In spite of a lifting of the financial mood in the country, the top financial concerns when it comes to running a car have not changed in the past six months. The cost of fuel is foremost in Irish motorists’ minds, despite the stable price of diesel in the past six months at about 147 cent per litre.
Next up are road tax costs. While buyers of efficient new cars benefit from the emissions-based taxation, where most pay no more than €200 per year, drivers of older models, taxed according to engine size, have to consider an annual bill of over €500 if their car is a 1.6-litre or larger. Respondents chose the cost of car insurance as their third largest financial concern and 66.1% of those surveyed believe their motoring costs will increase over the next decade, from an average right now (covering insurance, tax, petrol, repairs and servicing) of €3,669.30 per annum.
Hence motorists are doing more research online than ever before when buying a car. A considerable 36% of respondents researched more than five different models before choosing their car, and while independent dealers are still the favoured source of cars (at 32%), private sellers accounted for a sizeable 27.9% of motorists’ purchases over the first half of this year.
In terms of planned spend, most buyers now reckon they’ll purchase a car valued between €5,001 and €10,000 (at 29.2%), whereas the previous survey showed a slim majority for a higher spend. That is one of the few negative trends in this report, though the differences are too small to read anything into it at this stage. It’s certainly something to keep an eye on.
Following on from that, fuel costs are seen as the biggest obstacle facing drivers trying to afford a car two years from now (32.9% of respondents). Lack of income from employment isn’t far behind at 26.4%, followed by the cost of buying the car in the first place.
TOP TIP: Consider trading in your older model for a new car using a PCP finance scheme. It may work out cheaper in the long run.