like Autobytel, Carsdirect and eBay Motors make a snap of researching what's for sale and what you can expect to pay.

They're so successful that it's estimated between one-quarter and one-third of all U.S. used-car sales are done now using the Internet.

Despite all that, a pair of Newton natives in their early 30s think they have found a promising business niche, buying cars for people who don't have the time or confidence to do it on their own.

Autoheroes, run by Christopher Burdick and Jason Summerfield, helps find you the right car and will bring it right to your door for a test drive. More important, they do all the haggling for you.

"All you have to do in the end is say OK and give the dealer your credit card number," says Burdick, whose success with part-time auto- buying convinced him to go full-time this year.

"I had been helping friends and relatives buy and sell cars for years," Burdick says. "It's something I enjoy and I'm good at it."

Autoheroes charges one-third of the difference between a car's sticker price and what their customers actually pay, with a minimum charge of $400 and a maximum of $800.

"We can usually get a price on a new car that's between about $1,700 and $2,500 below the sticker, which means we get $500 to $800 per deal," Burdick says. "The least I've been able to do is $1,300 below sticker price. One car was actually $4,000 below sticker."

On used cars, customers pay Autoheroes 2 percent of the purchase price, but never less than $400.

Online services may charge less for their service, but Burdick says they can't beat Autoheroes for personal service.

"Most of them are just offering referral, where you plug in what you want and they put you in touch with dealers," he says. "They don't negotiate for you, so you'll often pay more than you would with us."

Autoheroes will help sell or trade in a customer's old car, too.

"We don't encourage people to trade in their car, because dealers will never give you as good a price as you could get selling the car yourself," Burdick says.

There's a flat charge of $250 for Autoheroes to sell a car.

"A lot of that gets eaten up by advertising costs," he says. "The customer sets a price and we take all of the calls. If somebody makes a lower offer, we let the customer know."

Just as in the car-buying end of the business, the biggest advantage of selling through Autoheroes is convenience.

"We place the ads, take all calls and answer all the questions," he says. "All the customer has to do is say yes or no."