1 in 3 young British motorists have never cleaned their own car

New research has shown that just over a third of young adults in the UK have never cleaned their own car, citing the effort it takes and being unable to do a ‘good job’ as the top reasons why. Furthermore it was found that those that do pay to have their car cleaned usually shell out £16 each time. This means that many in this demographic will spend £192 each year to have their cars cleaned ‘professionally’.

The research was carried out by www.VoucherCodesPro.co.uk as part of an ongoing study into how young Britons spend their time and money. For the purpose of the survey, 2,539 UK-based adults aged 18 to 35 were quizzed about their car maintenance. Each individual revealed that they owned their own car and had a driver’s license prior to the study.

Initially all respondents were asked ‘Would you say your car is currently clean?’ to which just over 1 in 5 (22 per cent) stated that they believed it was, with the remaining 78 per cent admitting that they thought their car was a mess. When respondents were asked to state how long ago they last had their car cleaned, the average answer emerged as one and a half months ago.

Wanting to find out more, researchers posed the question, “Who usually cleans your car?” to which 63 per cent of respondents said they go to a car wash, 21 per cent said their car is cleaned by those in supermarket car parks, 9 per cent revealed they usually clean it themselves and the remaining 7 per cent admitted they made their partner do it.

Following on from this, respondents were asked “When was the last time you cleaned your car yourself?” to which the average answer emerged as six months ago, however it was also found from this question that 35 per cent had never cleaned their own car.

Wanting to explore this further, these respondents were asked why it was they had never cleaned their own car with it being ‘too much effort’ (56 per cent) and being ‘unable’ to do a good job (24 per cent) topping the list.

Researchers next asked those participants who usually pay to have their car cleaned how much they spend each time on this service, with the average answer emerging as £16. When asked how often they pay for this service, the midpoint response was found to be once every month.

Taking this into account, researchers found that respondents will spend £192 each year on having their car cleaned.

George Charles, spokesperson for www.VoucherCodesPro.co.uk, commented on the findings: “It’s sad to hear just how many people have never cleaned their own car. It’s such a great activity to do, especially in the summer and can really save your household some pennies in the long run. £192 might not seem like much to spend in a year but that amount will certainly add up!”