Most consumers who use online finance calculators have a deposit of around £1,000 and want to spend no more than £200 per month when looking for finance on used cars, a study by GForces and Codeweavers has found.

The study demonstrated how dealers could set up their finance calculators to offer their customers a better experience and convert more visitors to users. For example, 56% of users adjusted the deposit amount – the highest single interaction – indicating that the default figure often isn’t the most popular amount for their customers.

Similarly, most users were extending the term from 36 months, which was the most common default length used by dealers using both NetDirector Auto V10 and Codeweavers tools. The data showed that 48 months was the most popular term, closely followed by 60 months – again offering the opportunity for dealers to hone the default settings.

Tim Smith, group strategy director at GForces : "One of the biggest benefits of having a finance calculator is in enabling customers to adjust the figures to suit their circumstances. However, by using the data available to them, dealers can make the customer’s journey that little bit more straightforward by setting a their finance products up for a ‘typical’ customer.

"We also looked at the demographics of finance calculator users, finding that almost 70% of those applying were male and aged between 35 and 54 years old."

The element that fewest people changed was monthly payment which, at an average of £200, showed used car buyers’ typical monthly budget. Instead, buyers were more likely to alter their deposit amount and term of finance in order to generate a quote that suits them. PCP was the most popular type of finance quoted upon.

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"Used car PCPs continue to climb in popularity – up 9% by volume of cars in July according to the Finance and Leasing Association. With the ability to tailor a quote online, we envisage that PCPs will only continue to grow in importance for car dealers," said Smith.

The results were obtained through looking at the behaviour of users of GForces’ NetDirector Auto V10 with Codeweavers FlexiCalc or Finance Finder integrated into their site.