Gen Z drivers suffering from a serious skills shortage when it comes to simple car DIY jobs

Over half of that age group (17-27 year olds) would take their car to a garage immediately or ask a parent or guardian before they attempted to get their hands dirty. That’s in stark contrast to the three-quarters of Millennials (28-43) who would try to mend motors themselves before seeking help.

The shocking shortcomings of Gen Z motorists around basic car DIY also include:

• Two in five say they wouldn’t be able to fit a headlight bulb
• Nearly one third don’t think they could replace a wiper blade
• Jump-starting a car would faze over a third
• Almost one in five get their dad to clean their car
• Nearly half say they would be unable to change a tyre
• Less than two in five would tackle changing a spark plug

Gen Z are also the least careful demographic when it comes to doing regular car checks on routine areas like oil levels, tyre pressure, coolant levels and windshield fluid. They only do monthly reviews at best, even preferring to wait for a warning light to come on around the health of their battery.

The insight comes after more than 1,250 drivers were surveyed by Sterling Insurance on a wide-range of topics, including how confident they are about taking on simple motoring maintenance matters.

Surprisingly, the supposedly more DIY-savvy Gen X (44-59) and Baby Boomers (68-78) would also contact a mechanic first with the latter considering themselves the least confident when it comes to fixing their car (37% are not at all confident).

The full survey also includes analysis of purchasing habits, the popularity of brands, the differences between who is driving manual or automatics and what generations are most readily adopting alternative fuel sources.

Peter Cook, a manager at insurance broker Sterling, said: “It’s really interesting to have looked at approaches from different generations and it does appear, given the Gen Z responses, that doing simple tasks may become something of a lost art.

“It’s also interesting to see that Millennials are the most likely to try and fix things because we’re often told it’s people like our dads and grandads that are the ones who are best equipped to do that.

“So we put the theory to the test and were so surprised to see it’s actually their sons and daughters that are really getting their hands dirty when it comes to motoring. Perhaps it’s because they’re looking to save money, they’re better informed because of the internet or they’re driving less hybrid or electric vehicles so it’s less tricky to fix. However, it wasn’t what we expected to see.”

Read the full report here: www.sterling-insurance.co.uk/blog/car/car-confidence-survey/