What Car Buyers Really Think

By: James Ruppert
what are car buyers looking for?

The only way to find out what a car buyer intends to do is to ask them. That’s why Used Ford Dealer Motorparks have analysed the Google's comprehensive ‘Car Purchasing Process UK’ report. Incredibly almost half of the car owners in the UK have purchased a new car in the last two years. That makes our marketplace one of the most fascinating and vibrant in the world. We like to change our cars often and keep up with the latest buying trends.

With over half of those surveyed saying that they planned to buy a brand new car in the next few years and over a third claiming that they would buy used, that is a massive turnover of vehicles. Motorparks then analysed the reasons behind this.

Firstly what are the biggest influencers on making such a change? Well, according to Google’s ‘The Drive to Decide’ report, in association with research company TNS, the biggest reason is that buyers are better off, such as if they've just got a new job, and can afford to buy a new car. Then it is purely practical, such as a family getting bigger, moving to a new home, getting older or changes in health.   

 

"buyers are better off and can afford to buy a new car."

Those are actually pretty good excuses as buyers can be swayed by special offers, but also the very simple urge of 'they fancy a change'. That was the largest majority, but a quarter would cite a desire for a more economical car. Otherwise, a fifth would go for a car involved in a special promotion whilst the smallest amount at 10% have noticed a new car because it was recently launched.

Motorparks as a car dealer was obviously keen to discover where buyers looked for their next vehicle. According to the feedback, it is still the dealership that the buyer will go at least twice and take at least one test drive.

As well as going to the forecourt more than a third are aiming to go online and going online to buy their next car. Certainly over half of buyers start their research on their tablets, computers and phones. 

Buy A Car Online - Would you do it?

When it comes to paying for the new car it is still the case that most people use personal savings. After that, part exchanging their old car would provide the bulk of the money. In financing terms, a Personal Contract Purchase is the most common financing option and Contract Hire, the least.

Best way to finance your car 

Overall then, British car buyers remain very traditional in their approach to buying cars as Motorparks discovered. However, change is certainly coming with the growing power and influence of the Internet. Do you agree with these findings? Tell us whether your buying intentions fit in with these findings, we at MotorEasy would love to know how we could help make your car buying and ownership experience much better.

 

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