One surprise in the surveys is that nearly everyone still wants to visit a dealer when shopping for a car. That doesn't mean they want to talk with dealers, however -- a self-serve kiosk at the dealership would make one in two customers more comfortable:
When comparison shopping for a car, the majority of millennials prefer to visit dealers in person (91 percent), but roughly half (52 percent) would prefer to use self-service kiosks or mobile devices at the dealership to automate the shopping process versus talking to a person. In addition, 89 percent will compare products, services and rates on company Web sites, while large percentages of millennials report they will seek advice from third-party consumer Web sites (65 percent), third-party consumer blogs (45 percent), friends or colleagues via social networking sites (61 percent), and friends and family (87 percent).
There's no substitute for a test drive, and most people still trust their real-world friends rather than their Facebook friends.
The results of the surveys had two other interesting findings. First, online brochures are now a standard part of the car-shopping experience, so it's important that they be easy to use and that they work properly on all popular browsers (translation: Don't build something too crazy). Second, in this tough market a prolific online representative, like , could help sell some cars.