It’s not new for a subprime consumer seeking auto financing to ask, “What vehicles fit my monthly budget?” or “Can I qualify?”

But perhaps illustrating the current state of the car business, the inaugural FlexPath DXP Automotive Shopper Credit & Payment Behavior Study showed super-prime consumers are asking the same questions nowadays, too.

The company said shopping by monthly payment isn’t just a subprime behavior. FlexPath DXP analyzed observed behavior of 4,773 identity-verified, credit-tiered vehicle shoppers at participating dealerships from Jan. 1 to Sept. 30.

“Monthly payment is not a niche concern of credit-challenged buyers. In this population, shoppers with strong credit asked, ‘What vehicles fit my monthly budget?’ as often as anyone. That suggests payment information is a mainstream shopping need rather than a special-finance accommodation,” FlexPath DXP wrote in its report.

“Budget-based inventory discovery is not a special-finance tool. In this population it was the most common payment behavior at every credit tier from Subprime upward, which suggests that a shopper’s monthly budget is a mainstream way of narrowing the inventory, not only the end point of a finance process,” the company continued in the report.

Among the 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% versus 80%).

—They were nearly 1.5 times as likely to prequalify for a specific vehicle (44% versus 30%).

—81% of their single-vehicle pre-qualifications 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. For subprime, it was 76.0%.

—1 in 4 payment-shopping sessions began between 9 p.m. and 8 a.m. dealer-local time.

FlexPath DXP CEO Tarry Shebesta said through a news release, “Prime shoppers aren’t just asking, ‘Can I get approved?’ 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.

Shebesta said 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.”

FlexPath DXP wrapped up the study report with observations directed toward credit providers, beginning with captive finance companies.

“Shoppers with strong credit showed the same interest in the monthly payment as subprime shoppers and were more likely to prequalify for a specific vehicle,” FlexPath DXP said in the report. “Because manufacturer incentives, subsidized rates and lease programs shape what a vehicle costs each month, program-aware payment information is relevant at the point of vehicle selection, not only in the finance office.

FlexPath DXP added this thought for other lenders.

“Credit tier shaped which question shoppers asked, not whether they wanted payment information,” FlexPath DXP said. “Lender programs and eligibility rules determine what payment can accurately be shown, as the lower deep subprime rates illustrate. Accurate, disclosed payment information is a need across the credit spectrum, not only in near-prime and subprime lending.”

The entire report can be downloaded here.