We love surveys, especially when they show that our long national nightmare of no new cars to buy just might be coming to an end. 

A new survey reveals 89% of respondents plan to shop for a vehicle by the end of the year, according to Cars.com.

The online survey was conducted Nov. 11. The Cars.com research and insights team sent the survey to a nationally representative group who had been pre-screened as planning to buy a car this year. The survey received 922 responses.

For the last couple of years, new car inventory has been in short supply, leaving customers with few options if they needed a car immediately and couldn’t place a factory order. The situation has raised challenges for consumers, not the least of which has been dealer price markups ranging from rapacious to absurd. 

Buying sight unseen

Cars.com reports inventory levels are beginning to catch up with demand. After almost three years of the pandemic and resulting shortages, Americans are more ready than ever before to get behind the wheel of their new vehicle. According to the survey, almost half (47%) of consumers are willing to purchase a car online without even seeing it first. 

That speaks to the general uniform quality of new vehicles. A new vehicle is still a major purchase and multi-year commitment, yet consumers are confident the…