I know, those are fighting words. But when you think about it, "buying used cars on the Internet", isn't really a field that's typically catered to in any kind of glamorous fashion by the Tech Industry. So one might argue that the bar was damned low. This just makes the opportunity, and the challenges to deliver on that opportunity ... all the greater. While we've overcome some of them, many more lie ahead, but there comes a point when we have to launch. And learn from actual human beings interacting with, and breaking our application.
So tonight, we finally launched :)
Once on the used cars search results page, one thing i hope will strike you, is how obscenely fast it's possible to hone-in on a vehicle you might be interested in. You might narrow-things down by Year, Price, Mileage up-top, and by a slew of possibly available options in the left column:
- Make
- Color
- Dealer-Certified
- Private Party
- Photo Available
- City MPG
- Highway MPG
- ...
During development, we had a "Picnic Table" choice on the left. I wonder where it went :(. Who knows, perhaps it'll resurface.
Chime-in with what you think ... *gulp*. The team's already pulled-out their notepads.
See Also: Seeking a Web User Interface Engineer
See also: CarsDirect on TechCrunch
See also: Loan.com on N.Y. Times