Turns out car shoppers can get satisfaction.

Cox Automotive’s latest report, The 4 Key Drivers of Car Shopping Satisfaction, showed positivity about the car-buying experience has grown over the past decade.

The survey of 740 new-vehicle buyers and 350 used-vehicle buyers who purchased from a franchise dealership during the previous 12 months, conducted in January, found 68% of those buyers were satisfied with their experience, a jump of eight percentage points from the 2016 survey.

In addition, 81% associated positive words with their purchase, including “excited”, “confident”, “hopeful” and “in control”.

That last response is key to improving the purchase experience, Cox said. According to the study, shopper responses confirmed four pillars that drive satisfaction: being in control, knowledgeable and supportive staff, transparency and clear communication, and feeling well-informed.

The study, which also surveyed 256 franchise dealers about improvements to customer satisfaction and the business outcomes from those efforts, noted delivering on those consumer needs create trust, reduce friction and give buyers confidence, which in turn leads to two times greater efficiency and profitability.

The report said car buyers’ three most important unmet needs in buying a vehicle are reducing stress, receiving a personalized experience and convenience, a finding that dovetails with what the surveys found among the 46% of stores that reported improved satisfaction over the previous year.

Those dealers were more likely to give customers personalized dealer terms or financing recommendations (89%) than those who didn’t (67%), and were also more likely to provide personalized F&I product recommendations (78%-63%), a clear understanding of finance terms and other deal components (84%-71%), the ability to submit a deal through the dealership website or a third-party site (74%-58%) and the ability to pick up in-store where they left off online without having to repeat steps (70%-57%).

While the overall trend has been positive, the report also noted some “emotional dips” in the process, particularly during trade-in appraisals, in which shoppers said they felt “disappointed”, and in evaluating F&I products, which left some shoppers “overwhelmed” and “confused”.

The most stressful parts of the car-buying journey, the report said, were waiting/idle time at the dealership, selecting/purchasing F&I products, determining what the buyer can afford, finalizing the deal terms, getting a trade-in offer and applying for and finalizing financing.

According to the survey, 24% of car buyers considered abandoning the purchase during the sales process. The most common points at which they thought about leaving were negotiations, cited by 44%, the trade-in offer (23%), determining affordability (22%), applying for financing (21%) and comparing vehicles and payments (20%).

“While the car-buying experience is not yet a perfect science, dealers will want to focus on areas where buyer needs are not being fully met to create a less stressful, more convenient sales process that is tailored to their customers,” Cox Automotive president of retail solutions Lori Wittman said. “To alleviate those negative feelings, dealers can provide accurate appraisals, clear F&I product transparency and personalized recommendations.”

A summary of the report is available here, and the full ebook can be downloaded here.