A Slow Start For Australia's On-line Motorists
Sydney Morning Herald
Friday January 19, 1996
Local auto Internet sites leave a lot to be desired, writes TRISH MURPHY .
What's on the Internet for Australian drivers? Not just for F1 enthusiasts but for those of us interested in comparing the costs of parts, or perhaps shopping for a new pre-loved vehicle or checking road conditions before undertaking a journey?
The US has an enviable network of auto sites. One of the most useful is DealerNet (http://www.dealernet.com), which is just what it says it is - a network of dealers' sites offering ranges of new and used models. It doesn't deliver the car to your door, but you can find out who has got what and for what price.
All the big manufacturers are on the US Net, some of them with exciting, entertaining sites. There are also some great motoring magazines, Car and Driver (http://www.caranddriver.com/) and AutoWeek (http://www.autoweek.com/) being two.
These on-line mags are adapting fast to the Web environment, providing the sort of information that motorists value most - traffic and road conditions, speed-trap registries, mail-order parts, stolen vehicle alert lists. You can call up real-time traffic maps of LA or hang out and chat with truckies at the Road King (http://www.roadking.com/) coffee shop.
OK, but what do we have locally?
The best manufacturer's site so far is Toyota's (http:// www.toyota.com.au). It covers 1995 models, dealer network (small but growing), motor sport, news and events, Toyota FAQ (frequently asked questions) and a good set of related motoring links.
Toyota apparently is serious about making it a "cool" site, attempting to attract visitors through broader interests such as a summer cricket site and an Australian country music site (Toyota sponsors both). A good nuts-and-bolts addition is a used-car classifieds section, to which you can post your ad gratis.
Another site to go up recently is Nissan Australia (http://www.nissan.com.au). The home page promises a Nissan cyber drive - "Just wait till you drive it" - which made me think, wow, maybe I can get behind the wheel of a virtual Infiniti and take it for a spin. Nope. It's a cute site, but slow and dedicated boringly and exclusively to Nissan advertorial (and hasn't been updated much in the past two months).
Its list of links is so inadequate that it would be better not to have one.
Volvo Australia joined the Net just before Christmas, becoming the third site for the Swedish maker (http://www. volvo.com.au). This is still a fairly new site, consisting of not more than a couple of pages and some links to outdoor adventure sites.
The latter may be an indication that like Toyota, Volvo has realised that more than recycled advertorial is required to attract Web readers on a regular basis.
Apart from the growing Toyota network, a few Australian dealers are on the Web.
A local magazine now claiming to be on-line is Classic Car Monthly, but it is a teaser for the printed magazine, not a serious attempt at a Web site.
Its free classifieds have attracted some interesting buy/sell inquiries, and it has the beginnings of an events calendar, but nothing else.
Attached to Toyota Online is a link leading to AIM, the Independent newsletter of the Australian Automotive Industry. Again, however, this is just a big, two-click ad.
In Australia, for the most part, it is still the enthusiasts, rather than the manufacturers, who are holding the fort.
Away from commercial territory you can visit Fords Downunder (http://compsoc.lat. oz.au/~steve/), "the only Web site in the world that deals with Australian-made Fords"; the HSV History Site and The Blue Oval Home Page (http://www. mame.mu.oz.au/salman/Ford/ fpage.html) - more Fords.
The Oversteer rally page (http://oversteer.library.uwa. edu.au/Rally/) has better information, covering the Telstra Rally - contenders, times, stages, etc.
It links to a site called Team Racefan, put together by motorsport fans in Perth, which carries international and local racing results.
This site provides further links to Australian speedway and drag-racing, but most of the links are to the US.
For a touch of subversion, Steve's Home Page, hosted by "Smack", offers a real speed-camera photo, an article on traffic enforcement in Victoria (equipment used by the Victorian traffic police and how it works), tips on how to go fast without getting caught and lots more stuff of interest to drivers who have, at one time or another, fallen foul of at least one of the devices he is describing.
And that was pretty well it. Still almost no potentially useful information is appearing on the Web for Australian drivers.
This is a pity.
There is plenty of information we'd like to have access to, such as new and used cars for sale, prices, how much extra for air- conditioning, car finance, insurance deals, breakdown diagnosis, where to buy parts (and comparative costs), legal procedures following an accident, what a green slip really covers, information about products such as anti-rust compounds, environmentally friendly de-greasers, repair handbooks, tyre-pressure charts, cool hub caps - you name it.
We're out here. We'd use it. Although commercial companies are starting to stir on the local Web, and in some cases are showing a certain Internet cool, they're not yet really looking at the needs of the motoring public. When I can type a model, price and year into a search form and receive a list of vendors, or check out the Harbour Bridge traffic through real-time bridge-cam before heading home at night, then I'll know we're getting somewhere.
© 1996 Sydney Morning Herald