Many dealers still misjudge how long their sales process takes, CDK Global says

Dealerships have never had more tools to modernize the sale—but the more technology gets layered on, the harder it is to spot where the real friction lives.

For all the dashboards, AI integrations, and promises of a seamless transaction, most stores still can’t answer a basic question: where does the process actually break down?

Driving the news: At the New York Auto Forum, CDK Global shared new data revealing a growing disconnect between dealership process improvements and the customer experience. Even as total transaction times decline, key friction points—like F&I wait times and repeated data entry—continue to frustrate buyers and drag down satisfaction.

The details: CDK’s findings, based on feedback from over 400 dealership managers and sales leaders, show that most dealers still aren’t measuring the bottlenecks that matter most. As a result, many are mistaking compressed deal times for actual progress.

• 60% of car buyers finished the process in under two hours, up from 54% last year. 

• NPS drops sharply when buyers wait over 30 minutes for F&I, with this year’s average NPS score being 47% overall.

• Dealers tend to underestimate the time it takes for their consumers to go through their process.

Why it matters: When a customer walks into the store, the clock starts ticking—and every extra step is working against the sale.

• Most dealers aren’t losing deals because of price or product. They’re losing them because the process stalls, energy fades, and trust unravels.

• The sales floor might feel efficient from the inside—but if the system still asks a repeat shopper to fill out the same form twice, something’s broken.

Between the lines: CDK’s data also shows that tech is still underused, though AI is gaining ground—and fragment tech stacks are a problem. 

• 78% of dealers have digital tools, but only 31% integrate them online into the store.

• 32% of dealers use AI—mostly in BDC sales—with lead-to-close ratios up 46%.

• 13% of dealers now use 6 to 7 disconnected systems, doubling from last year. 2024. 

On a brighter note: Of the customers who began their journey online, 75% indicated that a salesperson acknowledged them, and their information was incorporated into the system. However, that means that 25% of those car shoppers had to provide their information again and start the process over

Bottom line: The stores pulling ahead are the ones designing a process that feels continuous, not transactional. No stalls. No handoffs. No resets.

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