New Independent Buyer Research

Know Your Buyer,
Grow Your Lot

6 Things Today’s Buyers Are Telling You
(And What To Do About It) 

New research from Cox Automotive Research & Market Intelligence, developed in consultation with NIADA — built specifically for independent dealers. 

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The Numbers Every Independent Dealer Should Know 

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average time spent researching and shopping for a vehicle

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of buyers use a third-party listing site during their search

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average websites visited during the shopping process

Inside the Research: The Buyer Behind the Sale 

Independent dealers serve a buyer much of the industry overlooks — one shaped by financial reality, urgent need, and serious online research. This ebook translates Cox Automotive’s 2025 Independent Buyer Research into six data-backed trends, each paired with a practical action plan built specifically for independent retail dealers. 

You’ll learn: 

  1. The Trigger — why your buyer is need-driven, not lifestyle-driven, and how to meet urgency with trust 
  2. The Shopper — the financial reality shaping every decision your buyer makes 
  3. The Search — how buyers form an opinion about you online before they ever call 
  4. On the Lot — the gap between price satisfaction and deal trust, and how to close it 
  5. The Transaction — why cash signals constraint, not comfort 
  6. After the Sale — how the experience, not the vehicle, wins the relationship 

Plus a six-step action plan you can start this week. 

Be the First to Receive the Ebook 

Sign up and we’ll send “Know Your Buyer, Grow Your Lot” straight to your inbox the moment it’s released. 

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About the Research

The data in this ebook is drawn from Cox Automotive’s 2025 Independent Buyer Research, conducted with 384 used vehicle buyers who purchased from an independent dealership between September 2024 and August 2025. All respondents used the internet during the shopping and buying process. Results are weighted to be representative of the independent dealer buyer population. This research focuses on the retail independent dealer segment and is not specifically designed to reflect the buy-here-pay-here (BHPH) model. 

About NIADA

The National Independent Automobile Dealers Association (NIADA) is the oldest and largest national association representing the independent used vehicle industry. NIADA provided consultation on the framing of this research and its application to independent retail-focused dealers. The findings and analysis are those of Cox Automotive Research & Market Intelligence. 

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Additional resources

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Blog: Do You Have a 92% Blind Spot?

Are you missing a key piece of your marketing strategy? Most dealers are overlooking 92% of what’s driving their sales—not because the data isn’t missing, but because it’s not being tracked. This blog breaks down findings from a Cox Automotive and Perficient study of over 1 million car shoppers and shows how multi-touch attribution can help close the gap.

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Infographic: Top 4 Things Every Dealer Should Know

What separates top-performing dealers from the rest? This infographic highlights four key insights from our latest marketing measurement research. Learn what’s working, what’s missing, and how you can apply these findings to improve your strategy and ROI.

View the infographic