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How Sellers Really Move from Research to Sell or Trade-In: Insights from the Car Buyer Journey Study
Summary: Vehicle sellers don’t start at your store; they start with research online. By the time they raise their hand or show up on your lot, many already have a number in mind for their vehicle’s value. That’s what the 2025 Car Buyer Journey Study reinforces: the path from research to selling or trading isn’t driven by timing as much as it’s driven by credibility and trust. Sellers lean on familiar valuation sources, clear cash offers, and consistent experiences to inform their decision-making. Here’s how the key findings from the Car Buyer Journey Study translate into clear opportunities for your dealership and what you can do now. Research Starts with Recognition, Not Discovery The Car Buyer Journey Study shows that 63%Kelley Blue Book
The Dealership of the Future Operates as One Connected System
Summary: The 2026 Cox Automotive Fixed Ops & Ownership Study shows that while most buyers intend to return to the selling dealer for service, disconnected systems between sales, service, and parts often break that intent before the first visit. Dealerships that operate as one connected system across fixed ops deliver more consistent service experiences, build trust, and unlock long‑term loyalty and acquisition opportunities across the ownership lifecycle. Vehicle ownership is a journey, but most customers experience it as a series of moments: buying the vehicle, booking service, waiting on parts, receiving updates, and deciding whether to return. When those moments feel
How Top Dealers Build Confidence, Speed, and Trust: Key Insights from the 2025 Car Buyer Journey
Summary: The 2025 Cox Automotive Car Buyer Journey Study shows satisfaction reaching record highs, even as affordability pressures persist. As buyers complete more steps digitally and experience faster, more connected transactions, confidence and trust rise across the dealership experience. These insights help clarify what today’s buyers value most and how dealerships can better support decision‑making at critical moments. The car‑buying experience is improving, even as affordability remains a challenge. Vehicle prices are elevated, interest rates continue to affect monthly payments, and buyers are scrutinizing financial decisions more closely than they have in years. Yet customer satisfaction with the car‑buying journey has reached a new high.
Top Takeaways from the 2025 Car Buyer Journey Study: What Dealerships Need to Know
Join Vanessa Ton, Senior Manager of Research and Market Intelligence at Cox Automotive, as she presents the latest findings from Cox Automotive’s 16th annual Car Buyer Journey study. Learn how evolving affordability challenges, digital tools, AI, and shifting buyer behaviors are shaping the automotive market. Get actionable strategies to attract, convert, and retain today’s car shoppers plus tips to streamline the online-to-in-store experience and maximize lifetime customer value. Watch now to gain a competitive edge and future-proof your dealership in a rapidly changing market.Kelley Blue Book
Be the Answer When Shoppers Ask AI
Why Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) Matters for Dealerships Car shoppers are already asking AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Google AI things like “Which dealership should I go to?” Instead of clicking through search results, they’re getting direct answers. The question is: does AI mention your dealership? What Is GEO? Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) helps AI understand, trust, and recommend your dealership by name. SEO helps people find your website.GEO helps AI recommend your dealership when shoppers ask questions. Why GEO Matters Search is changing fast. AI doesn’t rank links, it gives answers. GEO makes sure your dealership shows up
Content & Creative That Drives Dealer Growth
Explore how Dealer.com’s Managed Services content and creative solutions turn strategy into performance. This lookbook highlights real dealership examples, from website visuals and promotions to service and fixed ops creative – designed by automotive specialists to attract shoppers, reinforce your brand, and convert visits into action.
How Buyers Are Shopping and What Dealers Can Do to Stay Ahead
Buyer satisfaction reached record levels in 2025, even as affordability pressure, cross‑shopping, and complexity continue to rise. If you’re a dealer, this should have is worth your attention. According to data from the 2025 Cox Automotive Car Buyer Journey Study and explored in the infographic, 5 Car Buyer Journey Trends Dealers Can Act On In 2026, higher satisfaction isn’t coming from easier conditions. It comes from buyers who are shopping differently. Dealers who support that behavior are seeing stronger outcomes. Those who don’t are feeling the friction. This article breaks down the five trends behind that shift and the immediate actions you can take to keep deals moving. Satisfaction Hits
The industry may not ever get to 100% “flip-proof” auto lending – but you can definitely get closer than you are today
Featuring AVP/Lender Strategist Andy Mayers with insights from the latest Cox Automotive Research Cox Automotive sees this trend climbing year over year: more consumers are starting their car-buying journey online — and increasingly, they’re researching financing options before anything else. In our latest Car Buying Journey study, over half of buyers explored financing on a lender’s website, putting a spotlight on the long-standing dominance of indirect lending. To be clear, indirect remains a strong origination channel — but technology, among other factors, is evolving the marketplace. Consumers now have more entry paths to shopping, and financing steps are moving up the funnel. That means lenders who rely solely
Convert finance‑approved buyers into booked business
A direct‑to‑indirect strategy that speeds deal‑making and safeguards against flipping. Transcript: 00:00:05And we’re back. 00:00:06Welcome to the next episode of Small Bites. 00:00:09I’m Greg Payne, Marketing Manager with Cox Automotive, and I’m joined as always by Andy Mayers, AVP of Dealertrack Lender Solutions. 00:00:17Now in this episode, we’re going to be going in depth on a solution that has a fairly ambiguous name: Lender Referral. 00:00:24I know I’m not alone in asking this. 00:00:26Who exactly is Lender Referral referring to, and to whom? 00:00:30Great question. 00:00:31What we call lender referral today is a product that’s evolved as the industry has changed. Consumers want to