Over fifties are now less likely to perform basic maintenance on their car

Over fifties are now less likely to perform basic maintenance on their car

According to a survey by Saga Motor Insurance, during the last 5 years the amount of people aged over 50 that carry out regular basic maintenance on their car has pretty much fallen by 50%.

A poll by the company some five years ago showed that about 17% of older vehicle owners would try their hand at basic repairs and maintenance work on their car. The results of their latest survey are that only around 10% of over-50s would attempt to fix easier problems such as batteries that need changing.

Region-wise, it tends to be car owners from the north east of England that are likely to get their hands dirty changing an oil filter, whilst their southern cousins in London are far more accustomed to taking their vehicles to a garage or car dealer to fix easy problems. It also appears that owners of a vehicle over a decade old were almost twice as likely to try to fix their own motor problems than those with a car less than a year old.

Gender-wise, men are more likely to attempt their own repairs on their vehicles, at around 15%, compared with only 2% of women. However, it appears that these attempted repairs may not be particularly sound, as around 16% of men end up taking their car to a proper mechanic after trying their own tinkering.

Five years ago, 7% of older drivers would ask other people for help with their car repairs, whilst now only 3% would request assistance.

---

---