Every motorist should know basic car maintenance as a way to keep their vehicle in the best possible condition and to prevent costly repairs, but a study from Jardine Motors revealed that there are many cities in the UK that had poor knowledge when it comes to vehicle maintenance.
Testing UK Motorists
The study tested 1,000 motorists with questions based on the “show me, tell me” element of the practical driving test to see how much UK motorists knew about what went on underneath the bonnet. Worryingly, the results revealed that many motorists would fail the test if they had to take it again today and need to improve their knowledge if they are shopping in the used car market to find a well maintained car.
Common Failures
The most common fail was drivers being unable to identify the correct warning light if there was a problem with their anti-lock brakes with as many as 80% failing to answer correctly. In addition to this, 64% of drivers did not know how to check the battery while 63% did not know how to check the brake fluid. Another major area where motorists failed was knowing how to change a tyre with 58% admitting that they did not know how to go about doing this.
The Worst Regions
It is also clear that certain regions of the UK were worse than others when it came to vehicle maintenance. Edinburgh was the city that had the worse knowledge with 60% of respondents getting the average question wrong. This was followed by Manchester and Birmingham, both of which had an average of 59% of respondents getting each question wrong on average.
The Best & Other Cities
At the other end, Bristol performed best of the 15 cities with 32% of respondents getting each question wrong on average. This was followed by Belfast at 37% and Norwich at 41%. Other major cities included London (49%), Liverpool (55%), Glasgow (57%) and Newcastle (56%).
Gender & Age
In addition to region, the study also looked at both gender and age. The results showed that the outdated stereotype of men being better at car maintenance was wrong with a higher percentage of female motorists getting the answer right on every question except one. Worryingly, 56% of men were unable to perform the various safety checks compared to 47% of female drivers (a figure still worryingly high). Interestingly, no clear pattern emerged in relation to age with older drivers seemingly having some areas of expertise as you would expect with more experience.
The Jardine Motors study revealed some interesting and alarming statistics about vehicle maintenance throughout the UK and across all ages and genders. It suggests that motorists need to educate themselves on how they can look after their vehicle, which could help them to keep it in the best condition, avoid costly repairs and even help them to stay safer on the roads.
