LMU Students Unveil New Car-Buying Service At Los Angeles Auto Show

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Nov 22, 2013, 02:56 ET

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 22, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- This year's Los Angeles Auto Show will mark the debut of a new car-buying service developed by two Loyola Marymount University students that allows customers to place a Request for Sale (RFS) on the car they want and dealers to either accept or counter the terms of the deal. The service is called Nabthat.

Nabthat will have two signature events at the Auto Show. On Friday, Nov. 22, from 7-8 p.m., there will be a flash-mob event; and on Saturday, Nov. 23, there will be a car caravan starting at 1:45 pm.

Nabthat is the brainchild of Jason Silverberg, a junior in LMU's College of Business Administration and a participant in the school's Business Incubator program run by Professor David Choi.

The idea behind the service is that buyers can eliminate the hassle of going from dealer to dealer searching for the best price on a car. Instead, potential buyers can utilize Nabthat's patent-pending RFS platform to pick out the make and model of the car they want, along with the terms, and have their credit score checked – all for free. Sales managers who have signed up to participate look over the deal to see if they want to accept or counter the RFS. If the dealer accepts it, then the buyer makes one trip to the showroom sign the papers and pick up their car.

The advantage for car buyers is obvious. "You are able to send your deal to a lot of dealerships, and you are going to get a lot of responses, and you get an excellent deal without spending a lot of time," says Juan Jose Galvez, one of the Nabthat partners.

The advantage for dealers is that they get a motivated, pre-qualified buyer who is ready to sign a deal for the right price.

So far, more than 50 dealerships have signed up to participate in the venture, representing auto makers from around the world, including Volkswagen, Honda, Chevrolet, Infiniti, Toyota, Mercedes-Benz, Fiat, Porsche, Audi, and Mazda.

The student partners, Silverberg and Galvan, will be at the Auto Show's Nabthat booth (Kentia Hall K28) all day.

For more information on Nabthat, go to www.nabthat.com or call Celeste Durant at 310.338.7708.

About Loyola Marymount University
Located between the Pacific Ocean and downtown Los Angeles, Loyola Marymount University is a comprehensive university offering 60 major programs, 36 master's degrees and a doctoral degree in education from four colleges, two schools and Loyola Law School. Founded in 1911, LMU is ranked third in "Best Regional Universities/West" by U.S. News & World Report. LMU is the largest Jesuit Catholic university for undergraduates on the West Coast with more than 5,900 undergraduate students and more than 3,000 graduate and law students. For more LMU news and events, please visit www.lmu.edu/news.

Contact:
Celeste Durant
Director, Communications and Media
310.338.7708
[email protected]

SOURCE Loyola Marymount University