Make Sure Your Dealership is Giving Customers a “Hassle Free” Buying Experience

The nation’s premier car dealer review website, DealerRater, surveyed about 5,530 people to see which factors ranked the highest for consumers’ car purchase decision making. There were six factors in the survey, they were low price, hassle-free shopping, prompt attention, location of dealer, dealer reputation, and service promises.  The reviewers were also given an option of “other” so that they could fill in a factor that was not included in the list.

They found that the most important factor for customers in their buying decision is a “hassle free” shopping experience with about 30% of people stating this as the most important factor.  This helps the dealers understand how to approach the customers better by only applying a little amount of pressure while still giving the customer the feeling of control over the purchasing decision.

The next most important factor is the “dealer’s reputation” with about 20% of respondents thinking it was the most important factor. This shows that placing an effective reputation management program in place will help with portraying your dealership in the correct light.

After those 2 factors (hassle free buying experience and dealer’s reputation), it goes low prices (15%), prompt attention (10%), service promise (6%), and dealer location (3%).   What I found surprising is that the factor “low prices” was not the most important factor.  This study demonstrates the importance of good customer service within a dealership and that it is not all about pricing. 

To read about the poll on the DealerRater website please click here.

Used Car Dealership IPhone App

IPhone applications allow IPhone users to do various things, including, checking movie times or finding a restaurant.  Now IPhone users will be able to check used car inventory with the introduction of the Lake City Motors IPhone application.  The Seattle used car dealership launched this application about two months ago for used car buyers.  Peter Liu, the sales manager, at Lake City Motors hired the company MobileAppLoader LLC to create the app for only a few hundred dollars with a monthly fee of $15.  The potential buyers will have the ability to view their dealership’s inventory with photos, check prices, and schedule an appointment for a test drive.  For only $15 a month after the initial application fee the dealership thought that it was worth a shot.

Do you think that this application will be successful?  Would you consider having an application like this at your dealership?

To read the whole story on Used Car News, please click here.

Fun Friday- Wii Fail

Worst Made Vehicles

If you are looking for a vehicle that is durable and can last a long time then do not purchase the vehicles listed below.  General Motors is said to have its strongest spring and summer in years with a 22% improvement in sales last month. Ironically the cars maybe selling well, but some of them are not made well.  Four of the seven vehicles that made the list are made by GM.  And all the cars except one are made by Detroit’s big three. 

• Cadillac Escalade
• Chevrolet Aveo
• Chevrolet Colorado
• Dodge Nitro
• Ford F-250

In order to find the cars on the above list they used the lowest rated cars from their four reliability and performance studies that were done this year.  Then they used the J.D. Power and Associates list of the cars that have fewer than three out of five power circles.  So any car, SUV or truck that was named among the worst on that list was added to their “Worst Made” list.

Do you agree with this list?  Do you feel like these cars are among the worst made?  Let me know by leaving a comment. 

To read the full article on Yahoo, please click here.

Most Dependable Cars

This week a lot of new studies were released.  For example KBB announced the release of the Best Car Brands and JD Power announced the 2010 US Vehicle Dependability Study.  

The Vehicle Dependability Study was based on measuring the number of vehicle problems found by their owners.   They come up with a total of 198 plausible issues and problems.   The study was based on the number of problems per 100 vehicles and the lower the number the better. 

The ranking of the least amount of problems per 100 vehicles:

• Porsche: 110
• Lincoln: 114
• Buick: 115
• Lexus: 115
• Mercury: 121
• Toyota: 128
• Honda: 132
• Ford: 141
• Mercedes-Benz: 142
• Acura: 143
• Hyundai: 148
• Cadillac: 150
• Infiniti: 150
• Subaru: 155

From your experience do you think these results are accurate?

To learn more about the study or the top three vehicles in each car category on, please click here.

Should I buy an American Made Vehicle Right Now?

This year is very different than last year, last year people were talking about the end of the American auto industry and now the story is changing.  Domestic automakers are reaping the awards of problems with international automakers, such as recalls.  

There are many reasons why customers are rushing to buy American made vehicles:

1. For starters you can get an exceptional deal right now.  With the Toyota recall Toyota is offering great deals and the domestic car makers are following right behind them.  For example, Ford and Chevrolet are offering a zero percent financing on most of their inventory. 
2. The quality is high on the American brand cars.  J.D. Power released a Vehicle Dependability Study and it came out that the American brand vehicles are for the most part quality cars.  For example, the top two midsize cars for dependability are the Buick LaCrosse and Mercury Milan.
3. American carmakers are now offering green options.  They have introduced a variety of American hybrids.  The 2010 North American Car of the Year is the Ford Fusion hybrid. 
4. American automakers are becoming the class leaders. In the U.S. news car rankings the American vehicles are dominating the top spots for midsize and large car classes.  The top five affordable midsize SUVs are American and the top six full size pickups are American.
5. If you buy an American vehicle you will be helping the American workers. When bailouts were given to General Motors and Chrysler not only would these bailouts help the companies, but they would help the American workers.  

Do you believe these are good reasons to buy an American made car?  Do you disagree with these reasons? 

To read the full article on Yahoo Autos, please click here.

Fun Friday- Funny Singing Cat

Black Book Finds that the Car Segment is Going in a Positive Direction

The managing editor of Black Book, Ricky Beggs, stated that the overall car segment finally showed an increase.   With a positive performance percentage wise for the upward value this week.  This is the fourth straight week that there were positive adjustments.  Beggs stated that, “the end-of-the-week adjustment reports indicated a significant number of daily, and thus total weekly, adjustments — almost 11,200 for the week.”  The car segments that didn’t show a positive increase are the luxury and prestigious level of vehicles.   Beggs explained that, “as a whole, the combined car segments finally broke into positive territory this week.  With a steady climb towards actual appreciation for eight of the last nine weeks, this week finally showed an increase of $13.01, with eight of the 10 car segments finishing in positive territory.” The truck segment showed a slight climb as opposed to the full-size crossover which went down. 

Have you noticed a positive change in performance at your dealership?

To read the full article on Auto Remarketing please click here.

Which Car Dealers are the Best in Customer Service?

J.D. Power and Associates just released the results of their 30^th annual Customer Satisfaction Survey for Auto Dealer Service.  This information helps potential customers make better decisions when dealing with a car dealership.  When you need to go to get your car serviced whether it is for repairs, maintenance, or recalls it is important to go to a dealership that has exceptional service.   About 114,200 people were surveyed for every car brand sold in the US on 5 key factors.  The factors included overall service quality, how the service experience was initiated, the experience with the service advisor, the overall impression of the service facility and the experience picking up the vehicle from a service appointment.

Based on a 1,000 point scale the results are below: 

• Lexus (837)
• Cadillac (827)
• Jaguar (822)
• Acura (817)
• BMW (816)

These results compared with last year’s results make interesting findings. The Lexus won the number one spot last year as well meaning that other car dealerships should take notice of their service.  Mercedes Benz and Cadillac have had a large improvement from the results of 2009.  On the contrary Volvo’s scores went from 767 last year to 763 this year.  Do you agree with these findings? Let me know by leaving a comment.   

If you would like to read the full article written by Aol Autos, click here.

Fun Friday- Car Dealership Cartoon