As we work with dealerships throughout the country, we continue to be surprised at how they are finding success in today’s tough markets. Some dealers report they have transitioned their dealership to the point that about 80% of their business comes from the Internet, with many of those deals closing without ever meeting the customer.

And the number of free aggregator and listing sites continues to grow, as does traffic to these sites. Craigslist is extremely popular in many parts of the country, and as this is written, Google Base has listings for over 2.5 million vehicles. Compare that to AutoTrader, with about 6 million vehicle listings, and a quick cost comparison can lead to some interesting conclusions.