Study: Americans Feel Taken Advantage of at the Car Dealership

THE 2016 BEEPI CONSUMER AUTOMOTIVE INDEX

Report Reveals Frustration with the Old-School Car-Buying Experience, Especially Among Millennials and Women

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Jul 21, 2016, 09:00 ET

LOS ALTOS, Calif., July 21, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Beepi, Inc., the national marketplace to buy and sell cars online, today revealed the findings of its 2016 Consumer Automotive Index, a national survey, conducted online in April by Harris Poll among 2,135 U.S. adults age 18+, that explores Americans' attitudes about the evolving experience of car ownership. One clear takeaway: people are fed up with the old-school experience of buying and selling a car at a dealership. 87% of American adults dislike something about the process of purchasing a vehicle at a traditional car dealership.

87% of Americans dislike something about shopping at a traditional car dealership. 56% of Millennials would even prefer cleaning their homes than dealing with a car salesperson.

80% of parents with kids under 18 strongly dislike haggling at the dealer.

Key findings include:

More than three in five Americans (61%) feel like they're taken advantage of at least some of the time when shopping at a car dealership.
- 52% of Americans feel anxious or uncomfortable when visiting a car dealership.
Millennials (ages 18 to 34) appear to especially dislike the experience, with 56% reporting they'd prefer to clean their homes than negotiate with a car dealer. Further:
- 34% would rather wait in line at the DMV.
- 26% would rather do their taxes.
This dislike also tends to extend to Gen X Americans, with 24% of Americans ages 35-44 preferring to get a root canal than having to negotiate with a car dealer.
Millennial women are more likely than Millennial men to feel pressured by a dealership salesperson to buy something right away (62% vs. 50%).
- And 49% of Millennial women report feeling tricked into buying additional, unnecessary features, compared to 34% of Millennial men.
The discomfort felt at the traditional dealership is also evident among parents. 80 percent of those with children under 18 living at home would rather do anything else unpleasant than negotiate with a dealership sales person, versus 71 percent of those without.

People are interested in exploring high tech alternatives:

Over half of Americans (54%) would love the ability to buy or sell a car without ever leaving home.
Two in five (42%) would be comfortable purchasing a car online without a test drive if certain assurances (like a money-back guarantee) were in place.

"The stereotypical used car dealer is a caricature Americans have had to deal with for far too long," said Beepi's senior automotive editor Alex Lloyd. "People don't want to waste their weekends and be upsold when there is an easier, more transparent way to do things. This study helps us better understand what people want, so we can continue to improve the experience of buying, selling and leasing cars."

The 2016 Beepi Consumer Automotive Index also explored consumer attitudes about the future of car ownership and autonomous vehicles. In the wake of the Tesla autopilot accident, people still have some reservations about autonomous vehicles. According to our survey, nearly half of Americans (46 %) say they would not feel safe owning a self-driving car.

Interestingly, older women are less fearful. Among seniors (age 65+), 47 percent of men say they would be scared to drive alongside an autonomous vehicle, but that figure drops to 38 percent of women in the same age group.
Millennials seem to be more open to this change and can see the potential positive impact on their daily lives. One-third of those aged 18 to 34 say driving would be less stressful, and 25 percent expect self-driving cars to help with productivity while in the car.

The full report, Beepi's 2016 Consumer Automotive Index, is available here: https://www.beepi.com/consumer-index

Methodology:
This survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris Poll on behalf of Beepi from April 25-27, 2016 among 2,135 adults ages 18 and older. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. For complete survey methodology, including weighting variables, please contact us.

About Beepi
Beepi is the first startup to take on, and successfully disrupt, the pre-owned car industry. A national peer-to-peer marketplace, Beepi is a way to buy, sell or lease a quality car completely online, giving consumers a superior experience that is fast, secure and even fun. Beepi has been licensed by the Department of Motor Vehicles since December 2013. For more information, please visit www.beepi.com.

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SOURCE Beepi, Inc.