The Right Car Was Harder To Find in October

Inventories nationwide might be rising but car buyers had to visit more dealerships to find the right car in October. Luckily, the hunt didn’t lead to a lower overall Ease of Purchase score. Last month that number climbed back above 80% to 82%, which still remains below the average of the past three years but on par with the past few quarters of 2026.

But even bigger lifts occurred when car buyers were asked about the different steps in the purchase process. Besides negotiating their trade-in, every step improved in October.

Availability

New car inventories are growing in general, but many shoppers are singling in on specific brands and models that are hard to find. Nearly three-quarters (71%) said it was easy to find the car they wanted, up from 68% last month, but that’s still below the average for the first three quarters of 2026, 2025 (77%) and 2024 (74%). The number is getting closer to the still-constrained days of 2023 when that number was 69%.

Buyers also visited more dealers to find the car they wanted. In October, 30% said they visited three or more dealers to complete their purchase. That’s up significantly from 19% in September and the highest it’s been since January when it was also 30%. And, again, higher than the average from 2023 (26%), 2024 (25%) or 2025 (25%).

A few respondents made it clear they were hunting for one brand in particular: Toyota. “We bought a New RAV4 and had to wait three months before we got the car,” said one buyer. “We ordered it and the dealership kept us informed on the progress until it got here.”

Another said, “It was somewhat easy [to purchase the car] besides not having any new Highlanders I wanted on the lot.”

One buyer in Alaska lamented the lack of options of any cars. “We went to a Subaru dealership and decided we didn’t want any of their models. Then we went to Toyota. Selection was limited but we found something quickly to meet our needs.”

Purchase Process

No matter what brand they were buying, respondents said the steps in the process all improved rather significantly in October … save two. Taking the test drive and completing the finance or lease process saw double-digit gains, landing at 77% and 67% respectively. Applying for credit and filling out the forms to complete the purchase both gained 8 percentage points.

Only agreeing on the trade-in value was an issue. Just 51% of buyers said that was easy in October. That’s down from 58% in September but we’ve seen similar or lower numbers five other months this year.

Time

Industry insiders suggest October was a slower month in the showroom and that lighter traffic may be why buyers said the deal took less time than the past few months. Half (50%) of respondents said the time spent at the dealership was what they’d expected, while another 18% said it took less time than expected. Both up from September.

Customer Feedback

Many buyers opted to give more detailed feedback this month on the Sales process. Besides the lack of supply of specific brands, there was a clear storyline of what separated the good from bad.

Most of the positive responses pointed to a streamlined experience without a lot of back-and-forth negotiations or time spent at the dealership:

• “We negotiated over the phone via text. They found exactly what we wanted; the color inside and out with all the options. Once we had exactly what we wanted, we went in, signed the contract and were gone in an hour.”
• “It was a no haggling price that was easy to negotiate with and we never had any hidden fees.”
• “There was a quick credit search and everything was streamlined and quick.”
• “They had wonderful customer service and answered all my questions comfortably.”

Negative responses centered around poor communication and a lack of transparency:

• “I wanted a certain color and they couldn’t find one. On the first visit while we started negotiating it was sold to someone else. There was no communication between salespeople.”
• “Going back and forth with the price [was difficult].”
• “I think there could’ve just been better transparency and accountability. The dealers were not the easiest to deal with and I felt like it was very challenging.”
• “They can communicate more. Finding the right car and the right dealer is pretty difficult, especially as someone who has a hard time choosing options.”
• “It felt a little sketchy to be honest. I felt like I was rushed. I feel like I was not informed about the process and not able to bargain as much as I wanted to.”

Perhaps a light Sales month gave teams more room to breathe and a focus on the customer, but volumes haven’t been breaking any sort of records earlier in the year. If buyers keep gravitating to more in-demand brands and models — and there’s no indication they won’t — expect to see more store visits as well as complaints around inventory and selection.