St. Louis, MO -- (SBWire) -- 08/27/2012 --Buying a car is one of the largest investment choices an average consumer can make, so common sense predicates that a consumer would want to know everything about a car before deciding to buy it. However a recent study found that more and more consumers are skipping the test drive process when buying a car.

In fact, a recent study showed that in 2012 one out of every 10 people did not test drive the car they were buying. This is in large part because many consumers are relying solely on the Internet for the entire car buying process. Statistics show eight out of every 10 car buyers in 2012 used the Internet to complete some part of their buying process.

Cross Keys Auto Sales in St. Louis, Missouri, specializes in St. Louis used cars and has seen this trend developing with their customers over the past year as well.

“We are seeing customers buying cars without ever stepping foot on our lot, buying based on what they see on our website, which is great because we have a good website that allows users to see our entire 600 car inventory, but they miss out on the experience we offer at our lot,” says Stephen Capron, a customer service representative for Cross Keys Auto Sales.

The representative from the used car dealer St. Louis adds, “Test driving a car is an important part of the car buying experience because no matter how many reviews you read or pictures you look at, you can’t really know if you are going to like a car until you drive it. The auto industry is in a constant state of change, so the features on the cars of today are completely different than those on the cars of five years ago, which makes test driving cars and actually learning to utilize these new features all the more important.”

Rather than visiting car lots, people in the market for used cars for sale in Missouri may be using the Internet because they do not think they know enough to evaluate a car directly at the lot.

If lack of car knowledge is deterring a person from visiting a car lot, Stephen recommends bringing a friend who is educated about cars with them to test drive the vehicle they are considering purchasing. Stephen also suggests car buyers looking for used cars Missouri should write a checklist of the things they want in their next car and check them off as test drive cars and as they go through the entire buying process.

Many car dealers, including Cross Keys Auto Sales, even offer overnight test drives where people can see if the car they are looking at holds up to their daily routines.

The bottom line is the proliferation of the Internet is simplifying decision making for a lot of buying decisions, but this should not be the case when consumers are buying a car.

For more information or to schedule a test drive, visit http://www.crosskeysauto.com/

About Cross Keys Auto Sales
For more than 15 years, Cross Keys Auto Sales has been serving North St. Louis and St. Louis County as the premier dealer of used vehicles. Located at the intersection of Lindbergh and New Halls Ferry Road, the auto dealer features an inventory of more than 500 vehicles in a wide range of brands and prices. All cars go through a 75-point Premiere Certified inspection to ensure they are of the highest quality.