Transactions are moving faster than at any point in the past five years, thanks to renewed adoption of digital tools and process streamlining. But while speed improved, the experience did not. Customers say the process feels bumpier and less transparent, suggesting efficiency gains are coming at the cost of trust.
By the numbers: CDK Global's fifth annual Friction Points study surveyed 1,436 consumers and 411 dealers, and found that Net Promoter Scores (NPS) drop by 13 points for every additional hour a deal takes.
And only 35% of shoppers said their purchase took more than two hours, down from 39% the prior year.
The share of buyers completing the process in under an hour rose from 21% to 26%.
Yet, overall average NPS still fell sharply. In-store buyers dropped from 48 to 29, while online-only buyers slid from 42 to 0.
Why it matters: Customers value clarity and confidence as much as convenience. If digital systems shorten timelines but introduce confusion, inconsistent data, or redundant steps, the result is frustration, not retention.
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Between the lines: Despite faster deal times, the share of shoppers who reported problems rose to 58%, up from 47%.
Issues with negotiating price increased from 23% to 27%.
Waiting on F&I rose from 20% to 23%.
Complaints about added fees climbed from 15% to 20%.
Delays waiting on sales staff jumped from 14% to 18%.
The twist: Staffing levels rose across sales, BDC, and F&I departments. The average store now has 14.7 sales representatives, up from 8.2, yet customers still report longer wait times in key moments of the transaction.
Digging deeper: “Digital-first” does not always mean “customer-first.”
Roughly 75% of dealers succeed in transferring customer data smoothly from online to in-store.
The other 25% force customers to repeat steps or re-enter information, even as digital retailing usage climbed to 84%.
Bottom line: Dealers are getting faster, but the customer journey is still cluttered. To turn operational gains into loyalty, stores need to eliminate redundant steps, ensure consistent pricing and transparency across channels, and tighten handoffs from online to in-person.
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