Fixed prices top car-buyer wishlist
Car buyers want fixed pricing with no haggling to instil trust, according to new research.
Online car supermarket BuyaCar.co.uk asked more than 400 motorists about their experience of car-buying and found that only a minority report that they enjoy the process.
Topping the list of car buyer gripes for 61% is feeling that they do not trust dealer sales teams, followed by 49.1% who say that pricing information is not sufficiently clear. Topping the list of suggestions was scrapping the need to haggle by offering fixed prices instead.
Industry experts believe that the popularity of fixed pricing as well as the convenience of home delivery is one of the biggest reasons for the rapid growth of online car supermarkets.
Andy Oldham, chief executive of BuyaCar.co.uk, said: “We already understand from our own customer feedback that confidence is the magic ingredient for happier car-buying and this research reveals the biggest factor undermining confidence in the traditional car-buying process.
“Although trust in dealer sales teams is remarkably low among a majority of car buyers we believe that the problem is really about trust in the pricing information and the tradition of haggling over price in a physical dealership.
“The comments made by customers during this research overwhelmingly support the need for a transparent and fixed pricing model as key to building confidence during the car-buying process. We believe that transparent, fixed pricing is just as significant in driving the rapid growth of online motor retail as the convenience of home delivery.”
