Dealix's UsedCars.com Launches Tool to Help Auto Buyers Shorten Their Search for the Right Used Car

New Feature Caps Year of Significant Growth and Improvement for Leading Car Buying Site

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., April 7 -- Dealix, a division of Cobalt, has launched the "My Account" feature on UsedCars.com, designed to make the process of finding a used car faster and easier for auto shoppers. With this new feature, buyers can take advantage of UsedCars.com's advanced search filters and vehicle merchandising to pinpoint the type of car they want and then ask the site to "do the work for them," alerting them every time a car matching their criteria is added to the site's inventory.

The average used car buyer searches for a car for more than 25 weeks before finding the right vehicle, and visits 11.2 sites during the process according to research by JD Power & Associates (2009 Used Vehicle Market Report). The UsedCars.com site was designed to make this purchase process more streamlined by offering buyers tools that allow them to easily target and customize their vehicle searches as well as to quickly identify cars in their market with special attributes, including those with "below Kelley Blue Book� pricing."

The "My Account" feature was designed to help streamline the process even further by allowing users to request notification when a new vehicle matching their search criteria becomes available on the site as well as keep track of dealers they have contacted.

"We've invested considerable resources over the past year to build tools and functionality that help to shorten the time it to takes for online auto buyers to find the right used car," said Dimitar Alexandrov, Director, Used Car Products. "The 'My Account' feature is one of many that we've developed which leverage our advanced search capabilities to present users with the most relevant and targeted information to aid them in their used car search,"

This latest release caps a year of growth and innovation for UsedCars.com. Visitor traffic has increased by nearly 40% and vehicle inventory has expanded by 45% since the 2009 re-launch of the site and the introduction of key features to improve the used car shopping experience for buyers and enhance the merchandising options for dealers. Some of the most notable features include:

  --  Best Value Gallery & Tag: UsedCars.com is the only auto shopping site
      that allows users to view the "Best Values" in each market with just
      one click, based on the difference between the dealer's posted price
      for the vehicle and the Kelley Blue Book� Suggested Retail Value.
  --  Intuitive vehicle badges: These badges let users easily discover cars
      with special attributes, such as "recently reduced", "new listing",
      "green vehicle", "Certified Pre-Owned", making it easier for them to
      identify, evaluate and compare cars.
  --  Advanced Search: UsedCars.com features a robust set of search
      capabilities, providing users with more search customization options
      than the other leading auto buying sites. Users can select from up to
      14 different filters on the search results page to find the "short
      list" of vehicles that match their preferences.
  --  Green Choice Center: A one-stop resource for consumers interested in
      purchasing green vehicles, featuring information on hybrids as well as
      cars that have high fuel economy and low emissions. The Green Center
      features a unique tool that allows consumers to research cars based on
      air pollution and greenhouse scores, as well as by fuel mileage.
  --  Certified Pre-Owned Center: A special area within UsedCars.com for
      buyers that want to focus their search on pre-owned vehicles. While
      there, they can research and compare manufacturer's pre-owned programs
      - UsedCars.com currently partners with six such programs - and view
      CPO cars available in their market.
  --  Dealer Spotlight: Dynamic banner ads that display dealers' "live"
      inventory to in-market buyers and allow these buyers to click on ads
      to view a dealer's expanded inventory.