9:49 am, October 8, 2026
One in five consumers would rather visit the dentist than begin searching for a new car as worsening trust issues continue to cause friction between buyers and dealers.
That is according to Cazoo chief marketing officer Lucy Tugby, who says the industry needs to work together to make the car-buying process less daunting for motorists.
Speaking on the Car Dealer Podcast, Tugby said research carried out by Cazoo as it developed its new ‘Honestly, Finally’ campaign highlighted the level of anxiety some consumers feel when buying a vehicle.
She believes the problem has worsened in recent years, with customers taking longer to make decisions and carrying out more research before approaching a retailer.
‘When we were doing our survey, when we started a year ago, we were hearing stats like one in five saying that they would rather go to the dentist than start searching for a car,’ she told podcast hosts Jon Reay and James Batchelor.
‘Now, I don’t know about you, but I hate going to the dentist. And I was pretty shocked by this.
‘So, I think that started our thinking around this is getting worse.
‘Consumers are taking longer to decide, dealers are telling us that they’re doing more research. But it seems that when they arrive in the dealership, or indeed before they get there and the conversations before that point, there is tension.’
The survey was run in conjunction with Car Dealer, and polled the views of more than 3,000 people. One big outcome from it was the feeling that unreasonable customer behaviour ‘has got worse’.
Research conducted among dealers found 69% believed difficult or unreasonable customer behaviour had increased over the past year, while the podcast also heard that one in six car buyers actively distrust dealers.
Tugby believes greater choice, information overload and rapidly changing technology may all be contributing to the friction.
However, she insists the situation can be improved and says greater transparency before a customer reaches a showroom could play a major part.
Cazoo’s research found that 94% of buyers regard a vehicle history check as important, while consumers also want clearer pricing information and greater understanding of what they are getting for their money.
Tugby said there was also support among buyers for some form of dealer accreditation scheme.
She said: ‘I genuinely think that if we adapt and we start to put in place perhaps some bigger items – the dealer accreditation scheme was mentioned, there’s lots of other ideas that came out – plus then also look at these signals.
‘I don’t think it is one big hit. I think it is multiple changes that will be required. Both parties seem like they want this to change.’
Tugby also offered practical advice to dealers looking to improve trust among their own customers.
She said one of the clearest findings was that motorists increasingly want to understand exactly who is behind the dealership selling them a car.
That could mean dealers producing videos introducing their dealerships and employees, as well as making information such as vehicle history checks and warranty provision readily available.
She said: ‘Buyers really want to know who they’re buying from. So, videos around the dealership themselves, the person, knowing who is behind the car – that is something that buyers really love and want to understand.
‘Go back again to the history checks – that’s really important. Warranties comes up as really, really, really important.’
Cazoo also believes dealers could ease some of the anxiety around negotiating for a car by explaining the process more clearly before customers enter into discussions.
Tugby added: ‘How the pricing negotiation process is handled, again that is something that people fear.
‘So actually perhaps just transparently having a conversation about how that’s going to go up front – that seems to be something that could be removed.’
The comments come as Cazoo looks to position its marketplace around improving trust between buyers and retailers through its ‘Honestly, Finally’ campaign.
Tugby stressed that the company was not seeking to blame dealers for consumers’ concerns, describing trust as an issue for the entire automotive industry to tackle.
She said: ‘There’s no fingerpointing here. We feel it’s a whole industry together problem.
‘We’re here to be part of that and we play a really strong and important role as a marketplace.’
Cazoo is now working with dealers as it moves into the second phase of the campaign, with new features also being introduced to its marketplace aimed at making information easier for car buyers to understand.
Elsewhere in the podcast, Reay and Batchelor discuss the week’s top news stories – you can watch it at the top of this story, or listen to it via your favourite streaming services such as Spotify. Just search ‘Car Dealer Podcast’ to listen.