Smart or Sexy?
Last updated: 07/09/2006 - 09:39
Everyone dreams of having a sexy little motor, but what do you really look for in a car? Do you dream of owning a nifty little runner - something like British spoof super spy Austin Powers' latest secret weapon - from Goldmember - the Jaguar XK8? A new survey has found that car-mad Brits would rather be smart than sexy when they buy a new motor.
The top priority for British car buyers is not 0-60mph in performance times, but safe, reliable models with low running costs. Amongst the findings of the Alliance and Leicester survey, that may surprise the nation's image-conscious drivers, is that 81% of those questioned said that image did not enter into the equation, when buying a car. Instead, safety headed the list of concerns, with 96% naming it as a top priority. Other top considerations included running and servicing costs (86%), the reliability of the dealer (83%) and environmental factors (73%).
Whilst both men and women were equally concerned about safety, there were notable differences between the sexes and different age groups on other issues. Women are more environmentally aware - 79% of women consider green issues when buying a car, compared with 69% of men.
So have British car-buyers become super-sensible? Never fear, there are still plenty of boy racers out there. Twice as many 17-24 year olds (31%) as 55-64 year olds (15%) cite 0-60mph times as important in a new car.
See also on Lifestyle: Speeding: 'Scary' Not 'Sexy' - Partners find speeding is scary rather than sexy, reports campaign.
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