11:27 am, September 17, 2026
Online marketplace Cazoo is targeting a reduction in friction between car buyers and dealers after a growing trust gap was revealed in a recent Car Dealer survey.
Car Dealer reported earlier this week that retailers think unreasonable car buyer customer behaviour ‘has got worse’, amid mounting friction between consumers and the motor trade.
Run in conjunction with Cazoo, the survey collected more than 3,000 responses online, with retailers giving their views on how to improve the level of trust.
It comes as Cazoo continues its recently launched ‘Honestly, Finally’ campaign which aims to address some of the concerns raised in the survey.
Cazoo is positioning the campaign as a deliberate departure from traditional used car advertising, with the creative focusing on frustrations consumers face when searching for a vehicle.
The company has been working with franchised and independent dealers in a bid to shake-up Autotrader’s dominance of the automotive ad platform market.
The project is the first phase of a wider brand rollout, with Cazoo planning further activity over the coming months.
It is also supporting the campaign through partnerships, including its role as official sleeve sponsor of Brentford FC.
A social media campaign, developed with advertising agency Disrupt, is also running across Meta, TikTok, YouTube, with Cazoo even using programmatic advertising to initially targets 25 to 34-year-olds.
Lucy Tugby, chief marketing officer at Cazoo, said: ‘Customer behaviour and expectations are both changing fast, and this survey shows dealers are feeling that shift first-hand.
‘Our “Honestly, Finally” platform is built around helping close that trust gap, by working with dealers to bring more transparency into the car search process and make sure the great work good dealers are already doing gets the visibility it deserves.
‘Our own consumer survey, out next week, will complete the picture.’
Online reviews were largely viewed positively, with 80.9% reporting either a positive or very positive impact. Google was the most important review platform, cited by 64.8% of respondents.
Asked how the industry could improve relationships, 36.1% said tackling rogue traders was the priority, while 29.7% backed an accreditation scheme.
Ad platform Cazoo has been separately polling consumers on trust and the results of that exclusive survey will be revealed next week.