Social Media
Key points:
50% of 25 - 34 year-olds have posted a picture of their car to social media.
We wanted to get a picture of cars and social media. The questions we wanted to answer were: what kind of people and what kind of cars do these people drive. Social media is a massive part of society and as such, we wanted to see what cars featured the most in people's posts (if they posted at all).
Just over half of all "Millennials" (Millennial's being classed as aged 25-34) have posted a picture of their car to social media, they're the most likely to post to social media out of any age group or generation. Not a surprise really considering millennial's are the most likely age group to use social media in the first place. However, is this also a sign of vanity? Other age groups also use social media but the likelihood of them posting a picture of their wheels is significantly less.
The data from our survey allowed us to paint a picture as to who is the most likely to post pictures of their car to social media - a 25 - 34-year-old female from London, with a BMW X5 and a private plate is most likely to post an image to social media, based on our data. Interestingly, amongst our respondents, the Ford Fiesta was the most Instagrammed car - this is quite interesting as it's not traditionally a 'wow' kind of car.
24% of "Millennial" respondents own an Audi, and of those, 70% have posted their car to social media. 68% of whom are Females. This means that overall, Audi is the most likely manufacturer to appear on social media; as Audi are a luxury vehicle manufacturer, it could be perceived that posing with expensive manufacturers further increase social status.
If you'd prefer to listen to just the highlights of our survey, check out our podcast below.
What's The Main Reason You Chose Your Car?
Key points:
- Reliability was the main reason respondents chose their car.
- Price and Fuel Economy are the main reasons respondents aged 55+ chose their car.
- Price was more important to younger drivers aged between 18 - 24 than any other age group.
- The 25 - 34 age group cared more about the cars looks than any other age group.
Trying to find the right car to buy or lease is one of the most difficult decisions you have to make in your life. Which manufacturer? Which colour? Which body type? How much am I willing to spend? Are just some of the questions you have to ask yourself when coming to make that vital decision. Because of this; we thought it would be interesting to ask our surveyees what the main reason was as to why they bought their vehicle. What is the most important factor looking at a few demographics such as gender, age group, location just for a bit of fun and perhaps we may find something insightful!
From the data, we weren't surprised to find that reliability and fuel economy were the most important areas to consider for males when coming to choose a car. Making sure that the car you choose is sufficient for the journeys you make is a huge thing to consider when purchasing a vehicle. This is because different engine choices can be better for certain distances, such as a diesel engine being better for long journeys and petrol better for short (speaking overall) and could actually save you quite a lot in fuel and money down the line.
Interestingly, the study suggested that exterior styling and fuel economy were the most important things that women consider when choosing a car! Although both genders agreed that having good fuel economy is a very important factor, it's surprising to find that the way that the car looks is more important to women than a cars reliability or technological equipment.
What's The Main Reason You Don't Like Your Car?
Key points:
- 50% of respondents from the North of England agree that the main reason they don't like their car is due to the way it looks, disregarding its performance and technology.
- Survey finds that 55 - 64-year-olds dislike their car more than twice as much as 18 - 24-year-olds do.
- 16% of the respondents from Southampton don't like their car.
Now it's no lie that quite a lot of people actually dislike their car, whether that be for the way it looks, the age of the car, the way it drives or the lack of specs that come with it, there is always something that somebody doesn't like. So we thought we'd gain an insight into what the main reasons as to why people dislike their cars so much.
Amongst the surveyees, we came to find that only a small percentage of the overall survey didn't actually like the car they owned, but for a variety of different reasons. Most commonly, being unhappy with the age of the car and the way it looks were the biggest reasons.
Private Plates
It could be argued that private plates are considered somewhat pointless and thought to be used merely as a means of boosting social status, but that isn't the only reason driver's buy them. Having a private plate can actually be used to disguise your car's age and add a sense of character to your motor; plus it also looks pretty good! It's not easy to personalise a car but with private plates, you can. When we asked our respondents whether or not they had a private registration plate for their car, we were astounded to find that only 20% actually had one; and it is also surprising to find that females are the biggest advocates for private plates and Audi's the most popular manufacturer for them also.
Something we wanted to investigate within the study was if people with private plates were actually more likely to post to social media, where we found that 58% of surveyees with private plates have actually posted to social media; and surprisingly females are 13% more likely to post to social media than males are. This creates the idea that people with private plates care more for their car than respondents without private registrations. This idea is supported in our study, where we found that half (50%) of all private registration plate owners clean their car very often and clean their car AT LEAST once a fortnight; this audience would be shocked to find that some of the respondents have never cleaned their car whilst owning it and still post their car to social media! Frequent car cleaners tend to take really good care of their car and use products such as protective film and ceramic coating to give their car the brightest shine to take those perfect Instagram shots for their followers; and will make it their mission to avoid picking up dirt on countryside back-lanes and on the contrary busy multi-storey car parks where it is more than easy to scratch their paintwork.
Another interesting figure we found was that 53% of private registration owners said that they have also modified their car! The overall conclusion from the survey is that respondents who have private plates, clean their car more often and also post to social media care for their car much more. Whether their car is a hobby, or they simply just want to be perceived to be of higher status or are simply flushed with cash, they are more than welcome to show their success to the world through private plates and sparkling paintwork.
Manufacturer
Gold Medal - Audi's are the most common cars that you will see a private registration plate on!
Silver Medal - Followed by Ford
Bronze Medal - Followed by BMW
Key Points:
20% of all drivers have a private plate.
53% of private registration owners said that they have modified their car.
Half of all private registration plate owners clean their car at least once a fortnight.
58% of respondents with a private plate has posted to social media.
Females are 13% more likely to post to social media than males are.
Car Cleaning
Key points:
Young drivers are most worried about driving and parking in certain spaces, however, they are the least likely to clean their car on a regular basis.
28% of respondents who only wash their car annually, still post their car to social media.
33% of respondents who clean on a weekly basis are between 25-34.
| Who Cleans The Car Most Frequently? | Who Cleans Their Car The Least | |
| Age | 25 - 34 Year Old | 35 - 44 Year Old |
| Gender | Male | Woman |
| Manufacturer | Ford | BMW |
| Model | Fiesta | X5 |
| Colour | Black | Silver |
| Location | Lives in London | London |
Most Popular Car Colours
Key points:
- Silver was the most common colour overall.
- Black was the most common colour amongst the 18 - 24 age bracket, with Blue being the second most common.
- Red was the most common colour for those aged between 55 - 64.
Recent data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders revealed that the most popular car colour of 2018 was Grey, with the runners up being Black and White. Over the past five years, however, White was consistently one the most popular colours, so it's surprising to learn from our own survey that the most popular colour was Silver and that only a handful of the respondent's cars reflect the SMMT data. By today's standards, White is typically the standard no-cost paint option for most new cars, whereas a decade ago White was a desirable colour which you'd typically have to pay extra for. According to the SMMT, the last time Silver was the most popular colour of new cars was 2008.
| Colour | Percentage Who Own This Colour |
| Silver | 21.8% |
| Black | 19.4% |
| Blue | 16.4% |
| Red | 14.1% |
| White | 13.1% |
| Grey | 9.8% |
| Other | 2.3% |
| Green | 2.2% |
| Brown | 0.7% |
| Yellow | 0.2% |
Most common colour by age
| Age | Most Common Colour |
| 18 - 24 | Black |
| 25 - 34 | Silver |
| 35 - 44 | Silver |
| 45 - 54 | Black |
| 55 - 64 | Red |
| 65+ | Silver |
The most unpopular car colours are Brown and Green, however 100% of surveyees who have those colours love their cars!
Who's Least Vain?
Those over the age of 45+
Typically drive a Ford
Silver is the most common colour
From the South East of England
Mostly care about the reliability
30% of people from the South East of England are the most likely to post their car to social media.
Where Do You Avoid Driving?
In the survey, we asked our respondents if there were any places they avoided driving, for reasons such as having the fear of damaging the vehicle or being stressed out through busy city driving and came to find some conflicting results. Turns out, as a whole; a whopping 1 in 4 respondents avoid driving in multi-storey car parks, and drivers would much rather drive in a busy city as opposed to a multi-storey car park for fears of being stressed out, cramped parking and scraping the exterior of the car due to tight bends.
This question isn't technically about vanity or 'doin' it for the 'gram' but we wanted to see what kind of insights we could get on those who may be more careful or less careful than most when it comes to exterior bodywork.
Out of the 14 different cities our respondents were from, 11/14 of them agreed that if they were to avoid anywhere whilst driving the place would be multi-storey car parks a previous study called 'Bump n Ride' covers this in a lot more detail.