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Following up after a visit: what the data says, and what to do about it

Only 36% of UK car retailers attempt a follow-up within 48 hours of a customer visiting the forecourt, according to Auto Trader's mystery shop of the top 1,000 retailers. The average buyer takes 87 days to decide. So the decision runs for roughly three months, in a trade where most firms go quiet two days after meeting the customer in person. Here is the evidence, and what a dealer group should do about it.

Sources: Auto Trader Insight, October 2025 and Auto Trader plc, December 2024.

Pricing

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Do dealers actually follow up after a forecourt visit?

Mostly not, and not quickly. Auto Trader Insight mystery-shopped the top 1,000 UK retailers in October 2025 and found that only 36% attempted a follow-up within 48 hours of a visit, 18% never replied to an email at all, 12% never replied by any channel, and under half replied within an hour. That 36% is about a visit, not an enquiry form. Someone drove to the site and stood in front of the stock, which is the highest-intent signal there is. Two days later, most of the trade had not been in touch.

Source: Auto Trader Insight, lessons from the latest mystery shop, October 2025.

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How long does it take someone to buy a car?

87 days on average, according to Auto Trader. Alongside that, 95% of buyers still want an in-person experience and around two in three arrive unannounced, and buyers now visit 4.2 car search websites, up from 3.5 in 2021. So the decision runs for about three months, across four or more websites, and it can bring the buyer onto your forecourt without warning at any point in it. The enquiry is not the hard part. The 87 days are.

Sources: Auto Trader plc, December 2024, Auto Trader plc, July 2025 and Motor Trader, January 2024.

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When should you follow up after a visit?

Within 48 hours, because most of your competitors will not. The evidence says that step alone puts you in the minority. A workable sequence looks like this.

WhenWhat it is
Same dayA short thank-you naming the specific vehicle they looked at.
Within 48 hoursThe real follow-up. One question, not a sales push. Anything they wanted checking?
Across the 87 daysStay present without pestering. New stock that matches, a price change on the one they saw.
When they say stopStop. Retention done badly is spam with your logo on it.

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Why is this a group problem rather than a salesperson problem?

Because at one site, follow-up is a habit. Across twelve, it is a process, and right now it is a process nobody owns. A single site can run on the good instincts of two or three people who have been there years. A group of four to twenty sites cannot. The buyer visiting your site in one town and your site in the next is the same buyer, on the same 87-day decision, shopping 4.2 websites while they do it. If each site follows up according to its own habits, the group does not have a follow-up standard. It has twelve of them, and no way of knowing which are working.

It also shows up in CSI before it shows up in the sales numbers. A customer who felt ignored says so on the survey long before the effect reaches a monthly sales report. By the time it is visible in the numbers, it has been happening for months.

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What drives complaints in used cars?

Customer service, at 40% of cases. The Motor Ombudsman handled 18,570 used-car complaints, up 14% on the year, and customer service was the largest single driver. An honest caveat: that does not mean 40% of complaints are about unanswered phones. Customer service is a bucket, and not being answered is one part of it, alongside undeclared modifications and vehicle histories. What it shows is that how you deal with people after the sale is the biggest single complaint driver in used cars. That is enough. It does not need inflating.

And the people who could do something about it are scarce and getting dearer. The average advertised technician salary is £40,128, up 13% in two years. Note "advertised": that is what firms are offering to attract people, not a payroll figure. Your most expensive people are in the workshop, and the thing generating the most complaints is the communication around them.

Sources: The Motor Ombudsman, 2025 data and IMI Labour Market Briefing, May 2025.

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Can AI send service and MOT reminders?

Yes, and it is the most routine part of the job, which is exactly why it gets missed. An agent sends the reminder on time, every time, answers "what time can you take it" without anyone picking up, and books the slot against your real availability. It does not diagnose anything. It books. Across a group that matters more than it sounds: it is the same reminder, sent to the same standard, at every site, from one knowledge base.

When not to: if your workshop is already full, do not do this. More bookings for a service department with no capacity is not a win. Fix the capacity first. And if you have a good aftersales person who knows the customers by name, protect them. That relationship is worth more than any automation.

Sources

Where these numbers come from

Your move

See it follow up for 87 days, at every site, live at engenix.ai.