BANDON, Ore — CNW Research president Art Spinella believes that when it comes to online financing, "the jury is still out." Why?

Spinella indicated dealers continue to hold the high ground when it comes to rates and ease of getting approved for a vehicle loan.

To back up this assertion, CNW went to the 2010 Purchase Path Study. The analysis showed 62 percent of buyers who considered an online financing source indicated they didn't do so because dealers were able to provide a better interest rate.

In fact, the firm mentioned nearly 53 percent of those who didn't even consider online opportunities said they did so because dealerships provided better financing rates.

"That's somewhat lower than during the recession when many banks and other financial institutions set approval credit scores so high that one of the few places to get an auto loan was through the dealership," Spinella explained.

CNW also discovered a factor swaying buyers who never even considered getting a vehicle loan online was the uneasiness about their personal information being transmitted over the Internet. However, the firm noted this issue is dwindling, citing study figures that show consumers mentioned this reason 41 percent of the time in December 2000 but just 29.6 percent in the most recent data.

With all that said, Spinella cautioned dealers about the penetration of online financing for vehicle contracts.

"Dealers, both franchised and independent for both new and used models, continue to face the prospect of online financing garnering a larger share of the market over time," Spinella surmised. "This would damage yet another dealership profit center if it were to occur in any significant way.

"Some of the walls to online financing are already coming down," he continued. "Key is the declining number of new- and used-car shoppers who feel their personal information isn't secure. Second, an increasing number of consumers are paying bills online so they already have much of the important data residing in a bank or credit union records. Third, the younger generation of future new-car buyers are significantly more trusting of online information exchange than older Americans.

"And here we're talking about those over 35 — not seniors," Spinella concluded.