CarGurus on Dec. 5 released its U.S. Consumer Insights Report. The eighth annual study examines shopper preferences, challenges, and trends along the car buying and selling journey.
The study shows comfort with online car shopping is at an all-time high—83% of consumers prefer to do more from home, up from 72% in 2022. Even so, most (86%) still choose to see the vehicle in person before buying.
Shoppers are considering more makes, models, and dealerships to find the best fit. A majority of consumers now consider three or more brands when starting the process (53% in 2025 vs. 43% in 2024), and 66% were flexible on the make/model. Of those who replaced a vehicle, 70% switched to a different brand. Shoppers are also visiting more dealerships to find the right car at the right price. In 2025, 61% of respondents visited two or more dealerships, up from 54% in 2024.
As consumers consider more options, they are leaning into digital tools to guide decision-making. Most buyers and sellers (80%) are open to using AI, and 26% are already utilizing it. Consumers are most interested in using AI to compare vehicles (44%), find listings (40%), and summarize reviews on cars (39%) and dealerships (36%). Shopper segments most open to AI are Millennials (86%) and Gen X (77%).
Most respondents (73%) said economic factors influenced their buying/selling decisions this year, prompting 31% to buy used over new, 24% to hold onto their cars longer, and 23% to delay the process. On the whole, though, transaction timelines were consistent with last year. Over 80% of buyers and 86% of sellers finished the process in under a month.
The survey covered over 3,000 recent car buyers and sellers.
