- The number of mainstream buyers paying over sticker has dropped 7% in the past year.
- Lower prices and increased inventory has made the car buying process more satisfying.
- Porsche provides the best buying experience, while Chrysler the worst, according to the study.
America is a deeply divided country, but there’s one thing that unites all of us – hatred of car dealers. However, a new study suggests things are getting slightly better.
According to J.D. Power, overall customer satisfaction with purchasing a vehicle climbed from a score of 793 last year to 801 in 2024. That’s basically an 80% grade as scores are based on a 1,000 point scale.
More: Study Finds 25% Of Car Buyers Won’t Return To Dealership That Charged Above MSRP
So what’s behind the improvement? Pricing and inventory. The shortages and markups from the pandemic have largely subsided, meaning some of the power has shifted from dealers back to consumers.
Given these developments, it’s not surprising to learn the number of people paying over MSRP has dropped significantly. J.D. Power says 15% of mass market buyers paid over sticker last year, but that number dropped to 8% in 2024. For premium buyers, the number fell from 10% to 6%.
While everyone can get onboard with lower prices, dealers still have a lot of work to do in regards to personnel, paperwork, and delivery. It also appears the EV buying experience is significantly worse than that of an ICE-powered vehicle.
The buyer satisfaction score for mass market ICE-powered vehicles was 857, but just 822 for EVs. J.D. Power also noted a “similar pattern exists among buyers of premium vehicles.”
Part of this appears to be a lack of dealership employees knowledgeable about electric vehicles. However, even Tesla buyers had “markedly lower satisfaction with the effectiveness of the vehicle features explanation.”
Among premium brands, sales satisfaction was highest at Porsche. They were followed by Infiniti and Jaguar. Genesis got a dismal rating of 781, while Alfa Romeo was second to last with a significantly higher score of 810. That put them two points behind Mercedes and Lexus.
On the mainstream side of things, top honors went to Mini, Buick, and Subaru. Chrysler, Mitsubishi, and Toyota were the worst.
