Consumers remain very concerned about the price of their new automobile purchases, but are not worried about their ability to obtain financing, according to the results of a survey conducted by J.D. Power and Associates.
The results were part of J.D. Power’s annual Avoider Survey, which analyzes why people choose not to buy particular vehicles.
The most popular reason that kept people from buying a particular new car was the exterior look or design, followed by purchase price. More than one-third of those surveyed cited the look and design as the primary reason that kept them from buying a new car; just over 20% cited the cost. Lack of reliability, interior design, and online ratings were the other top avoidances. Among the top five reasons, the percent change for all except online ratings remained flat from a year earlier. For online ratings, 19% cited that as the reason they chose not to buy a specific vehicle, up from 15% in 2010.
The ability to obtain financing barely registered as a primary driver for what led people to buy a new car, according to the survey. And it has remained flat dating back to 2007. About 1% cited the ability to obtain financing as the primary reason, a figure that has remained steady for nearly five years. Gas mileage and reliability were the top reasons that drove people to buy a particular car in 2012, compared with reliability and the “deal” back in 2010.
Three of the top four drivers that led people to buy cars were financial-related, though. Reliability, gas mileage, and getting a good deal can all be tied back to the investment that a consumer makes when driving a car. But even though a number of lenders have tightened their credit underwriting criteria during the most recent recession, the ability to obtain financing did not play a major role in the decision-making process.
