Why are we so conscious of the car we drive
Whilst motorists in other countries do attach importance to the type of car they drive, in the UK the car appears to be of far more importance, even in some cases more important that the type of house someone lives in. Britain sells on average 2,500,000 cars per year and the contract hire and leasing industry has been built as a result of the British motorist acquiring a new car with such frequency.
So what happened? How did motoring habits change over the years without the British motorist realizing it? In the 1950’s motorcars like everything else were built to last, people bought products such as cars, ovens and fridges and expected them to last a lifetime and they usually did.
The cars built today, although they have a lot more safety features, are really quite flimsy compared with the cars of the Fifties; then they were heavy and solid. Nowadays a dented wing can be pulled out with a suction pad, in the fifties getting a dent out, was more like a Blacksmith’s job.
In Britain at this time, Americans were know for being wasteful, apparently buying things that they did not really need, only to throw them away after a few years. This was a concept that was difficult for the British to grasp, when during the war they had learned not to waste anything and some items were still rationed in the 1950’s.
It didn’t take long however before the British found themselves going down the same road; seeking out the more modern and newer designs of just about everything. Slowly but surely we followed the American consumer in wanting newer and more modern, in preference to durability. All this seemed to reach a peak in the late1980’s when something more than a year or two old, seemed to be viewed as a relic. Many motorists today choose a 2-year contract hire term rather than 3 even when all the indications are that a 3-year contract hire term is more appropriate for their circumstances.
Previously everything was repaired, rather like they do in Third World countries now; in Cuba following Fidel Castro’s revolution, Cuba was prevented from importing cars from America. As a result of this, in Cuba today, you can see a wonderful selection of 1950’s American cars, in running order and some of them in beautiful condition.
After years of building cars to last, it dawned on the manufacturers that this might not be the best way to sell more cars. Why would someone go out and buy a new car after three years when their existing car was still the latest model ten years after buying it and it was running perfectly, perfectly that is for those days. Mechanical breakdowns were very commonplace; a typical Sunday when families went out for a drive, would see the roadsides strewn with cars with steam pouring from under the raised bonnet.
The 50’s saw the launch of Ford’s Mark 2 Zephyr which followed the American design style but of course was a much smaller version of the typical American car. Vauxhall introduced the Cresta, it’s style was very American right down to its white wall tyres and tail fins and it appeared to be a copy of the Packard. Two-tone paintwork was introduced with this model, which was popular. Class was not the first word that came to mind when describing this car but there were no shortage of buyers.
It also had the effect of making the cars around it, which were mainly black in colour look rather dull. The body panels of these new American style cars were thinner than they had previously been manufacturing.
A new style vehicle registration plate was launched in 1963 the last digit was the letter A. It was 60 years after number plates were first issued in Britain in1903. At first the new registration plate was only issued in certain parts of the country, but it wasn’t long before it became nationwide.
It looked rather odd at first, then some motorists decided they quite liked the idea of showing everyone that they had a brand new car. So they bought a new car and proudly drove around in their smart A registered car but, in what seemed like no time at all, the B registration was introduced and then they weren’t so proud and this was the start of the “latest registration” trap that many motorists found themselves in.
The E registration plate came out in January 1967 but was replaced on 1 August 1967 with the F registration. As August had always been the quietest month of the year, it was designed to boost sales in this month of low car sales.
Manufacturers discovered that with the number plate changing each year and more frequent model changes, motorists who otherwise would have stuck with their car, where being persuaded to change them. The new registration date wasn’t ideal, the 1st of August was chaos; everybody wanted their new car delivered on that day. Although in those days most motorists were expected to turn up at the dealership to collect their new car, rather than have it delivered.
It was claimed in the 1990’s that cars were being stockpiled by the manufacturers, in aircraft hangers and fields in remote parts of the country. It was also said that in certain cases when motorists bought a new car to get the latest registration, their “new” car was actually older than the one they were changing.
Having the latest model in everything was very much fuelled during the Thatcher years of the 1980’s, when people became embarrassed about owning anything that was more than a year or two old. Some motorists not wanting to feel under pressure to change their car so frequently discovered that a personalised number plate, that had previously been adopted by the rich and famous, or those who would have quite liked to be rich and famous, was a very effective way of disguising the age of the car.
Having a personalised number plate and holding onto the car for a number of years was short lived, the manufacturers started introducing facelift models. This usually took the form of changes to the headlight display or grill, small changes but enough to make the driver of the pre facelift model embarrassed enough to buy the latest version. Some models proved more difficult than others to facelift and in some cases the manufacturers just left them as they were realising that there was little they could do to improve the appearance and changing it might make it worse.
2001 saw another change to the registration system; September and March were to be the months for the new registration plate, the first being the 51 plate in September for example LC 51 GWJ. Nowadays you can not only see the year of registration but also the month. It was felt that this would spread sales more evenly as motorists would be less aware of the registration plate but as any contract hire company will tell you, the peak sales months are March and September. So perhaps motorists continue to be aware of their registration plate.
Diagnostics have gradually become a more important aspect of fault finding in cars, making it more difficult for a motorist to hold onto a car over the long term without it becoming quite expensive; calling into to the local mechanic to sort out a problem is often not an option, he will frequently tell you that you will need to go to the main agent, because they have the diagnostic equipment or in some cases the special tools that are needed to carry out a repair.
The small garage cannot compete with this as the find themselves, in many cases having to tell the customer to go to the main agent. This is having a major impact on the cost of running a second hand car.
Many years ago many motorists worked on their own cars, for purely economic reasons and although that has reduced significantly, there are nevertheless still many motorists who cannot afford to pay someone else to work on their car. However they are finding that without diagnostic equipment and specialist tools their car cannot be repaired, so cars are now being scrapped much earlier; contract hire release cars onto the market when they are on average, three years old. By making older cars too expensive to maintain, the manufacturers are trying to ensure that there will be buyers for these three year old cars, otherwise they will be in trouble.
There will however always be some smaller workshops that specialise in a particular marque such as BMW; they will have the tools and the diagnostic equipment and will survive after other small garages have gone out of business. Their charges reflect the fact that they have had to invest in special tools and diagnostic equipment but they are nevertheless, less expensive than the main dealership.
Once a vehicle is outside its warranty, it can certainly be worth considering a specialist garage. Sometimes it means travelling to find the nearest one but the savings can make travelling worth while. The marque they have chosen to specialise in is generally the cars they love, so they are often real enthusiasts and still know how to repair, rather than just replace items.
Complicated electronics in cars today is another example of how manufacturers have cleverly pushed the motorist into changing their car more frequently. Motorists are, with justification, fearful of having electronic problems with their car once the warranty has expired.
Mechanical problems are quite rare nowadays but electronic problems are on the increase and this strikes fear in the heart of many motorists, because they have heard stories of electronic faults that take weeks and sometimes months to cure, or may have experienced them whilst their vehicle was under warranty.
It occurs to many motorists whose cars that are outside the warranty, that they could find themselves in the situation where they have such a fault that nobody seems to be able to cure. Although they often cost in the order of 1,000 per annum or more, at least you have peace of mind if you take out the manufacturer’s warranty.
Many motorists would like to attach less importance to the type and age of car they drive and would be happy to change less frequently if others did. But of course others are not going to. It’s partly to do with self esteem; many quite illogically, feel inferior if a newer or smarter car drives past them, although interestingly those that drive the more expensive cars do not generally feel superior to those who have a lesser car.
We have to accept that the manufacturers have been extremely clever with their advertising and well thought out strategy to get us to buy more cars. And motor manufacturers and the contract hire and leasing industry are destined remain multi billion pound industries even though many of us would like to get out of the trap we find ourselves in.
Should you have any queries or questions with regard to Fleet Management, Licence checking Contract Hire, Personal Contract Hire, Lease Purchase or vehicle Hire Purchase, please do not hesitate to contact us. Bowater Price plc 01494 536 536. www.bowaterprice.com.