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Quality Trumps Price for Car Buyers, CarMax Reports

For the second straight year, car buyers said “quality” is the most influential factor when shopping for a vehicle in CarMax Inc.'s annual consumer survey, with more than double the amount of respondents choosing quality over price in this year’s study.

by Staff
December 15, 2011
1 min to read


RICHMOND, Va. — For the second straight year, car buyers said “quality” is the most influential factor when shopping for a vehicle in CarMax Inc.'s annual consumer survey, with more than double the amount of respondents choosing quality over price in this year’s study.

Conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs on behalf of CarMax, results from the survey showed that 45 percent of Americans who have purchased a vehicle said quality has the greatest impact on their car buying decision, followed by price and safety. Additionally, 53 percent of men and 37 percent of women chose quality over price. Resale and environmental factors were least important, at seven and six percent, respectively.

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“Choosing a vehicle that balances high quality with a fair price provides the value that consumers are looking for,” said Tracy Hanson, Nashville region vice president of service operations. “It’s why our vehicles go through a rigorous inspection and are thoroughly reconditioned.”

“Which of the following factors most influences your car-buying decision?”



Responses

011 Percentages

2010 Percentages

Quality

45

37

Price

22

28

Safety

15

22

Resale value

7

4

Environmental or green factors

6

6

For more information, visit www.carmax.com.

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