Many Americans' Next Car Will Be a Used Car

New York, NY - Thinking about their next car purchase, Americans are most likely to say they'll wait until their car doesn't run anymore and then will buy used (30%), according to a new telephone survey of over 1,000 U.S. adults conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs on behalf of CarMax. In addition, 7% say that they are ready for a new car, but will buy a used one to be smart.

As only 18% say they purchased a car in the past year despite the recession, many are still concerned about keeping costs in check when shopping for their next car, including 13% who feel it's still too early and are nervous about spending that kind of money, 7% who are doing research online to make sure that they buy the right car, and 2% who are looking for something with fewer bells and whistles to keep costs down.

Below is a breakdown of answers when asked "As the weather and the economy both show possible signs of thawing, which of the following statements best describes your attitude towards shopping for your next car?"

Women are more likely than men to say they plan to buy a used car when their current car stops running (34% vs. 26%).

These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted February 18-22, 2010. For the survey, a nationally representative sample of 1,005 randomly-selected adults aged 18 and over residing in the U.S. was interviewed by telephone via Ipsos' U.S. Telephone Express omnibus. With a sample of this size, the results are considered accurate within 1773.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what they would have been had the entire population of adults in the U.S. been polled. The margin of error will be larger within regions and for other sub-groupings of the survey population. These data were weighted to ensure the sample's regional and age/gender composition reflects that of the actual U.S. population according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

For more information on this news release, please contact: Rebecca Sizelove Senior Research Manager Ipsos Public Affairs 212.584.9253 rebecca.sizelove@ipsos.com

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