Car Buying Online: Would You Ever Buy a Car Over the Web?

Online shopping has become a massive industry in the last decade. In 2014, Adweek reported that the world of e-commerce generates just over $1.2 million dollars every 30 seconds – and that stat is almost two years old.

The changing times

It wasn’t too long ago that people wouldn’t have dared to purchase cellphones, t-shirts, or shoes online. Now, those items make up the bulk of all e-commerce. As a car dealership, we have to wonder if one day this trend will extend to our products.

Luckily, Car and Driver released a study that may provide some insight to that question.

Let’s look at the numbers

Car and Driver reports that 68% of their respondents would not buy or lease a vehicle without visiting a dealership, and 84% would not buy or lease without taking a test drive. Personally, we’d never buy a car before test driving it either, so that’s not too surprising.

But when the study turned to the question of online shopping, we see some interesting results. 54% of car enthusiasts would consider buying a car online, while only 34% of non-enthusiasts would.

This seems slightly backwards to us. We would assume that a car-enthusiast would be more concerned about coming into a dealership, sitting in the car they were thinking of buying, and taking it for a spin on the open road.

Which, we think you should do

Because the dealership experience is like no other. We combine great prices on our vehicles, state-of-the-art service centers, and most importantly, knowledgeable people who you can rely on. Which is something buying a car online can never give you – a personal, face-to-face interaction, and the opportunity to build a relationship.

Here at Leith Volkswagen of Cary, our goal is to satisfy 100% of our customers 100% of the time, and we don’t think that’s unrealistic. We look out for you, and do everything in our power to ensure your car-buying experience is memorable and enjoyable.

But just out of curiosity, would you ever consider buying a car solely online? Leave us a comment on Facebook and let us know!