Survey: Americans Will Drive 469 Miles to Score Deal on New Car

Americans are willing to drive, on average, about eight hours from home to buy a new car. There is, however, no average American. The people of Vermont will go just a little over half that distance for a  deal. Alaskans will nearly double it.

That’s the conclusion of a new survey.

It wasn’t conducted by a well-known academic think tank or consumer advocacy group. It’s the work of Quantrell Subaru in Lexington, Kentucky. But we highlight it because it raises an important point for car shoppers.

If we offered to pay you $3,000 to drive to a neighboring city and back, you’d take the deal, right? So why not make that drive to save yourself that money.

Our research shows that car shoppers are happiest when they complete as much of the purchase process as possible online. Shoppers like finding their financing online. They like finding their cars online. They like to spend as little time as possible in a car dealership.

Good new car deals are hard to come by this summer. The average final sale price for a new car is approaching an all-time high, and incentives are scarce.

But online shopping tools allow you to search inventory at dealerships nationwide. Incentives are often localized to a specific state or region, so you might find a better deal outside your home area.

The Numbers:

Quantrell Subaru surveyed 2,690 car shoppers online to find the distance car shoppers in each state said they would travel for a better deal.