The age of new-auto purchasers is rising and that will have implications on many related areas, including service, according to Foresight Research, Rochester Hills, Mich. “In the past few years we have seen a dramatic trend in the age of new auto purchasers, where adults aged 55 or older were one-quarter of that group in 2008 and now represent almost one-half,” said Nancy Walter, vice president of business development at Foresight Research, in a press statement. “This shift has a big impact on the purchase influences and processes of buying cars. But what we didn’t expect was the implications for car service expectations.”
Foresight surveys weekly in markets across the U.S. from September-April. Recently the firm included some specific questions about service and got strong responses from the 55-plus car owners. For instance, when asked where they go for routine service, over one-third of this group take their cars to their dealership and another quarter take them to an independent local repair shop, both of which are significantly higher than the total population.
“It is the ‘whys’ that are really interesting,” said Walter. “When asked why they chose the place they go for service, the 55-and-older owners value quality and convenience.” Specifically, senior adults list convenient location, quality of service and good customer service as their top three factors in going where they go for auto service. They also value skill/training/expertise of technicians, use of genuine parts, and loaner cars/shuttles at a rate of 20 percent to 50 percent more than the total population.
“Price is just lower on the list for the mature adults. It ranks fourth on why they go where they go for service, while for 18-to-34-year-olds, price is a definitive No. 1. In fact, adults 55 or older were significantly less likely than the total population to cite ‘price matching/same price as other maintenance shops’ as something that would encourage them to take their vehicle to a dealership for routine maintenance if they currently were going somewhere else,” Walter said.