Edmunds.com Offers Free Tips at L.A. Festival of Books

SANTA MONICA, Calif., April 18 -- Car-crazed Californians looking to get the upper hand in their next automotive transaction should cruise by the Edmunds.com booth at the Festival of Books at UCLA this weekend. Phil Reed and Mike Hudson, Edmunds.com consumer advice editors and co-authors of "Strategies for Smart Car Buyers," will be at the booth to answer questions from consumers and offer tips on how to save time and money on car purchases and related expenses. The Festival of Books takes place on the UCLA campus on Saturday, April 23 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and on Sunday, April 24 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free.

Edmunds.com predicts that soon nearly 30 percent of new cars will be purchased through car dealerships' Internet departments, and that number is expected to continue to grow as consumers become more savvy about the convenience and savings available. The recently released "Strategies for Smart Car Buyers," second edition, explains how to locate and price cars online and maximize savings by working with the Internet department at a dealership.

"Car shoppers who use the Internet wisely can save hours at a dealership and take a lot of stress out of their car buying experience," asserts Phil Reed, co-author of Edmunds.com's "Strategies for Smart Car Buyers."

The second edition of "Strategies for Smart Car Buyers" offers the following new sections:

   *  Primer for Young Car Buyers
   *  Dissecting a Lease Deal
   *  Tips for Haggling

The second edition also contains all the great advice found in the previous edition, covering:

   *  Buying a new or used car
   *  Leasing a car
   *  Buying car insurance
   *  Selling your old car
   *  The popular investigative series "Confessions of a Car Salesman"

In addition to giving free advice at the book festival, Edmunds.com will be selling the "Strategies for Smart Car Buyers" book for $14.99 plus tax and Edmunds.com's car and truck buyer's guides for $12.95 plus tax. These books are also available at local bookstores and through www.edmunds.com/books, Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com and other popular sites.

About the Co-Authors

Philip Reed is the senior consumer advice editor for Edmunds.com. A former newspaper reporter, Phil has also written a number of fiction and non-fiction books. He was initially hired by Edmunds.com to work as an undercover car salesman to better understand the automotive retailing business. The result was "Confessions of a Car Salesman" which is included in the "Strategies for Smart Car Buyers" book. After working as a car salesman, Phil took a more traditional role at Edmunds.com and found himself on the other side of the transaction -- buying cars for the company's long-term vehicle test fleet. He believes that this dual role has given him unique insight into the relationship between the car salesperson and the American consumer.

Mike Hudson is a consumer advice editor for Edmunds.com. He spent four years covering economics and the automotive industry as a reporter at Detroit News and Detroit Free Press. Mike has won numerous writing awards, including being named the Michigan Press Association's "Young Writer of the Year" for 2003. His past work has appeared in newspapers across the country including USA Today, Philadelphia Inquirer, Miami Herald and Boston Globe. He continues to write a monthly column for Detroit News focusing on youth and cultural trends in the auto industry. For the second edition of "Strategies for Smart Car Buyers," Mike, who is in his twenties, went undercover to find out how "Generation Y" car buyers are treated during the car buying process.

About Edmunds.com, Inc.