Study on Car Buying Strategies 1. Did you buy or lease a car in the last four months? If you did not buy a car in the last four months, it is not necessary for you to complete this survey. However, please return it so that we can check your name off the mailing list. That will help us a great deal. 2. How many dealers did you visit? 3. Please tell us all the reasons for your dealership visits. (MARK ALL THAT APPLY; for example, if you visited one dealership because it was close to home and a second dealership because they were having a sale, please mark both boxes.) o Close to home o Close to work o Purchased there before o Heard good things (for example low prices, good selection, good service) o Sale or promotion o Close to other dealer I had just visited o Other: 4. With how many dealers did you get to the point of negotiating the price for a specific car you were interested in? 5. How many dealers did you visit that sold the type of car you eventually purchased? (For example, if you bought a Honda Accord, how many Honda dealers did you visit?) 6. With how many dealers did you get to the point of negotiating the price for the type of car you eventually purchased?
7. Did you bring another person along with you to help negotiate the price of the car you eventually purchased? (SKIP to question 9) 8. (If Yes) Why did you bring along another person to the dealer? (MARK ALL THAT APPLY) o The other person is my spouse/partner o The other person knows a lot about cars o The other person is a good bargainer o The other person is male o Other: 9. When talking about price with the dealer from whom you bought your car, did you tell the dealer each of following? (MARK ONE ANSWER FOR EACH) Yes No I know the invoice price for the car o o I know the fair price (market value) for the car? o o I used the Internet to do research o o I used other sources to do research o o 10. When talking about price with the dealer from whom you bought your car, did you have a price offer (not necessarily in writing) from a competing dealer? (SKIP to question 13) 11. (If Yes) What was the source of your price offer(s)? o a competing dealer to whom you had been referred by a online buying service o a competing dealer to whom you had been referred by a manufacturer web site o any other competing dealer 12. Did you mention the competing price offer to the dealer from whom you purchased your car? 13. Did you negotiate in person, by phone, or by e-mail with the dealer from whom you bought your car? (MARK ALL THAT APPLY) o In person o By phone o By e-mail 14. What would you have done if you hadn t gotten the price you wanted from the dealer you bought your car from? (MARK ONLY ONE) o I still would have bought my car at the same dealership, even if this meant paying a higher price o I would have bought the same type of car at another dealership o I would have bought a different type of car o I would not have bought a car at that time 15. How happy are you with the price you paid for your car? o Very happy o Moderately happy o Neither happy nor unhappy o Moderately unhappy o Very unhappy
16. For each source of information you used to shop for a new car, please tell us how it was used: (PLEASE MARK ALL BOXES THAT APPLY FOR EACH SOURCE OF INFORMATION.) Source of Information Did not use which car to purchase which dealers to visit or buy from I used it to find out manufacturer suggested retail price (MSRP) dealer cost (invoice/ hold-back) fair price or market value for the car Consumer Reports Other guide publications (e.g. Edmunds, Kelly Blue Book) Auto enthusiast magazine (e.g. Motor Trend, Car & Driver) Manufacturer brochure Financial institution (e.g. credit union) Dealership Friends / Co-workers / Mechanic 17. Did you use the Internet in any way to help you shop for a new vehicle? (e.g. to research vehicles, find a dealer, etc.) (SKIP to question 23) 18. For each source of information on the Internet you used to shop for a new car, please tell us how it was used: (PLEASE MARK ALL BOXES THAT APPLY FOR EACH SOURCE OF INFORMATION.) Source of Information Manufacturer websites (e.g. Audi.com, Lexus.com, Saturn.com) Individual Dealer Web Site (e.g. of your neighborhood dealer) Online buying services (e.g. Autobytel.com, Carpoint.com, Autoweb.com, Cars.com, Carsdirect.com, CarClub.com, Sam s or Costco s Internet Referral service, Driversseat.com, AutoVantage.com, Vehix.com) Informational websites (e.g. ConsumerReports.com, Kbb.com (Kelly Blue Book.com), Edmunds.com, JDPower.com) Did not use which car to purchase which dealers to visit or buy from I used it to find out manufacturer suggested retail price (MSRP) the dealer cost (invoice/ hold- back) fair price or market value for the car Chat rooms or bulletin boards
19. Did you submit a formal request to any online buying service (e.g. Autobytel.com, Carpoint.com, Autoweb.com) to be referred to one of the site s affiliated dealers? (SKIP to question 21) 20. (If Yes) Did you purchase from one of the dealers to whom you were formally referred by an online buying service? 21. Did you submit a formal request to any manufacturer web site you visited (e.g. Audi.com, Lexus.com, Saturn.com) with the understanding that it would be forwarded to a dealer who would get back to you with a price quote? (SKIP to question 23) 22. (If Yes) Did you purchase from one of the dealers to whom you were formally referred by a manufacturer web site? 23. For how many types of cars did you collect information from traditional or Internet sources (as listed in questions 16 and 18)? For example, if you collected information on a Honda Accord, a Honda Civic, and a Toyota Camry you collected information on 3 types of cars. 24. Did you end up purchasing a type of car for which you had collected information from traditional or Internet sources? 25. Please tell us how many hours you spent shopping for your car: Approximately hours researching on the Internet Approximately hours visiting dealerships Approximately hours researching offline information sources (other than dealerships) About you 26. What is your gender? o Male o Female 27. What is your age? o Under 20 o 20-34 o 35-49 o 50-64 o 65 and over 28. Please tell us what is the highest level of education you completed? (MARK ONLY ONE ANSWER) o 8 th grade or less o Some high school (but did not graduate) o High school graduate (or GED) o Some college o College degree o Some graduate work o Graduate or professional degree
29. Please tell us the race or ethnicity you identify with: (MARK ALL THAT APPLY) o Caucasian o Black/African American o Asian o Pacific Islander o Hispanic/Latino o Other 30. Which one of the following best describes your household s total income before taxes in 2001? (MARK ONLY ONE ANSWER) o Under $20,000 o $20,000-$29,999 o $30,000-$44,999 o $45,000-$59,999 o $60,000-$74,999 o $75,000-$99,999 o $100,000-$124,999 o $125,000-$149,999 o $150,000-$199,999 o $200,000 or more 31. Please tell us how you feel about the following statements: Agree Strongly Agree Disagree Disagree Strongly I do a lot of price comparison when making larger purchases I frequently use the Internet to obtain information about products I am interested in I am the kind of person who gathers as much information as possible before visiting car dealers I read car- and/or truck- enthusiast magazines regularly I tend to visit dealers whenever a new model is introduced I am afraid that I will be taken advantage of by a dealer when negotiating the price of a new car It is hard for me to find time to shop for a new vehicle