by Harvey Williams
Whilst motorists in other countries do attach importance to the type of car they drive, in the UK the car appears to be of far more importance, even in some cases more important that the type of house someone lives in. Britain sells on average 2,500,000 cars per year and the contract hire and leasing industry has been built as a result of the British motorist acquiring a new car with such frequency.
So what happened? How did motoring habits change over the years without the British motorist realizing it? In the 1950’s motorcars like everything else were built to last, people bought products such as cars, ovens and fridges and expected them to last a lifetime and they usually did.
The cars built today, although they have a lot more safety features, are really quite flimsy compared with the cars of the Fifties; then they were heavy and solid. Nowadays a dented wing can be pulled out with a suction pad, in the fifties getting a dent out, was more like a Blacksmith’s job.
People in England didn’t travel much in the 1950’s but they heard told of the American throw away culture and it all appeared quite disgraceful, buying products knowing that they would not last, indeed not wanting them to last, so they could acquire a newer version.
Before long however something similar was happening in Britain; people wanted everything to be newer and more modern and gradually without realizing it, we had adopted the American way. Nowadays contract hire companies find that many motorists opt for the shortest available contract hire term.
During the last war the British learned to repair things if they went wrong and this culture continued long after the war; many motorists used to maintain their own cars, cars had the potential to last forever. A toolbox in the boot of the car was considered an essential item for many motorists. The better off would use the AA or RAC who would patrol on motorcycles and sidecars. When they spotted a member who would have an AA or RAC badge on their grill, they would salute. Nowadays heath and safety would have something to say about them taking the hand off the handlebars to salute. So how did they call the breakdown service if their car went wrong? Strategically placed at the roadside were boxes with a telephone inside, so that the motorist could phone for help. But of course only those who were members could use them; they would have a key to open the box, how the world has changed.
After years of building cars to last, it dawned on the manufacturers that this might not be the best way to sell more cars. Why would someone go out and buy a new car after three years when their existing car was still the latest model ten years after buying it and it was running perfectly, perfectly that is for those days. Mechanical breakdowns were very commonplace; a typical Sunday when families went out for a drive, would see the roadsides strewn with cars with steam pouring from under the raised bonnet.
The Ford Zephyr Mark 2 was an example of the British car manufacturer’s move towards the American design and the Cresta was Vauxhall’s answer to the American style car; it really was quite ostentatious and very close in design to the American Packard. It was never going to become a classic car..
These new multi colour American looking cars that came out in the late 50’s early 60’s had the effect of making the cars around them look rather boring. Mostly they had the American style bench seats, which were favoured by the young, and column gear change.
Then in 1963 the first registration plate came out that identified the year of the car, sixty years after the very first British registration plate was issued in 1903. It was an A registration, at first it wasn’t introduced countrywide, but before long new registration plates throughout Britain had a letter showing the year a vehicle was first registered.
At first the new registration appeared strange and then the penny dropped for many motorists; there was a way they could set themselves apart from other motorists and show them by their registration plate that they had the latest car. They had fallen into the trap of having the latest registration, only to find the following year that someone else was making their car look out of date.
In January 1967 the E registration plate came out but it only lasted seven months; the new registration month was changed from January to August, a month that had previously been a very quiet for car sales.
Motor manufacturers now had the motorist on the run; what with the number plate changing every year and models changing more frequently, motorists weren’t so happy to hold onto their cars for so many years. August was a very difficult month for dealers; that’s when everybody wanted to take delivery of their new car, so it went from the quietest month of the year to the most chaotic.
During the 90’s it was reported that new cars were being stockpiled in various remote parts of the country, in old farm buildings, aircraft hangers and fields. This was done in preference to manufacturers cutting production levels. Apparently this resulted in some motorists buying a new car to get the latest registration plate, and yet getting an older car than the one they were disposing off.
In the 80’s the pressure of having to have the latest model and registration seemed to increase; these were the Thatcher years, the boom years that eventually led to bust. One way out for some motorists was to buy a personalised number plate and then nobody would know how old their car was, or at least not until the manufacturer brought out the new model.
The manufacturers however were one step ahead of them and were introducing “facelift” models, this was far less costly that introducing a brand new model but could still have the effect of making the owner of the pre “facelift” model feel that his or her car was out of date. It usually involves relatively small changes such as different style headlights, a different grill or some other form of minor remodelling. Changes in design, that would be small enough so as not to be too expensive for the manufacturer, but noticeable enough to prompt motorists into buying a new car.
September 2001 saw the next change to way registration plates were laid out;, showing the month and the year of registration. An example of the new plate would be GL 52 FGD. The idea being that it would ease some of the pressure from manufacturers and dealers of having to deliver such large numbers of vehicles in August. Perhaps also making people less aware of the number plate, well perhaps but contract hire and leasing companies say they find it very difficult to get anyone to take delivery of a car in February and August.
Diagnostics have gradually become a more important aspect of fault finding in cars, making it more difficult for a motorist to hold onto a car over the long term without it becoming quite expensive; calling into to the local mechanic to sort out a problem is often not an option, he will frequently tell you that you will need to go to the main agent, because they have the diagnostic equipment or in some cases the special tools that are needed to carry out a repair.
The small garage cannot compete with this as the find themselves, in many cases having to tell the customer to go to the main agent. This is having a major impact on the cost of running a second hand car.
This of course means that a second hand car’s life will become shorter particularly those owned by motorists who were used to working on their own car. From the motor manufacturers point of view this is ideal, some say planned, because if you are going to keep selling car to contract hire companies that release them back into market after three years, you must have buyers for those second hand cars.
There will however always be some smaller workshops that specialise in a particular marque such as BMW; they will have the tools and the diagnostic equipment and will survive after other small garages have gone out of business. Their charges reflect the fact that they have had to invest in special tools and diagnostic equipment but they are nevertheless, less expensive than the main dealership.
For those who have perhaps a BMW or Mercedes and the vehicle is outside the manufacturer’s warranty, these specialist garages can be ideal, although for many it does mean travelling to find their nearest garage specialising in their particular marque.
Complicated electronics in cars today is another example of how manufacturers have cleverly pushed the motorist into changing their car more frequently. Motorists are, with justification, fearful of having electronic problems with their car once the warranty has expired.
Certain manufacturer’s vehicles have become increasingly unreliable and many motorists fear having one of those electronic faults that in spite of all the diagnostic equipment, the dealership cant seem to cure and dealerships charge you for diagnostic time, as much time as is necessary to find the fault.
Unsurprisingly motorists imagine the worst case scenario; what it could cost them if they had to pay to rectify these problems, if the vehicle were not under warranty. The answer really is to take a manufacturer’s extended warranty, this can be expensive but at least you then know the worst case scenario; the annual cost of the warranty.
Although many motorists would like to escape from feeling they are being persuaded into changing their cars, they realise that they are in a trap that has been set by those who manufacture cars. They have managed to make us feel inferior if we have an older car or registration plate.
The motor industry has been very smart in the way they have changed how we buy cars; It is now quite unusual for someone to chose a 4 year term when taking a car on contract hire .Gradually they have changed our perception of what is an old car from 15 to20 years to 5 or 6 years old, without us noticing it was happening.
Should you have any queries or questions with regard to Fleet Management, Licence checking Contract Hire, Personal Contract Hire, Lease Purchase or vehicle Hire Purchase, please do not hesitate to contact us. Bowater Price plc 01494 536 536. www.bowaterprice.com.
