Web Pricing.

[unit731]

Mark Rechtin

Automotive News -- July 5, 2010 - 12:01 am ET

 

 

 

LOS ANGELES -- Consumer Reports teamed up with an online car-buying service, Zag.com, on a Web site that provides shoppers no-haggle vehicle prices from participating dealerships.

 

The magazine says the relationship adheres to its long-standing policy of no advertising, which it says could compromise its objectivity.

 

A link to the vehicle-pricing service is on ConsumerReports.org. Price quotes from dealerships will be guaranteed for vehicles that consumers equip at the site.

 

Dealerships participating in the program pay Zag a fee. Separately, Zag pays Consumers Union, which publishes the magazine, a flat fee for each car sold.

 

The magazine said that it will have no financial relationship with the dealerships and that the fee structure has no connection to which cars are sold.

 

"Zag has included Consumer Reports' no-commercialization policy in the individual agreements that they sign with dealers," said Rob Gentile, director of Web products for ConsumerReports.org. "Consumer Reports and Consumer Reports.org continue to take no ads. Nothing has changed."

 

The program will be available to subscribers of ConsumerReports.org and to purchasers of Consumer Reports price reports.

 

Zag.com recently sold the 100,000th vehicle on its online car-buying platform, allied with 2,700 dealerships.

 

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