The last six months of 2013 were marked by a warm afterglow of the fabulous summer and what appears to be a cautious return in consumer confidence in Ireland.
This manifested itself in a surge of new car sales at the start of 2014. Nonetheless, Carzone.ie’s survey data revealed that motorists have the same issues at heart as they have had for several years - and they’re no more likely to buy a convertible than before!
When asked to identify the top financial concerns when it comes to running a car, respondents put the fuel costs and the price of road tax right at the top of the list, at 69.7% and 67.9% respectively. Motor insurance wasn’t too far away in third place at 46.1%.
The desire for better fuel economy is continuing to drive buyers towards diesel cars. Post-2008 models benefit from lower road tax too due to their lower emissions. However, these cars’ larger engines usually result in higher annual insurance premiums.
Balancing these various costs mean there’s still a lot of variation in the vehicles actually bought. Of the cars bought recently by those surveyed, only 52.3% were fuelled by diesel. That may be explained by the fact that people are committing to older cars - about 54% of those recently bought models were over five years old for instance and the majority of them were priced between €5,000 and €10,000.
Some optimism was revealed when respondents were asked about their next purchase. By a slim margin (31.1% vs. 29.0%) most said they’d spend between €10,001 and €20,000 within the next six months.
Unsurprisingly, those same people voted predominantly for diesel power, at 61.4% of the respondents. A total of 80.1% of searches carried out on Carzone.ie over the last six months of 2013 were for diesel cars. That’s a high number, undoubtedly, but it’s worth noting that it is less than for the first six months of the year (84.2%). Nonetheless, it far exceeds the stock of diesel cars for sale, which has increased from 55.4% to 58.78% during the course of 2013.
This follows the obsession in the new car market with diesel power. A total of 72.5% of cars sold in the latter half of the year were diesel, which is an identical proportion to the start of the year.
A considerable 64.3% of these cars were in A tax bands, with carbon dioxide emissions of 120g/km and less, resulting in low annual tax.
It seems that Irish car buyers are still highly motivated by the price of the tax disc on the windscreen - seemingly ahead of any other considerations in some cases.
For low mileage drivers, a diesel car may still return better economy, but they’re usually more expensive to buy in the first place and low usage doesn’t suit modern diesel engines fitted with particulate filters (DPF) - that may result in higher maintenance costs further down the line.
This year we asked respondents to tell us a little more about their commute, and the results were illuminating. A large majority (51.9%) had a daily round-trip of 50 kilometres or less, while 69.5% of all those surveyed travelled less than 100 kilometres per working day.
Those with shorter commutes could potentially save money in the long term by switching to a cheaper, petrol fuelled car, or even an electric one. Yet search and survey data reveals little demand for electric cars as yet.
Top Tip: If your daily commute doesn’t involve a decent stretch of flowing motorway driving then it’s advised that you do not drive a modern diesel car fitted with a diesel particulate filter (DPF).