U.S. car owners are spending more time and money to improve the appearance of their vehicles without going to the dealership, according to a recent study by car-care product supplier Chipex.
The study reveals that drivers are doing the maintenance work themselves, with foreign cars receiving more “paint care” than domestic brands.
“Whether it’s to improve resale value before purchasing a new-model car in the fall or just part of a spring-cleaning exercise earlier in the year, more and more car owners are finding out that do-it-yourself paint repairs are a great way to save money,” said Johnny Graham, Chipex founder and owner.
The report is a good reminder that dealers need to market these types of offerings to car owners that are interested in paint care. It also reveals which types of car owners are seeking these services. “BMW owners, for example, did more do-it-yourself work to fix paint chips and dings than any other group nationally over the past year,” said Chipex.
Out of a top 10 list of car owners who decided to to the repairs themselves over the last 12 months: BMW came in first, followed by Ford, Audi, Toyota, Honda, Mercedes, Subaru, Nissan, Chevrolet and Volkswagen.
According to the study, August and September were the most popular months to fix paint dings and chips, followed by April and May.
In terms of colours, white is the most popular in all four regions in the world, based on PPG Industries. Black is the second most popular colour in both North America and the Asia Pacific area. However, Chipex listed black as the most popular colour (or shade) in its study of the U.S., followed by white, blue, grey and silver.
“California was the clear ‘do-it-yourself’ paint-repair leader among U.S. states, topping second-place Florida by a two-to-one margin,” said Chipex. “Texas, New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio and Virginia rounded out the top 10 in that order.”
