CDK’s new Friction Points study shows a marked improvement in F&I staffing, efficiency and customer satisfaction after the finance department earned poor marks a year ago.

“Last year, nearly half (39%) of all shoppers said they waited 30 minutes or more to get into the F&I office,” analysts write. “This year, that time was cut to 41%. It’s likely the additional F&I manager dealerships added to their headcount helped with this number.”

The average F&I team grew by 3.1 employees in 2025 compared with 1.9 in 2024. Dealers also built up their sales teams, adding 14.7 reps and 3.9 managers, up from 8.2 and 2.9, respectively.

Those changes paid off in reduced total transaction times: In 2025, 26% of customers completed their deals in less than an hour (up from 21% in 2024) and only 35% took more than two hours (down from 39%).

Customers who were “satisfied” with their transaction times registered an average Net Promoter Score of +47, indicating a high likelihood they would recommend the dealership. “Dissatisfied” and “neither satisfied nor dissatisfied” customers’ NPSs averaged -19 and -22, respectively.

“Only truly satisfied customers had a positive NPS of +47,” analysts note. “Anything else was in the negatives and the neutral respondents had a lower NPS compared to those who were actually dissatisfied.”

Read the full report at CDK