Which generation is most likely to carry out their own car repairs? New study reveals all

22nd Mar 2023

A new study from eBay has shown that millennials are the generation of drivers that are most likely to carry out repair work on their vehicle.

Born between 1981 and 1996, this group has often been the most derided for their spending habits and work ethic – but new data has shown that they are willing to get their hands dirty in order to keep their cars in the best and safest condition possible.

Car maintenance is an essential part of car ownership, and the survey from eBay showed that over a quarter of millennials would undertake repairs themselves in order to save costs.

They were followed by the younger generation of drivers – Gen Z (those aged between 17 and 24) – where 23% of car owners would be prepared to carry out minor car maintenance themselves, rather than take it to a garage.

These two generations are ahead of Baby Boomers (drivers born from 1946 to 1964), where only 18% would be willing to do maintenance work themselves. The data showed that the vast majority would rather pay someone else to do the work.

Dr Tony Tong, Head of Automotive at eBay UK, said: “As the cost of living continues to rise, motorists are increasingly looking for ways to reduce their running costs across the board.

“This trend towards DIY repairs, spurred on by interest from younger generations, is something we expect to keep rising – converting more and more motorists into enthusiast home mechanics.”

Further analysis from the eBay research also highlighted the growing importance of the car repair and accessories market – and the most common work carried out by car owners.

eBay’s data showed that they would need a warehouse the size of 11 Wembley Stadium roofs in order to store all items within the automotive sector on their website.

When the data get broken down, each year in the UK, enough car mats are sold to carpet London’s Millennium Dome (now known as the 02 Arena) four times over.

Also, they would sell enough car batteries to power Paris’ Eiffel Tower for the next 20 years. This would generate more than 201kWh of power.

Windscreen wipers were the most likely items to be fitted by respondents in the eBay survey, and were a very popular item for customers on the website. In fact, more than half of those surveyed were willing to change their wipers themselves.

Shockingly, the number of windscreen wipers sold would stretch from Oxford to Edinburgh – around 485km.

Finally, the survey also showed that enough wing mirror were sold to cover nearly 18 full-sized Olympic swimming pools.

When it comes to carrying out repairs, 20% of motorists were happy to install a new one on their own vehicle.

Does your vehicle need a service, repair or MOT? You can trust the RAC to help you. Take your car to an approved garage, to get advice from an experienced mechanic.