"Motorists lack confidence to buy online" 05 | 04 | 2011

NO SOONER had Tesco Cars been launched before a survey announced two-thirds of motorists lack the confidence to buy a car online. The poll was carried out by Manheim Auctions, which operates a 10-acres site in Glasgow offering more than 20,000 vehicles a year.

The poll, which received 3000 responses, revealed that despite spending an average of 18 hours online researching a car before they make a purchase, taking the plunge and buying online is still a step too far for most.

And 25% said that although they’d be happy to find a car and agree a price online, they wouldn’t part with any cash until they’d seen in person.

“There is no question the internet has become the primary research tool for motorists looking for a car," Craig Mailey, marketing director, Manheim Auctions, said. “But when it comes to actually buying online, without seeing the vehicle first, consumers are just not ready to take the plunge.

"Motorists are wary and despite the rise in the number of used car websites, we’ve found that consumers are not confident enough to make this sort of purchase online.”

The study also showed that motorists spend hours trawling the internet researching their next car, looking at the best deals on the market, comparing makes and models on a variety of websites and checking out insurance, tax brackets and increasingly fuel consumption for vehicles.

And here's the really big surprise (well, not really); over half of motorists admitted to surfing car websites just for fun, searching for their ‘dream’. Now that was money well spent.

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Jim McGill