This has been a controversial topic for years now. Car Dealer’s shell out thousands of dollars a month to have their vehicle inventory posted to third party websites like AutoTrader, Cars.com and Showroom Logic. How can they properly know which is working and which is not?

I feel it’s the salesperson’s job to properly interview the car buyer to find out. Most will simply say “the internet” when asked, so it’s important to go a step further.

Last week I was talking with Dave Ingold over at Park Automall and he mentioned that his AutoTrader rep says as many as 80% show up without coming through as a lead. I personally think that number is a little high.

Last week I posted a survey on a website called ask500people.com. Here is the question (it is still live so the stats will change):

Now let’s look at the answers:

51 Percent Said They Would Just Show Up

I am part of the 51%. Last year when I was in the market for a used truck, I found 2 I liked at two different dealerships in Lakeland Florida. I printed each one out then drove to each dealership. I want to see the vehicle in person before I talk to a car salesman.

29% said they would call first, and only 20% said they would email first. Lets’ break this down even further (keep in mind these metrics are only recorded by some of the voters):

This Data Didn't Suprise Me

People in higher income brackets will show up at your dealership, so be ready. I was convinced when I worked at a tiny dealer in Haines City Florida. Many of our customers who were buying vehicles had Orlando addresses with credit beacons in the high 700′s. For a dealership in the middle of nowhere that didn’t advertise it was obvious to me. The problem was the salespeople were so excited to have a deal they didn’t care to “bother” the customer to find out where they came from.

If you go to the survey you can see more data. Hopefully we’ll see more people participate as long as this stay live.