Shoppers Have Harder Time Finding the Right Car in October

Disruptions in inventory, whether it was due to stop sales, model year turnovers or even natural disasters, seem to have put a dent in the most recent Ease of Purchase score compiled by CDK.

October experienced a drop to 87% of car buyers who said buying a car was easy. That’s down from 89% in September and the record of 93% set in August. While still higher than the 85% recorded in October 2023, the decline is a clear signal that inventory is never a settled issue for the nation’s franchised car dealers.

The number of people who were able to buy the vehicle they wanted in stock fell sharply to 49% from 54% in September. It’s even off from the 52% recorded last October. This could’ve also possibly led to the fact that fewer people said it was easy to take a test drive, falling to 78%, a response that rarely dips under 80%.

Even though slightly more people had to buy their vehicle in transit, 25% up from 24% in September, or order it from the factory, 19% up from 15% in September, most considered whichever route they went easy, 76%, the same as last month.

Nearly every other step in the purchase process saw little change whether it was the slight drop in price and trade-in negotiations or the minimal gains in applying for credit.

It also took shoppers much longer than they expected to buy cars in October. That number increased from 25% in September to 32% in October. Although this is still an improvement from last October’s 35%. Conversely, the number of shoppers who said it took less time had a precipitous fall to 15% in October from 25% in September.

One respondent complained that there were “too many things to choose from” when it came to finalizing the deal and another stressed that there was more paperwork than they expected. The number of buyers who said completing necessary forms was easy fell slightly to 70% in October from 72% in September.

The fourth quarter isn’t off to a great start when it comes to Ease of Purchase. Unless inventory issues smooth out, the end of the year might see declines continue just when the industry needs a strong finish.