Spiraling gasoline prices not only are hammering vehicle sales, but also are threatening automobile dealers’ viability.

While everyone knows that gasoline prices are affecting the value of larger used cars and light trucks on dealership lots, no one knows where this is headed on a daily basis. With a new barrel price for oil each day, dealers have been unable to adjust vehicle values fast enough to match the market.

Chicago-based vAuto has introduced new technology that uses a live market view to track and report vehicle valuations, supply and demand in real time. For example, on July 1, when gasoline prices hit a new high of $140.97 per barrel, at 8:00 a.m. in Chicago, the market price and days supply of a 2006-model Cadillac SRX sport utility equipped with a 3.6-liter engine were $22,375 and 123 days, respectively. By noon, the price had dropped to $21,735 and the days supply had jumped to 154. By 9:00 p.m. the market value had fallen even further to $21,075 and the days supply had climbed to 179.

“With the ability to track this data in real time, vAuto clients are able to avoid getting caught with vehicles whose values no longer reflect the current market,” noted vAuto Founder and Chairman, Dale Pollak.

Joe Gilsdorf, a vAuto customer and the owner of Henry Chevrolet in Henry, Ill., saw retail prices fall $1,300 in his market in one day using vAuto’s technology. With this knowledge, he took vehicles back to auction that he had purchased just the day before.

“It was like having insider information,” Gilsdorf said. “The dealers that bought the vehicles that I was reselling were working with wholesale values from previous days that had not yet adjusted to what I was seeing in the retail market. They didn’t realize that in the past 24 hours the average retail market price had dropped $1,300. I truly felt like I had an unfair advantage, but it is all about survival.”

Keith Jezek, vAuto’s president and CEO noted that the benefits of his company’s technology are truly amazing.

“We can sit in front of a screen and watch the valuation, supply and demand of used vehicles fluctuate minute-by-minute,” Jezek explained. “This technology is a revolutionary breakthrough for dealers trying to keep pace with a retail market that is now as volatile as the New York Stock Exchange.“

With hundreds of inquiries per week, vAuto has become the industry’s fastest-growing supplier of market information for used-car dealers. In the last month, vAuto eclipsed the 1,100 dealership rooftop mark, making it the clear industry leader.

Jezek said, “We’re talking about technology the likes of which dealers have never before had available. It tells a dealer what to stock, how much to pay and how to price long before the competition is able to recognize and react to an emerging trend.”

The nation’s six highest-volume franchised dealerships by brand now use vAuto’s stocking, appraisal and pricing systems, including Chevrolet, Ford, Honda, Nissan, Lincoln Mercury and Toyota. Virtually every imported and domestic vehicle brand is represented on the company’s customer list.

Headquartered in the Chicago suburb of Oak Brook, vAuto maintains a research-and-development center in Austin, Texas. Triple-digit increases in its customer base have the company searching for additional technical- and sales-support professionals in both Chicago and Austin.

Further information about the company is available on the Internet at www.vauto.com.

1. I love, love, love this car

Even if a car has your heartstrings in a white-knuckled stranglehold, never let on. Stay calm and pretend you’re looking over a microwave oven. By admitting that you’re smitten, you’ve given a salesman - and the sales manager and everyone else in the process - the combination to your personal safe. The salesman will, of course, sympathize and want to help you out. But he’ll tell you the sales manager, you see, well… That’s a really hot car and we had someone in here just the other day and… He just won’t take less than… They know you’re not about to walk away. Bottom line: Cars you’re not in love with are usually a lot cheaper.

2. I need to get a car by tomorrow

If there’s anything worse than being in love, it’s being in desperate need. Letting on that you need a set of wheels immediately is, basically, telling the salesman “I won’t be thinking too much about any of this.” He knows you won’t be looking too closely at the particulars of the deal and you aren’t likely to drive across town to try to get a better price. It also means you’re more likely to accept whatever he shows you from the dealership’s inventory even if it doesn’t exactly suit you. In other words, you may be presenting yourself as an opportunity to unload a bit of slow-moving inventory. Even if you really do need a car quickly, act like you have a month to decide. But you would consider buying today if you found a car that really pleases you at a price you like.

3. I need a monthly payment of…

It’s understandable that many car shoppers are “payment shoppers.” Most of us have no idea how much car we can afford except by looking at how much it would cost us each month. But saying “I want a payment of less than $350 a month” is like going into a box store and asking for a two-inch box. You’ll notice that some dimensions are missing. You could end up with a box that’s 12 feet long. Almost any given monthly payment is possible provided the loan is long enough and the downpayment is big enough. Over the course of, say, seven years, $350 a month can add up to a lot more than $350 a month for three or four years. To understand how much car you can really afford, you need more than a monthly payment figure. Know what monthly payment you want, for how long and how much you want to pay up front. You also need a fairly good idea of what your trade-in is worth. To keep it really simple, just figure out what price you can afford for the car -based on your monthly budget and trade-in value - and negotiate that one big number. Talk about downpayment and monthly payment and negotiate the value of your trade-in after that.

4. My trade-in’s outside

A salesperson will usually want to know, early on, if you have a vehicle to trade in. If you tell him that you do and that it’s parked, conveniently, right outside, he’ll ask you for the keys. That way the used car manager can assess its value while you’re negotiating. It’ll save time. Well, he has a point there. But consider the downsides. You’ve just handed the salesperson your car keys and he’s given them off to someone else. Guess what’s going to happen if you reach an impasse in the negotiations and decide it’s time to leave. You’ll have to ask for you car keys back. And, odds are good, they will have been misplaced. You’ll be negotiating a while longer.

5. I don’t know anything about leasing

Even if you’re never going to lease a car, you need to know about leasing, if only to know exactly why you’re never going to lease a car. That’s because there’s a good chance someone will try to sell you on the idea. And they might be right. It could be a good choice for you. But it probably isn’t. First of all, leasing makes sense only for people who know - really know - they will not be keeping a car for more than a few years. Beyond that, you need to understand the terminology and costs of leasing beyond the monthly payments, the number salesperson will focus on. You need to know how many miles are included in the lease and if there’s additional money you need to pay up front or at the close of the lease.

6. My credit’s a little spotty

Many people underestimate their own credit rating - and they’re the people who are big moneymakers for car dealers. Part of the interest you pay is shared with the dealership, so they might be pleased to confirm your belief that you don’t qualify for a low interest rate. To make sure you’re getting the best financing deal, secure your own financing before you start shopping. Having another loan in place - one you can use if you don’t like what the dealership is offering - gives you negotiating power. It also lets you know exactly what you qualify for. In most cases, a dealership’s finance office - working with a manufacturer-affiliated auto financing company - should be able to get you a more-than-competitive rate.

With the Fourth of July upon us, Cars.com has unveiled its semiannual American-Made Index, which ranks the most-American vehicles based on percentage (by cost) of parts made domestically, location of vehicle assembly and how popular each car is with U.S. buyers. For the fifth time in a row, Ford’s F-150 has claimed the top spot on the list.

In addition to holding the top spot on Cars.com’s American-Made Index, Ford was chosen by consumers as the most-American automaker, according to a recent survey conducted by Cars.com.¹ In the survey, 49 percent of respondents perceived Ford to be the most-American manufacturer. Chevrolet ranked a distant second, with 29 percent of participants calling it the most-American automaker. In keeping with consumer perception, vehicles from Ford and Chevrolet’s parent, GM, comprised more than half of this year’s American-Made Index.

Consumer attitudes about domestic versus foreign cars made their choices vary greatly, according to the same Cars.com survey. While most say their buying habits aren’t influenced by where a car is made, 27 percent of consumers said they would only consider buying American-made vehicles, and 9 percent would only consider foreign-made cars. Of those who only consider American-made cars, most are motivated by a desire to support the economy or loyalty to an American-made brand. Those who only buy foreign makes do so primarily because they perceive them to be of higher quality. These buyers said higher-quality cars and better fuel economy from American automakers would make these brands more appealing.

“In today’s global economy, decisions about buying ’American-made’ products can be easily clouded,” said Patrick Olsen, editor-in-chief of Cars.com. “Most cars built in the U.S., for example, are assembled using at least some parts that come from somewhere else. Cars.com’s American-Made Index helps consumers identify the most-American vehicles based on production location, percentage of domestic parts content, and American sales volume for each vehicle.”

Newcomers to the July 2008 American-Made Index include the Honda Odyssey and Chrysler Sebring. According to Cars.com, the 2008 Odyssey’s domestic-parts content rating went up to 75 percent from the ‘07’s 70 percent, which combined with strong sales figures to raise the vehicle to No. 7 on the list. Chrysler’s strongest sellers, the Dodge Ram and Grand Caravan, have never appeared on the Index due to low domestic content or assembly in Canada, but its Michigan-built Sebring sedan and convertible made it to ninth place.

About the American-Made Index:

The Cars.com American-Made Index is a semiannual ranking of vehicles deemed most American based on American production, percentage of domestic parts and American sales volume.

Domestic-parts content is based on data that appears alongside the window sticker of new cars as a result of the American Automobile Labeling Act, enacted in 1994. The AALA mandates that virtually every new car display the percentage, by cost, of its parts that originated in the U.S. and Canada. Only those vehicles with a domestic-parts content rating of 75 percent or higher are eligible for the American-Made Index.

For more information about the American-Made Index, visit Cars.com.

Car-Mart, the Bentonville-based used-car retailer, jumped almost 43 percent in the second quarter, the best performance of the largest 20 publicly traded companies in Arkansas.

America’s Car-Mart, which closed at $ 17. 92 on Monday, reported better-than-expected earnings in its most recent quarterly report, including a 30 percent rise in same-stores sales. On Monday the company was added to the Russell 3000 index, one of the Russell Investments indexes that often are used by investment managers and institutional investors for index funds and as benchmarks for investment strategies.

“The bad news on the economic front could be good news for America’s Car-Mart,” said Chris Harkins, senior vice president and managing director of Delta Trust Investments Inc. in Little Rock.

Because of the rise in bankruptcy and foreclosure rates and a decline in consumers’ credit scores, alternative car lots can offer a solution, Harkins said. America’s Car-Mart focuses on the buy here-pay here segment of used car sales — the buyer returns to the store where he bought the car to make regular payments.

“Consumers are struggling and the demand for these services has increased,” Harkins said.

Interestingly, while CarMax, (the car company Buffet love) stocks trade about $15 Car-Mart is trading at $18.00. Any idea why? Drop your answer in the comment box below

But for now, he added, CarMax can’t give investors any meaningful guidance for the rest of 2008.

Richmond, Va.-based CarMax does have an innovative growth proposition, and its concept has drawn a lot of attention since the company began in 1993 as a unit of Circuit City Stores Inc. before being spun off six years ago.

Contrasting with the adversarial sales tack used by most dealers, CarMax takes a “no haggle” approach that aims to develop customer loyalty and foster repeat business. Its sales people make the same commission, regardless of what vehicle they sell, so they have no incentive to badger customers to buy pricier, higher-margin models.

CarMax competitors have found that idea tough to copy.

In the current roiled auto markets, though, it may be difficult for any used-auto dealer to have a friendly transaction with customers. Wholesale prices for larger vehicles have fallen by about 25 percent this spring, or four times the typical pace of depreciation, according to CarMax’s first-quarter report.

On average, someone trading in a large SUV now is getting $3,100 less than two years ago, says Jessica Caldwell, manager of pricing and industry analysis at Edmunds.com, which tracks auto industry trends.

Making matters worse, a large number of such vehicles are bought with dealer financing. “People just can’t afford to write a multithousand-dollar check to get out of [owning] a sport utility” and switch to a hybrid, CarMax’s Folliard said in the conference call.

Still, there are many reasons to think that CarMax will weather the storm and perhaps emerge stronger.

The U.S. used-car market is highly fragmented, comprising some 21,500 franchised new-car dealerships and 43,000 independent used-car dealers.

With annual sales of more than $8 billion, CarMax still has a relatively modest share of a $340 billion used-car market, and that share has continued to grow despite the sagging market.

The company has been expanding into new markets around the country with new superstores, which total more than 90. That growth will continue, executives said.

And despite ongoing jitters in parts of the credit markets, CarMax recently found the asset-backed bond market receptive to a $742 million auto loan securitization. That makes it easier for the company to maintain its lending business.

Justin Fuller, an equity strategist at Morningstar Inc., has been watching for CarMax shares (KMX) to cheapen up, expecting swelling new-car inventories to pressure—and take demand away from—the used-car market. Such developments would make the shares a long-term buy, he said.

“CarMax is a big company. It has a lot of financial resources, and it can live through this,” Fuller said. Many smaller used-car dealerships probably won’t, he added.