The UK's best places to buy a car revealed by new survey
Where are the best places to buy a new or used car in the UK? The latest Driver Power car dealer survey reveals all...
Ever wondered whether your local dealer makes the grade in terms of service, costs and reliability? For the first time, Auto Express, Driver Power and leading data analyst Statista have ranked the top 1,000 new and used dealerships in the UK and Republic of Ireland.
The survey polled customers and peer-to-peer recommendations from more than 20,000 dealers and industry experts between September 2016 and January this year to find the top 1,000. Dealers were scored on quality of advice and information, price, offer and overall satisfaction to create a customer rating score.
Brian Walters, Research and Insight Director at Driver Power, said: “Consumers want to know more than just the best new and used cars to own, they want to know the best dealers in their area to buy and service them.
“With over 16,000 new and used car dealers in the UK and Republic of Ireland, identifying the top dealers was no small task! We’re delighted to have worked with Statista to collate the Best Car Dealers 2017 list for the first time – we hope the database search function will prove invaluable to car-buyers.”
The Best Car Dealers 2017 programme used two distinct online surveys: a survey of new-car buyers and a second “peer-to-peer” survey of car dealers and industry experts such as garages, repair shops and auto parts suppliers.
Consumers were asked to rate the dealers with which they have experience on factors such as the demeanour of salespeople, the ability to negotiate a good price, the quality of the after-sales service, and the likelihood to recommend to a friend or family member.
The unique peer-to-peer survey identified which car dealers (other than themselves) these experts would most recommend to their family and friends. A dealer’s scores from both surveys were then combined to create an overall score on which the top dealers were identified. This robust research approach yielded an extensive database of tens of thousands of data points from which Statista has identified the Best Car Dealers 2017.
• Click here to take the 2017 Driver Power Survey
Thomas Clark, from Statista, explains the intention behind this ambitious market research project: “This ranking serves as a beacon for consumers who want to quickly find out where they can expect the best advice and service while looking for a car”
“The new ranking also pays tribute to the fact that getting the best deal for your personal or professional transportation has become a lot more complex in recent years: once upon a time it was about a single-act purchase. Now dealers also provide financing and insurance services.
“This drastic change in demand and the complexity of the market with the addition of hybrids, e-cars and car-sharing, dealers are expected to help consumers in every step of the car purchase process. Forward-looking car dealers understand these trends – and act service their clients accordingly.”
To find the best car dealer near you, click here to search the Auto Express Driver Power Best Car Dealers database. For full deatils on the car dealer survey, click here and read our FAQ document...
