Some 16% of Australians worked on a car in any given three months in the year to June 2014, down from 18% in 2010, while the proportion who got their car serviced by a professional in an average four weeks stayed relatively stable.
The surprising finding however, is that those who practised DIY repairs on their cars where the ones more likely to service their car with a pro.
Between 2010 and 2014, the proportion of people who worked on cars who also got their car serviced grew slightly from 28% to 29%, in contrast to the total population (20% to 19%).
Nobody would be surprised to learn that people who work on cars are overwhelmingly male and aged between 35–49 or 50–64 years, with an above-average proportion of country-dwellers among them.
They are also more likely than the average Australian to have shopped at an auto accessories shop in the last four weeks – particularly Autobarn and Repco.
While Repco and Autobarn are especially popular among people who work on cars, Supercheap Auto is by far the most popular of the three big auto parts stores, with 9% of Australians aged 14+ shopping there in an average four weeks. This is more than double the proportion who shopped at Repco (4%), and triple that which shopped at Autobarn (3%)
Warren Reid, group accounts director – consumer products, Roy Morgan Research, says: “While it’s certainly logical that people who work on cars at home would be more likely than the average Aussie to shop at auto accessories stores, the fact that they are also more likely to get their car serviced seems somewhat surprising at first – until you think about it.
“Whereas 24% of the total population agree with the statement, ‘I regard myself as a bit of a car enthusiast’, this figure jumps to 56% of people who work on their cars at home. While these ‘revheads’ obviously enjoy a bit of backyard tinkering, they would still rely on the professionals to do the serious work, keep their service schedules up to date and their beloved vehicle performing to its maximum capacity.”
Reid notes that by using Roy Morgan Research’s segmentation tool – Helix Personas – they have been able to find common traits shared by car enthusiasts, but also uncovered key differences between them that might help an auto accessories shop (or a chain of garages) determine who exactly they wish to target.
For example, individuals from the Family First persona are 24% more likely than the average Australian to have worked on a car in the last three months. These middle-class, family-focused Aussies tend to live in outer suburbs or medium-sized regional towns, where a fair bit of driving is required. They also enjoy DIY, so probably wouldn’t be averse to a bit of home car maintenance – on their own vehicle or those of their kids.
People from the Still Working persona, on the other hand, tend to be older, predominantly rural and on tight budgets. Working on their car (also likely to be older) would likely be a viable way for them to stretch their finances further – as long as they didn’t have to follow it up with a visit to the mechanic every time.
“This persona is twice as likely to have shopped at Repco than at the other two auto stores,” Reid adds.
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