UK CAR BUYERS STILL FEEL THEY GET A GOOD DEAL

More than eight in ten (84%) of UK car buyers are satisfied they got a great or good deal on their most recent used car purchase. That's despite CarGurus' latest Availability Index revealing how used car prices have soared 29.5% over the last year. The findings come from the CarGurus UK Buyer Insight Report, which details how consumers' attitudes have changed towards the car buying process over the last two years. One of the most notable insights from the study was that 32% of respondents felt they got a great deal on their purchase, up from 26% in 2020. More than half (52%) deemed their buy was a good deal, a fraction down when compared to two years ago (55%). Only two percent of survey respondents believed the deal they got on their car purchase in 2022 wasn't a fair one. Topping the reasons of how buyers judged a great deal were how easy the buying process was (44%) and the level of trust they had in the seller (36%). Price paid compared to the buyer's budget (28%) and price paid compared to the initial sticker price given (25%) were not as important. CarGurus' UK Buyer Insight Report also delved into how much people enjoyed the car buying process, or not, when buying their last car. More than half (53%) of buyers found parts of the process stressful, however the same respondents also admitted to relishing (55%) parts of the experience. New car (70%) and electric vehicle (69%) buyers over indexed on their levels of enjoyment when going through the car buying journey. Additionally, the report looked at how long consumers took to buy their car in the last 12 months. In buyers' minds, the buying process began five weeks before they purchased a car. The first three weeks involved actively researching, before contacting a dealer in the remaining two weeks. In that two-week period consumers contacted three dealers and visited two on average, although 45% visited only one dealership before buying.