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Tags: Google, Marketing, Car buying

Tag Links: Google, Marketing, Car buying

Google says 30% of car buyers take less than a week to decide on a car- Are they right?
Google is reporting that car buyers take much less time to make a decision on buying a car than the auto industry believes.

The auto industry marketers say we take almost 6 months to decide but Google's data says they're on crack.

Here's a snippet from the Google data...

Thirty-percent of car buyers start the search for a new car less than a week before they make a purchase. Seventeen percent start just two weeks ahead. Nineteen percent start a month in advance. That’s almost 70% of the car-buyers starting the process no sooner than a month in advance.

So who is right?

The auto guys or the Google guys?

When you have made the decision to buy a car, how long does it take you before you finally pull the trigger and what process do you use to research your purchase decision.

And all you car salespeople reading Auto Spies (We KNOW you all do and it's OK that we're your guilty indulgence), let us know how it looks from your side of the table I'm sure we'll get some interesting insight here from our readers...

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Google says 30% of car buyers take less than a week to decide on a car- Are they right?



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BMW4me4everBMW4me4ever - 9/22/2007 1:27:34 PMView My AgentSpace
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Being in the Luxury car side of things for the last 12 years, I think both are on crack. I would say the average car buyer takes about 1 to 2 months to decide.

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EnnNorakEnnNorak - 9/22/2007 5:59:14 PM
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I take about 2 years now because product life cycles are so short that a promising new product or technical development is announced almost every month. My automotive research life is made a little easier with red flags that go up when I see certain things like 90-degree V6 engines, transverse engines, CVT transmissions, cylinder deactivation, SOHC instead of DOHC engines, 3 valves per cylinder instead of 4, doors with no frames to guide the windows, brochures that fail to fully disclose the technical aspects of the car maker's AWD design, turbos that use cheap automotive alloys rather than aerospace-type superalloys.


tcatnattcatnat - 9/22/2007 1:51:35 PM
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This is vey subjective. The lease on my A4 is up next August and I am already researching my next ride. I do not plan on test driving until about a month before but I am already gathering info and feedback from varios websites and consumer comments such as this site.

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EnnNorakEnnNorak - 9/22/2007 6:04:57 PM
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My advice is to start test driving now. There are so many new vehicles to look at and so many negatives to discover. Auto marketing does not fully disclose all the design and manufacturing shortcuts and flaws arising from competitive pressures. It is difficult to find a perfect car these days in any price range, inevitably leading to many tradeoffs to be considered before making the final purchase decision.


bmwgrlbmwgrl - 9/22/2007 3:03:58 PM
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Well... Depends if Google is talking strictly about dealerships or about one buying from a private owner. Definitely took me only a week when I was actually looking for real and not for fun (I looked at classifieds and daydreamed when I had my permit..), but I was looking at used car classifieds from private owners and only some auto dealers. But I really don't count in this: found a nice ad in the newspaper and bought my car from a private owner because it was such a good deal, lol. However, since Google seems to be talking more about car dealerships instead of private owners, consumers (car-looking-people) do do some sneaky "tricks" to get the lowest price from a dealer. This consumer process could take up to two weeks or more, really depending how lenient the dealers are about the price. Other consumers put a lot of thought into buying a car because it can be considered as an investment and one is giving a lot of money for that car. Those two example ways can prove Google's hypothesis wrong easily. However, it seems a lot of people don't do it the clever way and just straight up buy it off the lot after see a cool T.V./online video ad, supporting Google's hypothesis and data. Meh, I wish I had that kind of pocket change. But this is basically the disadvantage of numbers, they don't really give details about the consumer side of the market.

Man, I put too much thought into this. But.. Car companies making more youtube videos? AWESOME! I get to procrastinate from homework more!

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EnnNorakEnnNorak - 9/22/2007 6:09:57 PM
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Google wants you to believe that you can simply google everything you need to know and that googling takes little time and is relatively effortless. I use Google a lot for may things but am pissed off that Google continues to do business with people who spam you while Googling and whose pages have some software trick that locks you into their website in a way that you have to reboot to escape.


kart1kart1 - 9/22/2007 5:27:00 PM
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I'd say it depends on what kind of buyer they are. The 30% that Google is talking about most likely reflects buyers who care less about brand and features and buy one kind of car. For example if a person is looking to buy a cheap minivan I'd say they'd look in the paper on Thursday and end up in the Dodge dealer on Sunday. This obviously doesn't apply to almost all of the luxury car buyers because most of that shopping traditionally happens through the internet. For example my local Acura dealerships don't even have salesmen waiting outside like vultures, actually no one will even come and ask you if you are looking for a car (they will say hi or something - I noticed this when my car was in for an oil change and I was looking around). In contrast in a Toyota dealer or a Honda dealer some one will show up and ask if you'd like to buy a car. So you can expect that luxury car buyers will not be persuaded within a week.

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kart1kart1 - 9/22/2007 5:28:59 PM
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To answer the question about Google, I'd say they are not far off. For luxury car buyers this doesn't apply at all but for regular Chevy, Ford, Dodge and Toyota buyers this apply (Notice I left Honda out because I'd like to think that Honda buyers take a little bit more time since they are not offered with so many deals).


EnnNorakEnnNorak - 9/22/2007 6:16:26 PM
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kart1, luxury car buyers are generally smarter buyers who will take the necessary time to make a sound purchasing decision. There is another group of luxury buyers who seek a specific brand and they are prepared to google for the best price (unless they have more money than brains). I look for the best value in technical performance and buy on a "cost plus" basis only. I completely ignore all marketing hype.


bmwdrvrbmwdrvr - 9/23/2007 8:56:35 AM
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well i would disagree just because you buy a car in a week doesnt make you an idiot. in fact with as much research is online it doesnt take months, unless you need to wait months to buy months to buy a car. for some people its just a matter finding the right dealership, and the right car at the right price....for others like luxury car buyers, its a matter of finding the car, and the price. Some people dont cross shop luxury cars, but someone interested in a malibu, maxda6, sonata, camry maybe cross shopping.....so those buyers have to be smart, because they are not only looking for a price, and dearlership, but the right car from a sea of other cars. many luxury car buyers are very brand loyal(as are mainstream buyers, it doesnt take a long time to find a car,because your looking for a price) if you would only buy a jag and you need a full size that means there is one car you would choose the XJ, so you just have to find the right price and dealer


Htay7500Htay7500 - 9/22/2007 9:11:15 PM
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"Google says 30% of car buyers take less than a week to decide on a car- Are they right?" well during spring break, he had to decide what to get to replace his destroyed sportage, and now, an accord.

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MercedesKingMercedesKing - 9/22/2007 10:28:21 PM
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I lease whatever the head of the homeowners association tells me to lease. Currently, I drive a 2005 Mercedes C-class.

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bmwdrvrbmwdrvr - 9/23/2007 8:46:33 AM
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thats sad


SpicyMikeySpicyMikey - 9/23/2007 12:32:47 PM
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I'm surprised 30% buy a car in less then a week, but, 6 months seems ridiculous too!. You'd have to be awful indecisive to need 6 months to buy ANYTHING. I wouldn't even take that long deciding on a new HOUSE. Personally, I usually do it in a few weekends of test drives and close analysis. There's really not that many cars to consider in any one class and category. If you're staying attentive to the market, you probably already have a good idea what you want and just need to see things in person and look for who's offering the best deals at that time.

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MeanVulcanMeanVulcan - 9/23/2007 3:35:59 PM
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What kind of logic is this?

Google says ONLY 30% of the people, so that leaves 70% to still guide/determine how the market behaves ==> if anything it is saying that a MINORITY of the market takes less than a week!

Here's a real statistic ... or at least a good estimate... 70% of the postings on this forum are either, stupid, biased, childish, incomplete truths, pointless.

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S4cabriofoxoneS4cabriofoxone - 9/23/2007 11:21:09 PMView My AgentSpace
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Well, it depends on how you look at it.

Technically, I'm not in the market for a new car. But I still go out an drive them every once in awhile, and consider any new luxury car that merits attention. I'm always reshaping my thoughts for what's next.

But when I'm really on the market, it takes me about three months.

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