Good Credit Doesn’t Make Car Shoppers Less Payment-Conscious, FlexPath DXP Study Finds

Prime and Super Prime shoppers used Shop-By-Payment about as often as Subprime shoppers

CINCINNATI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Shopping by monthly payment isn’t just a Subprime behavior, according to the inaugural FlexPath DXP Automotive Shopper Credit & Payment Behavior Study. It analyzed observed behavior of 4,773 identity-verified, credit-tiered vehicle shoppers at participating dealerships from Jan. 1 to Sept. 30, 2026.

Key findings

• 8 in 10 Prime and Super Prime shoppers used Shop-By-Payment to shop by monthly budget, about as often as Subprime shoppers (78% vs. 80%).
• They were nearly 1.5 times as likely to prequalify for a specific vehicle (44% vs. 30%).
• 81% of their single-vehicle prequalifications began on search-results or vehicle-detail pages, versus 7.5% on finance pages.
• After prequalifying for a specific vehicle, 81.5% of Prime and Super Prime shoppers went on to use Shop-By-Payment (Subprime: 76.0%).
• 1 in 4 payment-shopping sessions began between 9 PM and 8 AM dealer-local time.

“Prime shoppers aren’t just asking, ‘Can I get approved?’” said Tarry Shebesta, CEO of FlexPath DXP. “They’re asking what a specific vehicle will cost them each month. And once they see that payment, many want to know what else their budget can buy.”

Among 17,218 verified shoppers who engaged with FlexPath experiences at dealerships offering all three options, 89.5% used payment-shopping experiences rather than relying on general prequalification alone. These findings describe verified shoppers who engaged with the experiences, not all dealership website visitors.

“Payment transparency isn’t payment selling,” said Shebesta, who also serves as president of the National Vehicle Leasing Association (NVLA). “Whether a shopper leases or finances, a personalized payment should be presented alongside the vehicle price, APR, term, total cost and required disclosures. The payment shouldn’t obscure what the consumer is actually paying.”

About the Study

Results describe the study population and are not a nationally representative sample of U.S. vehicle shoppers. No dealership, dealer group or lender is identified. Future research may examine how income, demographics, credit profiles and vehicle preferences relate to shopping behavior. Read the full FlexPath DXP Automotive Shopper Credit & Payment Behavior Study.

About FlexPath DXP

FlexPath DXP provides dealer digital-retailing experiences powered by VeriQual™ verified-consumer data. The study’s data come from dealerships using FlexPath experiences; readers should weigh the findings with that relationship in mind.