J.D. Power: Car Buyers Increasingly Logging On

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif. (July 8, 2004) -- The number of used vehicle buyers using the Internet is rapidly growing, according to J.D. Power and Associates 2004 Used Autoshopper.com Study. Roughly 54 percent of used vehicle buyers used the Internet during their shopping process, up from 47 percent in 2003.

"This is the most explosive growth in the used vehicle automotive Internet user rate we have seen in three years," said Dennis Galbraith, senior director of research for J.D. Power. "Not only are shoppers using the Internet in greater numbers, but also far more of them are finding their purchase decisions are impacted by information found online."

Among all used vehicle buyers, 36 percent say their make and model decisions were impacted by information found online, which is up from 29 percent in 2003. Around 22 percent say they were impacted in their selection of sellers, which is up from 16 percent.

Among these Internet users, 85 percent say the Internet impacted the price they paid for their vehicle, and 66 percent say it impacted which make or model to purchase.

The study also discovered that, for the first time, online sources have outpaced traditional newspaper advertising as the method that led buyers to the vehicles they actually purchased. Only 9 percent of buyers say they found their used vehicle through a newspaper advertisement, while 11 percent attribute the Internet as the source of their purchase.

"Critical buyer decisions increasingly are happening online," said Galbraith. "This should serve as a wake-up call to used vehicle dealers not yet using the Internet to promote their inventories."

Finally, Kelley Blue Book remains the most visited auto Web site among used vehicle buyers. AutoTrader.com continues to be the site that entices the most used vehicle purchases. Online auction sites are growing in impact, with eBay Motors now following AutoTrader.com closely as a popular source of online sales.