Why are cars so important to the British

Article Written By: HarveyWilliams

For the average motorist in Britain the type and age of their car seems so important. It certainly didn't appear to have the same importance some years ago, when motorists weren't so inclined to judge other road users by the type of car they drove. Today there are massive industries that have grown around our habit of frequently changing our vehicles. Contract hire and leasing is a massive industry built on our desire to have newer and better cars; around 2.5 million are sold every year. 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.

In Britain at this time, Americans were know for being wasteful, apparently buying things that they did not really need, only to throw them away after a few years. This was a concept that was difficult for the British to grasp, when during the war they had learned not to waste anything and some items were still rationed in the 1950's. 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.

Eventually the penny dropped in the British motor industry, along with the manufacturers of many other products. They started to realize that if they continued to build cars so solidly with the same models that ran for years and years, why would someone go out and buy a new one?

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.. It also had the effect of making the cars around it, which were mainly black in colour look rather dull. The body panels of these new American style cars were thinner than they had previously been manufacturing.

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.

Having a personalised number plate and holding onto the car for a number of years was short lived, the manufacturers started introducing facelift models. This usually took the form of changes to the headlight display or grill, small changes but enough to make the driver of the pre facelift model embarrassed enough to buy the latest version. Some models proved more difficult than others to facelift and in some cases the manufacturers just left them as they were realising that there was little they could do to improve the appearance and changing it might make it worse.

In 2001 the vehicle registration system was completely changed. The months for the new registrations became March and September The registration plate now shows both the month and the year of registration and has allowed the motor industry to spread sales a little more evenly. Some have suggested that this should make motorists less conscious of the registration plate. Considering however, that according to contract hire and leasing companies, March and September are the peak months for car sales, it would seem to suggest that this is perhaps not the case.

The Manufacturers found other ways to discourage motorists from holding onto their cars for too long; engines are no longer straightforward, very few problems can be solved without diagnostics. Very often special tools are needed to do the simplest of jobs and even checking the gearbox oil levels often cannot be done without diagnostic equipment from the manufacturer. 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. Real worries for motorists whose cars are outside warranty are electronic problems and their worries are not unfounded. Manufacturers wouldn't admit that their motivation is anything other than to build sophisticated cars, however many suspect this is part of a plan to shorten the life of used cars.

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. Not unnaturally the motorist starts to imagine what the cost of all this would be if the car were outside of the warranty. One solution would be to take out the manufacturer's extended warranty, although only a minority do so, with many more opting to change their car.

Many motorists would like to attach less importance to the type and age of car they drive and would be happy to change less frequently if others did. But of course others are not going to. It's partly to do with self esteem; many quite illogically, feel inferior if a newer or smarter car drives past them, although interestingly those that drive the more expensive cars do not generally feel superior to those who have a lesser car. 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.

About the Author

For more information about contract hire, lease purchase, finance lease or vehicle hire purchase in the UK please contact Bowater Price plc 01494 536 536.

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Why are cars so important to the British