WELSH DRIVERS are the most likely to own a second-hand car in Great Britain, but the least likely to check the mileage when buying it. Motorists in Wales are significantly more likely, at 98%, to drive a motor that isn’t new, that’s 10% higher than those in Scotland and England and 4% greater than Northern Ireland. But they’re certainly not the most thorough when it comes to making that purchase with 62% admitting they wouldn’t look at the odometer, a big 17% less than the average elsewhere. The findings come as a result of more than 1,250 drivers being surveyed by Sterling Insurance on a wide range of topics, including how confident they are about taking on simple motoring maintenance matters.
Some of the most interesting Wales-based insights discovered include:
- Drivers in the country are nearly 20% more likely to do simple checks on their car weekly
- Oil checks are 7% more likely to be made daily
- They are nearly 20% more likely to check their tyre pressure, coolant levels and windshield fluids weekly, compared to motorists elsewhere
Britain-wide trends suggest that Millennials (28-43 year olds) are the only generation who would attempt to fix their car before they decided to take it to the garage. Two in five Gen Z (17-27) say they wouldn’t be able to fit a headlight bulb and come bottom in five of the six categories when it comes to how confident they were around completing minor jobs.
The full survey also includes analysis of purchasing habits, the popularity of brands, the differences between who is driving manual or automatics and what generations are most readily adopting alternative fuel sources.
Peter Cook, a manager at insurance broker Sterling, said: “Second-hand cars dominate the motoring market but it really is a surprise that more than half of drivers in Wales wouldn’t check the mileage. It’s a significant factor in the valuation of the vehicle, and longevity of it, and it seems to go against the other results that show drivers in Wales really do take care of their car once they’ve bought it. It’s really interesting to have looked at the approaches from different generations and it does appear, given the Gen Z responses, that doing simple tasks may become something of a lost art.”
Read the full report HERE.
