Survey Says: Buyers Slant Toward Domestics, if Any

Cars.com did some research recently to find out more about its users. We had an independent firm ask a whole bunch of interesting questions of more than 1,000 carefully selected participants that show a cross section of the country. The survey took place in January 2007 and has a sampling error of plus or minus 3%, with a 95% level of confidence.

One interesting question asked was: “When you purchased your last car, did you consider whether your car was American or foreign made?”

Almost exactly half, 49.9%, said it didn’t matter; they picked the car they wanted without considering where it was built (or, more accurately, where the automaker is based). The big surprise was that 32.5% do indeed prefer buying cars from American automakers, compared to 17.5%, who preferred foreign automakers. That’s a pretty good advantage. 

One other interesting result we can share with you includes the most important factors that come into the car-buying decision. Price is still No. 1, with 88.1% ranking it their top priority. The second spot, however, was a bit of a surprise: Fuel efficiency came in a very close second at 75.9%, and safety came in third at 69.2%. 

Do these results fall in line with your car-purchasing decisions?