Research shows dealers are also the preferred destinations for online valuations for most owners. Nearly a third (32%) say they will get an online price from the dealer they expect to buy from, while 22% will get online valuations and offers from dealers they find through car search websites.
The volume of enquiries is holding up despite the headwinds the economy is facing. It’s clear that dealers will have to work hard to convert those leads in a tougher economic climate and may face the challenges of delayed decision-making and the persistent shortages of used stock
Research asked buyers to list their top three filters when starting an online search for a car. Price emerged as a clear priority for over half (53%), followed by make and model (35%), fuel type (31%) and mileage (30%).
Cox Automotive’s most likely scenario for 2023 forecasts 7,096,932 used car transactions for the full year, which would be a 3.2% increase on the actual numbers for 2022. However, gains made in Q1 2023 compared to last year’s actual quarterly performance are marginal, with an estimated 1,790,034 transactions representing a marginal 0.9% increase in fortunes if achieved.
The month-on-month (MoM) rise, the fourth in a row, was mostly driven by cars aged under two years which increased by 3% to £35,425, a year-on-year (YoY) rise of 19%. Car supermarkets and franchised dealers saw the biggest rises, up 2% (to £18,204) and 1.5% (to £23,032) respectively.
eBay Motors Group’s latest Consumer Insight Panel study has found 46% of new and used car buyers expect to pay more for their car. However, this expectation rises sharply to 66% for buyers currently searching for their next car or planning to search within the next month.
The biggest increases were recorded in the franchised sector, up 7.7% from £15,083 to £16,243, followed by car supermarkets which saw averages rise 6.8% from £13,928 to £14,881, while independent retailers saw an increase of 5.8% from £8,820 to £9,331.
With used cars in high demand, buyers are currently spending an average of six weeks (42.1 days) searching online for their next purchase, up from 40.5 days in 2019. A significant majority of buyers continue to use at least two car search websites, a rising trend since 2019. While those using just one website dropped from 11.4% to 8.5%.
Since the first lockdown in March 2020, eBay Motors Group has seen a consistent pattern in buyer behaviour whenever government restrictions require dealer showrooms to close, with email enquiries overtaking call enquiries.
Despite England being in a month-long lockdown, much of central Scotland being under strict restrictions and Wales coming out of its circuit breaker, the used car market showed resilience in November with consumer enquiries significantly outperforming the levels seen at the start of the March lockdown
