Millennials are the only generation who would attempt to fix their car before they decided to take it to the garage.

Three-quarters of that age group (28-43 year olds) are trying to mend motors themselves, unlike the supposedly more DIY-savvy Gen X (44-59) and Baby Boomers (60-78). Nearly two-thirds of drivers in those two older age groups will contact a mechanic first while, perhaps unsurprisingly, young Gen Z (17-27) motorists would do the same and ask a parent or guardian before they decide to get their hands dirty.

The surprising revelation comes after more than 1,250 drivers were surveyed by Sterling Insurance on a wide-range of topics, including how confident they are about taking on simple motoring maintenance matters.

The study also found that drivers in Northern Ireland are staying more loyal to manual cars compared with the rest of Great Britain.

A driver gets to grips with a manual car

Motorists are significantly more likely, at 83%, to drive an non-automatic vehicle compared to the average of 70% across England, Wales and Scotland. Drivers in the country are also almost 15% more likely to ask a friend to look at a second-hand car when buying it than the norm too.

Some of the most interesting Northern Ireland-based insights discovered include:

Respondents were over 10% less likely to drive a campervan and 9% less likely to drive a truck
One in five drivers are more likely to be able to change air filters while 13% believe they stand a better chance of replacing a spark plug

The full survey also includes analysis of purchasing habits, the popularity of brands, the differences between who is driving manual or automatics and what generations are most readily adopting alternative fuel sources.

Peter Cook, a manager at insurance broker Sterling, said: “It appears that drivers in Northern Ireland may be a little more hands on in some ways and that could be why they’re keen to drive manual cars.

“Our study showed that motorists driving automatic vehicles or EVs are much less confident about getting their hands dirty, so perhaps older technology on older cars is more appealing to drivers in the country.

“It’s really interesting to have looked at the approaches from different generations and it does appear, given the Gen Z responses, that doing simple tasks may become something of a lost art.”

Read the full report here: www.sterling-insurance.co.uk/blog/car/car-confidence-survey/

DIY Millennials shunning garages while Northern Ireland motorists are turning to manuals