On the Dash:
- Inventory availability reached one of its strongest levels, but pricing and trade-in negotiations continue to shape customer satisfaction.
- Faster transactions alone do not improve the buying experience if shoppers remain frustrated with pricing discussions.
- Dealers that provide transparent pricing, streamline negotiations and encourage online preparation may improve the overall purchase experience.
Consumer sentiment weighed heavily on the car-buying experience in June, according to CDK’s latest Ease of Purchase Scorecard. The overall Ease of Purchase score fell to 80% from 87% in May, although it remained above last June’s 77%. While inventory availability and transaction speed improved, buyers reported growing frustration when negotiating prices and trade-in values.
Supporting dealership visits
Consumers continued to complete their purchases in person despite the growth of digital retailing. In June, 77% of buyers completed the entire transaction at the dealership, the highest percentage CDK has recorded since launching the scorecard four years ago.
Vehicle availability also improved, with 55% of buyers purchasing a vehicle that was in stock, up from 48% in May, 51% a year ago, and the 2025 average of 50%. CDK noted that higher in-stock availability has historically contributed to stronger Ease of Purchase scores.
On the other hand, negotiating the final vehicle price and trade-in value proved to be the largest obstacles for buyers. Satisfaction with both measures fell eight percentage points from May, even though both remained higher than last June. One buyer described the negotiation process by saying, “The dealership didn’t want to give me what I wanted for my trade-in, so we haggled on sticker price.”
Satisfaction also declined across other financial aspects of the transaction, including financing, credit applications and paperwork completion. Although financial negotiations became more difficult, dealerships completed transactions more quickly in June.
47% of buyers said the purchase process took the time they expected, up from 44% in May. Another 21% said the transaction finished faster than expected, compared with 20% the previous month.
Despite those improvements, CDK found that faster transactions did not translate into higher customer satisfaction, reinforcing findings from its recent Friction Points Study.
Prepared buyers
Buyers who researched vehicles ahead of time, secured financing before visiting the dealership or completed portions of the purchase online generally reported more positive experiences. Several respondents cited positive equity, financing pre-approval and completing paperwork online as factors that simplified the buying process.
By contrast, dissatisfied buyers consistently pointed to pricing negotiations, trade-in values and a lack of transparency around out-the-door pricing as the biggest pain points.
