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The nation’s great love affair with its four-wheeled friends continues to deepen with new research showing New Zealanders are caring for their cars more than ever.
The past two years have seen Kiwis shift gear when it comes to vehicle ownership, choosing to splash their cash on preserving their pride and joy rather than buying a new set of wheels, a report from leading market research company YouGov has found.
Two-thirds (64 per cent) of New Zealand car owners elected to repair their ride rather than replace it as the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic continued to impact the automobile industry.
In addition to saving money, the report also revealed almost one in five sentimental drivers named their car: from Bertha to Old Betsy, Rhonda the Honda to Rocky, Bubbles to Blade.
It also found the great Kiwi roadie is growing in popularity with two-thirds of car owners feeling more comfortable taking a road trip rather than flying to a holiday destination in the next six months.
Kiwi cars were particularly loved-up during lockdown with two in three (67 per cent) car owners using COVID-19’s forced downtime to improve their rides. New tyres were the biggest splurge (35 per cent), followed by new wiper blades (30 per cent), polishing the car (28 per cent) and replacing the battery (26 per cent).
However, almost one in four drivers admitted to not knowing the last time they checked or topped up their oil levels. Drivers spent an average of $1,487 detailing their cars in the past 12 months with men ($1,712) outspending women ($1,250) to the tune of $462.
Supercheap Auto Managing Director Benjamin Ward said his team saw first-hand the passion customers had for their vehicles and the pride they took in preserving them.
“Many Kiwis turn to Supercheap Auto to help them repair, maintain and personalise their rides; to make them super,” Ward said.
“This could mean a new sound system or dash-cam, or it could be window shades and an air freshener.”
“Whoever you are, whatever you drive; Supercheap Auto is here to help Kiwis Make it Super.”
FAST FACTS
- 93% of New Zealanders 18 years and older own a car.
- 64% of owners have decided to hold on to their car and repair it rather than replace it with Baby Boomers (75%), Gen X (63%) and Millennials (61%) more likely than Gen Z (48%) to do so.
- Two in three (67%) New Zealand car owners made improvements to their car during COVID-19 with 29% spending more money on their car than before the pandemic.
- The most common improvements included replacing the tyres (35%), replacing wiper blades (30%), polishing the car (28%) and replacing the battery (26%).
- Other upgrades included new seat covers (10%), upgrading the sound system and/or head unit (7%), installing a navigation system or dash camera (7%), installing a rearview/reversing camera (5%), installing roof racks (8%) and repainting the car (5%).
- 27% of car owners say they cannot remember the last time they checked the oil level or put oil in their car.
- 20% of New Zealand car owners have a nickname for their car with women (23%) more likely to admit this than men (18%).
- 66% of car owners would prefer to take a road trip rather than fly to a holiday destination in the next 6 months due to concerns around COVID-19.
The YouGov study was conducted from 3-6 March 2022 with a nationally representative sample of 606 New Zealanders aged 18 years and older. The data was weighted by age, gender and region to reflect StatzNZ population estimates.
Keyword: Forget selling, Kiwis are spending big to make their cars super