Inflation is causing Americans to take better care of their current vehicles, according to a new study.
A survey of 2,000 car owners found that 73% of respondents made a conscious decision to better maintain their cars due to rising vehicle costs.
This is especially true for older respondents. While 60% of Generation Z said they actively seek to better maintain their car, 75% of Generation X said the same.
But regardless of age, when choosing a product for their car, car owners consider not only the cost of a new car, but also previous maintenance errors (28%).
The survey, conducted by Talker Research on behalf of Pennzoil, examined how vehicle owners are taking better care of their cars – and how that relates to the products they buy.
Respondents who rely on the recognition of premium brands when purchasing products say that premium brands work better and perform better in the long run compared to private label products and are also more trustworthy than their private label counterparts.
Anyone who buys private label products may regret it.
When asked which private label product purchase they most regretted in the last month, private label vehicle care products came in the top three, along with personal care items and cleaning products.
The desire for branded products was a consistent theme throughout the survey.
Respondents were shown different categories and asked whether they would prefer to buy a branded product rather than a private label product in each category.
Vehicle maintenance ranked second in terms of likelihood to purchase branded products. In fact, Americans are significantly more likely to purchase a branded product (57%) than a private label product (34%) for vehicle maintenance.
Personal technology, such as a laptop (72%), ranked first among the most likely brand purchases, followed closely by other categories such as small appliances (55%) and personal care items (52%).
The survey also asked respondents how they typically maintain their vehicles: Are they a do-it-yourself (DIY) consumer or a do-it-for-me (DIFM) type?
Nearly 80% of consumers say they rely on others to perform basic maintenance on their vehicle (DIFM), with half of them preferring to hire a professional and 27% relying on a friend or family member to do it for them.
Twenty percent do the maintenance themselves and over 40% of do-it-yourselfers say they enjoy maintaining their vehicle.
More than half (58%) of those who prefer to take their car to the workshop said they lack the necessary knowledge to carry out self-maintenance.
And the majority of car owners who do this for themselves (57%) also said that brand familiarity plays a role in the purchase decision.
Yet, regardless of whether they are DIY or DIFM consumers, two-thirds of respondents (63%) said that motor oil is a product they are willing to invest more money in to maintain the value of their car over the long term.
Survey methodology:
This random double opt-in survey of 2,000 American car owners was commissioned by Pennzoil between May 24 and May 29, 2024. It was conducted by the market research firm Talker researchwhose team members are members of the Market Research Society (WOMAN) and the European Society for Opinion and Market Research (ESOMAR).
