Thursday, April 28, 2011

We Canadians, Eh, We Love our Driving (Autoblog)

Canadians continue to drive despite gas prices



A recent survey revealed that despite rising gas prices, Canadians have no intention of giving up their cars. What they are going to do is sacrifice a few indulgences to save a few dollars. 

In fact, according to a survey done by Vision Critical for Canadian Tire, one-in-three Canadian drivers (36 per cent) said that they would rather give up vacation time than give up driving and more than half (56 per cent) said they will take on the role of do-it-yourself mechanic to save on car-related costs

"Canadians love their cars," said David Gollum, Communications Manager, Automotive for Canadian Tire. "This is part of our commitment to regularly talk to Canadians to see where their heads are at and discover their pain points."
Some of the results from the survey were:
• 44 per cent said they would check and replace air filters themselves
• 33 per cent would attempt to change their own tires
• 73 per cent think they could take on monitoring and topping up their vehicle's fluids
• 58 per cent will inspect and replace vehicle light bulbs

The top do-it-yourself job on the list to save money was cleaning the car - both inside and outside - as 90 per cent of those survey thought it was a waste of money to have it professionally done. 

Gollum said, "Nationally speaking the numbers are pretty comparable. In Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan they were willing to take on a bit more than other Canadians. Their numbers average a bit higher in DIY projects they were willing to take on." 

It turns out that a lot of male Canadians like cleaning the car - 18 per cent said it was their favourite household chore. (It's a cliche for a reason.)

Fortunately for all of us concerned with safety, the enthusiasm for DIY is only for the easier stuff. The survey found that Canadians are still happy to pay a professional for the more complicated upkeep and repairs. 

[Source: Canadian Tire]





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