After decades in auto retail, I was pleasantly surprised with a recent vehicle purchase experience. Part one of a two part series
My partner and I recently decided it was time to think about replacing her four-year-old coupe with something a bit more practical and under warranty.
Each day, thousands of Canadians embark on this same task to find their ideal vehicle and most of the time it is a compact crossover SUV. Since this was the first time in my adult life that we were car shopping while not actively employed at a car dealership, I knew it was going to be a fascinating real-world study in the automotive customer journey.
We first turned to online media channels like YouTube to get the lay of the land. Soon after, we began seeing targeted ads for the SUVs we had been researching.
Once we had absorbed enough objective information to know that the Mazda CX-50 seemed like a great fit for our lifestyle needs, we went on the Mazda Canada website to research trim levels and pricing.
As far as OEM websites go, it was easy to determine which trim levels had the equipment we were looking for. Once we selected our ideal trim (a CX-50 GT), Mazda’s build-and-price let us compare lease and finance scenarios with great accuracy. This was the point in our journey that we confirmed the Mazda was within the budget we had put in place for our new car.
Knowing that compact crossover SUVs had recently been in short supply, I grabbed my iPad to see what dealer inventories were like. This was simple since all I had to do was type our city’s name and “Mazda” into Google.
While the dealership facility was comfortable and represented the brand well, the total time we spent there during the shopping process was less than two hours.
The local dealership must have been on top of its digital marketing game, as they showed up first in the search results and their listing had quick links to new car inventory.
Within moments I was browsing their CX-50 inventory and clicking on the vehicle display page (VDP) for a specific CX-50 GT they had in stock. There were actual photos of the unit which allowed me to confirm it had the right equipment, as well as confirm that this CX-50 was physically at the dealership.
We decided that Saturday morning would be ideal for us to go see and drive this SUV. I clicked on the “Make an Appointment” call-to-action button and was taken into a window that allowed me to create a shopping cart for the CX-50.
I created the same finance scenario I had calculated on the Mazda Canada site, input our trade information, and selected a Saturday morning time slot for our test drive. After hitting submit, I received an auto-response email confirming my submission and a link to our online shopping cart we could revisit any time.
The next morning, a sales consultant from the dealership sent a text to confirm our appointment for Saturday. We arrived promptly for our appointment to find the exact car we selected warming up out front.
After dispatching with the meet-and-greet, exchanging keys and driver’s license information, we were on our way in the CX-50 and the test drive confirmed what we already suspected about the vehicle: it was exactly what our household needed.
Once back at the dealership, we sat with the sales consultant to go over the numbers that now included our trade appraisal. The Sales Manager made an appearance to ask how our experience was going and my partner asked if they had any CX-50s coming in the new metallic green colour she had seen online.
He confirmed that their first one was scheduled to land in about a week. We decided to take that time to go home and make sure this was the right financial decision to make.
We continued to see social media ads for the CX-50 and our local dealership, and eventually resolved that the green CX-50 GT was the right car. As the excitement of securing the incoming green car took hold, I re-opened the online shopping cart and submitted a credit application as well as a deposit to hold the car, all from our living room couch.
A week later, we received a text saying the car had arrived and we scheduled a delivery appointment.
All of the paperwork was ready to sign upon arrival, so the majority of our time was focused on the excitement of delivery. Once we were “over the curb,” I reflected back on the process.
Almost all of our interactions and decision-making had been digital. While the dealership facility was comfortable and represented the brand well, the total time we spent there during the shopping process was less than two hours. This is the customer journey in 2025.
In my next column, I’ll ask questions about whether your dealership is ready to deliver such a high level of service and customer experience, and if not, what steps can you take to get there?
