Huge Rebound in Customer Experience Kicks Off 2026

Significant end-of-year discounts and record-setting sales from some brands led to a the CDK Ease of Purchase score to make a recovery from historic lows in Q4. Indeed, the overall score, where we ask car buyers simply “Was it easy to buy a car?” came in at 85%, up from December’s 69% and our lowest score ever in November, 66%. Scores across the board from negotiating the final price to just taking a test drive saw gains as well.

The relative return to normalcy at the dealership, after the combination of EV incentives expiring and a prolonged season of model-year turnovers, had significant impacts in both how and where people bought.

In December, 42% of respondents said they completed at least some part of the purchase process online before going into a dealership. In January, that number fell to 27% with nearly three-quarters (72%) saying they completed the entire deal in person. Online-only sales remained flat at 1%.

The majority of buyers also found the car they wanted in stock increasing from just 31% in December to 57% in January. That’s also higher than 2025’s average of 50%. That also led to nearly 79% of people saying it was easy to find the exact vehicle they wanted, up slightly from December’s 78% but significantly higher than the 2025 average of 70%.

There was also considerable improvement when it came to the thorniest parts of the buying experience too. Whether it was price negotiation, trade-in value or applying for credit, buyers said they were easier to complete than in December. All were also higher than their 2025 average.

At first glance, the time it took to buy a car may look negative as fewer people said the deal took less time than they expected. One-fifth (20%) said they drove off the lot faster than they expected, down from exactly a quarter (25%) in December. Luckily, even fewer said it took more than they expected, 25% down from 35% in December leaving the majority saying the entire process was as long as they’d anticipated.

These results are reassuring after a turbulent end to 2025 upended what’d been steady improvement over years of tracking customers’ thoughts on the purchase process. The question remains: Will 2026 see steady improvement like in years past or will unpredictable turbulence upend things once again?