I think quite a few people will have given it a go as a means of avoiding the abject misery of going to a dealer. I suspect found out it was still a massive faff and probably just got a load of phone calls trying to sell them gap cover instead of having to sit in a chair listening. Then the car turns up and they wish they test drove it beforehand and decide online isn't for them.

Maybe, just maybe, physical dealerships have learned to offer actual service??

A local glass palace was built to house a VW dealer. The dealer name changed but the VW outlet closed even with a new operator.

Along came Honda - moved from a modern, but small outlet, to the large glass palace, huge workshops and massive forecourt. This was just at the time when Honda were cutting their range of models and seeing their new car sales plummet. Lasted about 5 years then Honda closed.

Lay empty for a good few years.

Imperial cars, 2nd hand chain, were next and last 2 years or so.

Cazoo took over about 12/18 months ago ................ will it go the same way as VW & Honda?

We just to sit back and wait to see.

The key point I take from the article is:

Compared with physical sellers, online dealers need many more potential buyers to make the same number of sales. The proportion of visitors converted into buyers online is thought to be about 1%, compared with 30% for physical dealers.

Not sure whether this demonstrates that (a) folk prefer a test drive and to see it in the metal, or (b) car salesmen are actually more effective in clinching deals tan they are given credit for.

Perhaps a bit of both. New and nearly new cars with warranty etc may be very different to second hand. On the Cazoo site 6000 cars of the 7500 total for sale are 2019 or earlier registration.

In the last two years I have bought / leased 3 cars. The lease car via work was done completely on my iPad and was a far more pleasant experience than visiting a dealer. I never saw the car (brand new) until it was delivered and have had no regrets.

The second car was purchased from a main dealer but being in the height of covid was done entirely online and the first time we saw the car was on collection day. Saying no to gap etc was much easier on the phone/ via email where the hard sale is more difficult.

The last car was bought from a small family run firm in Needham Market and was done entirely face to face. This again was a pleasant experience as there was no hard sell.

if dealers actually concentrate on people rather than chasing KPIs and targets they’d probably do alright.