Ease of Purchase Hits New High in February

Despite hurdles when it comes to affordability, more car buyers said it was easy to complete their purchase in February than at any time since CDK started tracking that question in July 2022. All told, 88% of buyers said it was easy to buy their car in February, up from 84% in January and 85% in February 2023.

In recent months, we’ve seen a direct correlation between more respondents finding the car they wanted in stock with higher scores in terms of ease. In fact, this month half of all buyers (50%) said they found the car they wanted in stock, up from 45% in January. But that number was slightly lower than last January (52%). One buyer even said the selection process was difficult because there were too many options available to them.

Finding cars in stock also likely led to more people saying it was easy to find the vehicle they wanted. Nearly three out of four (74%) agreed to that statement up from 68% in January and 64% in February 2024. In fact, every step in the purchase process we track saw an improvement or stayed flat whether it was taking the test drive, agreeing to the final price, or applying for credit.

And while finding the car in stock is terrific, there are still a lot of buyers deciding to order their next car. What we originally thought was a product of the pandemic, 22% of buyers in February ordered exactly what they wanted, up from 20% in January.

In CDK’s new Friction Points Study, the time it takes to buy a car didn’t change much with most people taking two hours to complete the purchase. However, when we asked buyers if the time was what they expected, we saw an improvement in February. Almost one in five (18%) said it took less time than they expected up from 14% in January. There was also a large drop in those who said it took more than they expected, falling from 37% in January to 29% in February.

As we see significantly more incentives across the board along with a much slower decline in interest rates, more car buyers could come off the sidelines in coming months. But for those buying today, it seems the experience is better than it’s been in quite some time.