Do Customers Know More About Cars than Dealer Salesmen?

Car customers spend hours online and are more likely to know more about a dealer’s cars than the salesmen who sell them 

Is Your Mind Made Up?

As Automotive Management reported on 8th April, dealers find that customers ‘already have their mind made up’ before they visit a dealership. However that article and others are missing a key point – prospective customers don't just search for a car, they research the cars they want to buy and are increasingly looking to other car owners for their opinions.

Digital Diligence  

Reviews -  Search on Specific Model

WeLoveAnyCar.com have harnessed the power of the motorist in gathering the opinions of known car owners – no one can submit a review to our site without being asked. Once a review is submitted, we ask other drivers of the same derivative of car if they agree or disagree with the review. This ‘digital diligence’ avoids spurious and fake reviews. WeLoveAnyCar.com now has the views and opinions of over 538,000 car owners on virtually every make and model of car sold in the UK today.

Used Car Buyers - Start Online Not On Foot

According to Google, keen buyers will suck in information and will know a great deal about the car they want to buy. McKinsey & Company issued a paper in February 2014 which stated that 100% of used car buyers search on line first.

Review Sites for Holidays - Why Not Cars?

Prospective customers have been trained in review sites like TripAdvisor where they can find out what travelers thought of a hotel or holiday destination. Now they expect the same information to be available for cars for sale online and they expect it to be fair, accurate and up-to-date.

Car buyers will spend hours researching what car is best for them - using car review sites to 'ask' other car owners who have lived with and paid for a car for their opinion.

Educating The Salesman

WeLoveAnyCar.com plan to give dealers and dealer salesmen information on customer reviews on every car for sale on their forecourt where they are available. By working with dealers we think we can help salesman gain more information about the cars they have for sale. Hopefully they will be able to read as much about the cars they have for sale as their prospective customers.

Review Any Car

Research your own car by visiting our review site: http://www.weloveanycar.com/car-review

The Top Ten Dirty Secrets of Car Owners

The hidden face of dirty, festering cars is revealed in a list of the most appalling finds and stomach churning car litter.  It appears that some car owners have no shame when sending their car for a spring clean. WeLoveAnyCar.com asked car cleaners to list their top 10 hates.  

How Dirty Can A Car Be?

Car Cleaners: The Top 10 Dirty Car Finds

1. Dried 'boogies' on the underside of the steering wheel
2. Rancid food including cheese, meat and putrid vegetables
3. Used tissues loaded
4. Baby and kid vomit
5. Slime and mould – usually as a result of wet garments and shoes
6. Used nappies and other sanitary items
7. Vermin including mice, fleas, worms and maggots
8. Disgusting smells – unspecified
9. Cigarette butts and ash
10. Mud, animal dung, oil, grass sludge, etc

Money Doesn't Mean Clean

Cars are often the second biggest asset people own.  According to car cleaners, however, the value of the car is often odds with the garbage found in it. One car cleaner (who didn't want to be named) said, “I’ve cleaned cars worth over £100,000 and they've made me physically sick with the smell and the stuff I've found in them.”

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Driver Detritus

Car cleaners turn a blind eye to most driver detritus.  The competitive nature of car cleaning services has cut the cost of a car valet in real terms and they can’t afford to be too fussy. However the line has to be drawn when it comes to the unsafe and the hazardous.  A list of items found by car cleaners included:

• A dead bird:  “I wondered where the feathers came from.”
• Maggots: “I forgot to take the maggot jar out last month, I thought flies in the car was strange”
• Dirty nappy: “Oh yes.  We were caught short.  I meant to take it out last month”
• Packed lunch: “Robin went on a school trip.  That was three months ago.”
• Putrid meat: “I couldn't resist that farmers market last month.”

Posh Lady - Expensive Car - Dirty Little Secrets

Some car owners even leave sanitary materials and other intimate items in their car.  One car cleaner said, “Nothing surprises me now.  I’ve seen everything and quite often even the poshest lady driver can have the most surprising dirty little secrets hidden in their car.”

WeLoveAnyCar.com

WeLoveAnycar.com is probably the biggest car review site in the World.  Car owners rate the economy, driving experience, reliability and if they would recommend their car to another driver.  It doesn't rate car cleanliness.

Photo credit: http://www.thehogring.com/2013/05/15/should-auto-upholstery-shops-charge-a-dirt-tax/ 

White Van Man Is Back, Working, and Can Be Found in Hampshire

Vans number 3.3 million on British roads – the highest ever and another sign of economic recovery. WeLoveAnyCar.com finds white van men outnumber women by 10 to 1 and Hampshire is home to more vans than anywhere else in the UK.

In another sign of Britain emerging from the recession and economic growth gaining pace, the UK government reports on 10th April that the number of light commercial vehicles - vans - on UK roads is the highest ever and new van sales are increasing faster than cars.

Whilst more women own and drive more cars than ever before, the van is still the preserve of male owners with men outnumbering women van owners by 10 to 1 according to the figures issued by the Department of Transport .

Half of all vans on the roads are owned by companies but owner/drivers of vans number 1.5 million. The growth in the number of owner/driver vans in the last ten years has been double that of company owned vans - another fact supporting the importance of the small business sector to the economy.

Plumbers, decorators, builders and other tradesmen stopped buying new vans as work dried up in 2008. However now more vans are being sold throughout the UK and the Van population has never been higher.

WeLoveAnyCar.com, the biggest car and van review site in the UK, crunched government stats and found that the ‘white van man’ is leading the way to economic recovery.

Vans registered by area also give a fascinating insight into Britain’s economic recovery with more vans being registered in the prosperous south with Hampshire, then Essex, leading the way.

Light Commercial Vehicles tend to have a much harder, longer life and face higher expectations from their owners. Reliability is key and factors like starting first time and the ability to repair cheaply and quickly high on owner’s demands. The Ford Transit – in its many forms – is highly rated by ‘white van man’ who is less likely to switch to other makes than car buyers.

Other manufacturers have focused their efforts on comfort and accessories to attract van buyers. However, the reviews of thousands of van owner drivers reveal that the core need is to work on time, every time.

Reviews written by Ford Transit owners show how important their Transit is, or was, to their business and life in general:

White Van Man - Key To Economic Recovery

“This was a brilliant little van - was powerful, economical and fun to drive. It carried loads &
always started at the first turn of the key. Only sold because the business failed!”

“The Ford Transit I owned was the most reliable vehicle I have owned. If it wasn't for the fact I lost my business I would of kept the vehicle without any doubts at all.”

“Very good hard working. Reliable just like myself”

“Fantastic reliable vehicle, backbone of Britain. High spec, versatile and great to drive. If you need a van to do the job and be reliable... buy a Transit”

“Great vehicle, doubled up as a workhorse, private car, towed my caravan with ease. And even converted to a camper van for odd night away. A good all-round mode of transport.”

David Titmuss, WeLoveAnycar.com spokesman said, “We didn’t set out to build a van review site but that’s what happened as well. The comments and reviews submitted by van owners are noticeably different than the hundreds of thousands of car reviews and views we have. White Van Man wants his van to work, start every time, and the most important luxury; a good radio.”

WeLoveAnyCar.com has the largest car review site in the UK with over 530,000 reviews and opinions of motorists covering virtually every make and model of car and van sold – new and used. 

Are Older Women Drivers the Hidden Powerhouse of Rising Car Sales in the UK?

Car ownership amongst women climbs by 1.6 million in 10 years – more than three times the growth of car ownership amongst men. 

More women are buying more cars than ever before according to UK government statistics released on April 10^th.  New car ownership is growing at a faster rate amongst older women who could be the hidden powerhouse driving a revival in new and used car sales.

  

Women Own 10 million cars

In just ten years, car ownership amongst women has grown to nearly 10 million – and that doesn't include company cars and vans.  

Women Turn to The Internet To Choose Their Cars

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Growth in Woman Car Owners:  3 x Men in Last 10 years

Whilst men still account for 14.7 million private cars on the road, that figure has grown just 500,000 in 10 years.  Women have bought an additional 1.6 million cars – three times as many as men.

Women may soon be neck and neck with men when it comes to new cars sold.  Nearly 43% of new cars sold privately are now bought by women. 

The Powerhouse in UK Car Sales - Mature Women

The growth in women drivers isn't necessarily younger women taking up the wheel.  According to the National Transport Survey there was a 20% increase in the number of trips taken by women drivers aged over 50 from 2003 to 2011.

Not Many Mature Women Watch 'Top Gear'

Women not only buy their own cars but they influence the choice of male partners.  Women could be the predominant, but ignored, force in car buying. The biggest growth market could be women over 50 years old – and not many of those buy car magazines or watch Top Gear.

Reliability, Economy, Practicality : Key Needs Of Women Car Owners

The Internet, Not Salesmen, Help Women Choose Their Cars

The importance of internet search in the automotive sector has grown dramatically.  The McKinsey& Company report published in February 2014 into the future of car buying outlines how 100% of used car purchases and the majority of new car purchases are made after detailed internet research has been carried out by the prospective buyer.  Also Amanda M.Kimbrough of the University of Alabama found that, ‘Women connect more than do men’ in her 2012 study and women engage more often with social networks and actively seek the opinions of others.

Quite clearly car dealers and car makers should not just treat women with respect but should expect that they have done their research, sought the opinions of others and could know far more about a car than the salesman selling it.

WeLoveAnyCar.com has the largest car review site in the UK with over 530,000 reviews and opinions of motorists covering virtually every make and model of car sold – new and used.