Too Many Happy Returns Making Car Dealers Sad
April 13, 2008
Automobile dealers nationwide aren’t beating the drum too loudly, but privately most are saying they want new car buyers to buy their cars instead of lease.
According to a survey conducted by Buyingadvice.com, those dealers might be getting their wish sooner than they thought.
Sixty-four percent of those surveyed say they see no advantages to leasing a car over buying one, while another 71 percent say leasing a car is far more risky than buying.
To be fair, the survey also showed 75 percent of those respondents say they’ve never leased a car before, and just 40 percent admitted to not being all that up on all the advantages of leasing over buying.
Still, the survey paints a clear picture that a majority of prospective new car buyers believe that traditional buying is the way to go, and the dealers couldn’t agree more.
Dealers say sky-rocketing gas prices and a weakened economy are making drivers turn in their big ticket SUVs instead of purchasing them outright at lease end.
And because gas prices are rising almost by the minute, it seems, those SUVs and other gas-guzzlers are stuck in PARK – on dealership lots.
To deter buyers from leasing, many dealerships are getting creative and offering buyers different ways to buy, like the newly popular 72-month loan.
As KIA Sales Manager, Jeff Steffes explains dealerships are looking for ways to get, “Back to the reality of how we make buying a car more attractive than leasing.”
