Isn’t TrueDelta just another auto site?

A few days ago someone emailed me, saying that, as far as they could tell, TrueDelta did not offer anything that many other auto sites did not already offer. So what’s the point?

This perception baffles me, since the information TrueDelta offers is unlike that available anywhere else. Yet it is also quite common. So we clearly have a major disconnect on our hands.

Maybe it will help to provide a brief list of how what we do is different–and better–than the content of any other auto site.

Vehicle Reliability Research

1. Actual repair rates posted, not just dots. So it’s clear how often a car is likely to require a repair (usually less often than people think), and how much this differs from other cars (again, usually less than people think).

2. Results updated promptly, four times a year. This permits rapid results for new models, and information that is always up-to-date. The “other guys” are between five and 17 months behind. Do you want to know how reliable a car was a year ago, when it was a year newer, or how reliable it has been recently?

Real-World Fuel Economy

1. Includes information on driving style and driving conditions, with both clearly defined in real-world terms. No other fuel economy site provides this essential information.

2. Results can be filtered by the above variables, to find those that match your own driving.

“Why (Not) This Car?” Reviews

1. Focuses on what many people want to learn from an auto review: the reasons to buy one car, and not another.

2. Owner comments focused on specific aspects of the car, and clearly structured so no digging required.

Vehicle Prices and Price Comparisons

1. No need to select trim levels (LX, GT, Limited, etc.) or option packages. These are selected automatically based on feature selections. So people who know very little about a car can quickly configure it.

2. Can configure two cars based on a single set of feature selections, for quick, thorough price and feature comparisons that no one else offers.

3. Comparisons are both before and after adjusting for remaining feature differences. No one else adjusts for remaining feature differences.

4. Converts all figures in the results table to monthly payments, almost instantly.

And this is just the beginning. More on the way.

The challenge, clearly, is how to better communicate these advantages. It’s not easy, since the general perception is that a site like Edmunds or cars.com already includes EVERYTHING, so any other auto site is necessarily redundant. The general perception is incorrect, but very hard to break through.

Any suggestions?