Sell those wheels on the Web

Re “Industry suffers a glut of car lots,” April 13

Forgive me for not shedding any tears over the loss of America’s local car dealerships. The car I buy is a manufactured product, but the process of buying that car is a throwback to the days of haggling over goats in the bazaar.

Few car buyers leave the lot with a good feeling about the experience. I still cringe thinking about my last test drive with a salesman -- a heavy smoker -- stinking up the new car I was about to buy with his tobacco-tinged breath and clothing.

Cars should be marketed the way L.L. Bean sells shirts: You go online, select your size and color, enter your credit card number, and wait for FedEx to deliver the goods. The price of the car would be more palatable if the buying process were transparent.

Hard times present an opportunity for the manufacturers to come up with a new way of selling their cars. If the nation’s dealerships close, replaced by a General Motors or a Chrysler website, you won’t hear any complaints from this customer.

Russell Clampitt

Los Angeles