Brits neglect car paint repairs due to high costs survey reveals
A new survey reveals that one in three British car owners are delaying crucial paint repairs. As the cost of living continues to squeeze UK households, Brits risk long-term damage to their vehicles.
53% of British car owners cite the cost of repairs as too high. This leaves their vehicles vulnerable to further damage.
25% say it’s an inconvenience to repair small paintwork imperfections.
The breakdown of age groups is a surprise, with 18-24 and 55+ having fewer scuffs than millennials.
Does colour affect car paint repairs?
The survey revealed that British adults who own a blue were most likely to have damaged paintwork.
Black car owners were the second most likely to need repairs.
Blue cars account for 48% of damaged vehicles on UK roads. Black cars are close behind at 43%. However, white cars seem to be the safest colour to drive with only 35% reporting paint damage.
51% of blue cars haven’t been fixed because it’s too expensive. 24% say it’s inconvenient.
Nearly half of blue car owners said they’d take it to a body shop for repairs. Remarkably, nearly a third of blue car owners said they would do it themselves.
Is your region more likely to have scuffs and scrapes?
The survey broke the results down by other factors too such as government region and car brand.
The North East has the highest percentage of damaged cars.
East Midlands and East of England, on the other hand, have the joint lowest damaged cars.
What does the survey reveal about UK cars?
Owner of Car Paint Colours, Paul O’Reilly said: “We wanted to understand the reasons fewer people are opting to repair their car’s paintwork.
“The data collected was slightly surprising for a nation of car lovers, who ranked cost and convenience as one of the key reasons they’ve gone without these repairs in the past 12 months.
“It even boiled down to colour, brands and age groups which were more or less likely to take pride in their car’s paint work.
“What I found interesting was that the data also shows there is an appetite from drivers to do the repairs themselves. 24% of car owners would be willing to make the repairs themselves with 48% saying they would go to a body repair shop for the damage to be fixed.
Why aren’t Brits repairing their cars?
“As economic pressures continue, the trend of delaying small car maintenance is likely to persist, making long-term car care solutions more important than ever.
“It’s one of the reasons we have introduced Car Paint Colours to the market, and more specifically, our industry leading Smart Chip Pen which allows drivers and car enthusiasts to touch up minor chips or scratches.”
Car Paint Colours commission the YouGov survey in a bid to understand its audience better. The brand launched a platform using DVLA assisted technology that allows consumers to enter their reg number and order a perfect colour matched aerosols or smart chip pen direct to their door. This means small body paint repairs can be done right at home rather than spending significant money in a body shop and avoiding the hassle of leaving their car to have a scratch repaired.
Car Paint Colours also works closely with body shops and dealerships who want to offer the car paint repair kits to their customers, helping them to maintain their car’s body paint aesthetic.
Download our region-by-region breakdown to see where your area stands in car maintenance habits.
