LexFather

By TOM KRISHER, Associated Press Writer
Tue Aug 22, 5:30 PM ET



DETROIT - Fuel economy is about even with reliability as the top factors that people consider when buying a vehicle, according to a nationwide poll taken for Consumer Reports magazine.

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The telephone survey, taken Aug. 3-7 as gasoline prices remained around $3 per gallon, showed that 27 percent of likely vehicle buyers ranked gas mileage as the top factor in an automobile purchase.

Reliability was the top factor for 25 percent, followed by purchase price for 14 percent and safety features among 12 percent, according to the poll taken by Opinion Research Corp. Five percent said manufacturer and dealer incentives are the top factor in an auto purchase, and 3 percent said styling.

Consumer Reports funded the poll, which has a sampling error margin of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.

On the surface, the poll results appear to indicate further trouble for the Big Three domestic auto manufacturers, which rely more on truck and sport utility vehicle sales for their profits than their foreign-based competitors. Truck and SUV sales were down for the first seven months of the year compared with the same period in 2005, while car sales were up.

But Rebecca Lindland, an auto analyst at Global Insight Inc., said her company's research shows consumers often say one thing when polled and then do something else when it comes time to make a purchase.

Americans, she said, are loath to give up the storage space and seating of an SUV and switch to a sedan. She said she thinks the shift to car-based crossover vehicles, which have the same seating and storage as SUVs but are more fuel efficient, will continue.

"It's kind of difficult to get out of an SUV/crossover vehicle and go back to a sedan," she said. "When push comes to shove, it's tough to give up an SUV, especially because there are crossovers now that do get better gas mileage."

The survey also showed that incentives such as rebates and free gasoline have been used so often by manufacturers that consumers look past them to other factors, said Rob Gentile, director of Consumer Reports' car information products.

The poll was the magazine's first of this size dealing with auto purchases, Gentile said. Past research has shown gas mileage as an important factor in buying decisions, but it hasn't ranked as high, he said.

"I think now what you're starting to see obviously is it's becoming more and more significant as gasoline prices have risen in the past year or so," Gentile said.

Princeton, N.J.-based Opinion Research randomly called 1,000 people at least 18 years old and surveyed 526 people who said they were considering a vehicle purchase in the next two years.

GS69

Survey: Car Buyers Want Better Fuel Economy & Are Willing to Pay for It

The tough economy and high gas prices are driving consumers to prioritize fuel economy with their next car purchase. And to save at the pump, they are willing to compromise on purchase price, amenities, and size—but not safety. These are among the findings of a new survey by the Consumer Reports National Research Center.

Taking the pulse of American motorists on car buying and fuel economy issues, the Consumer Reports National Research Center conducted 1,764 random, nationwide telephone interviews of adult car owners from April 28-May 2, 2011.

The economy has caused a significant drop in annual car sales over recent years, and the age of the average car driven by respondents has increased to 8 years. This trend was consistent across most demographics, though household income was a key factor. In households earning $50,000 or more a year, the average age of their cars was 6 years old, whereas lower-income households drove 10-year-old vehicles on average. A significant 23% of surveyed motorists are driving cars from the 1990s, many of which must be at the tail end of their reliable service life and certainly well behind current safety standards.

What will they buy?

For their next car, nearly twice as many consumers expect to choose a model with much better or somewhat better fuel economy (62%) relative to those who are targeting about the same fuel economy (32%). Just 5% say their next car will have worse fuel economy, likely driven by changing needs, such as a growing family (minivan) or launching a small business (pickup truck).

Survey respondents expect their next car to deliver an average of 29 mpg. Older drivers, women, and those from lower-income households expect even greater fuel economy. These demographic groups favor small cars and sedans—car types that can deliver that desired mileage. More than 10% said they expect 40 mpg or better in their next car.

To get significant fuel-economy gains, more than half of respondents are willing to pay extra for a more efficient vehicle, playing right into the strategy of several automakers who offer special-edition models for a premium. Often the gains for such models are slight, just 1-2 mpg, and the return on that investment—even when just a few hundred dollars—may be much longer than consumers anticipate.

What would you do to save on fuel?
New car Used car
Pay more for fuel-efficient car 58% 49%
Compromise amenities or comfort 44 54
Compromise size or capacity 47 48
Compromise performance 27 35
Compromise safety 11 14

Despite consumers craving relief from operating costs, and owning older cars, just 17 percent plan to purchase a car in the coming year. Younger consumers (aged 18-34 years) are three times as likely to buy a car this year as older consumers (aged 55 and over).

Among those who plan to purchase, about four in 10 will buy a new car, led by older, more affluent consumers. Most car shoppers (55%) will likely buy used, thereby avoiding the initial depreciation hit experienced with new cars and giving them more vehicle for the money.

Car type planned to purchase in next year
New car Used car
Sedan 21% 18%
Small car
18 19
Midsized SUV
16 11
Small SUV 12 10
Pickup truck 8 13
Minivan 7 9
Sporty car 6 5
Large SUV 5 5
Convertible 2 2
Wagon 1 1

Compared against their current cars, shoppers are moving away from both new and used sedans, despite that many sedans provide a good balance of fuel economy and safety. The number of respondents who expect to buy a new or used sedan is 5 and 8 percentage points lower, respectively, than the number who currently own a sedan. Pickup truck interest is also down, but that is less surprising given economic conditions.

The car-type shift sees shoppers gravitating toward new small and midsized SUVs—traditionally versatile vehicles, though often not the thriftiest choices. There is only a 1 percentage point shift from large SUV ownership (6%) to purchase intent (5%), giving this expensive, gas-guzzling category surprising market resiliency. The best balance of dynamics, flexibility, and ownership costs is often a wagon, yet wagons rate at the absolute bottom for purchase intent.

More older consumers intend to get a sedan or small car than others. Men prefer pickup trucks by a wide margin, while women lead small SUV interest.

Bottom line

While America’s passenger-car fleet continues to age, less than a fifth of car owners will be looking to replace their ride in the coming year. When it does come time to buy, fuel economy will be a primary factor, driven by operating costs. To reach their fuel-economy goals, most shoppers will need to compromise on size and even consider paying more for a diesel or hybrid—something many consumers claim they are willing to do.

We dig deeper into the survey’s findings on attitudes toward car buying in these related blogs:

Survey: Cost savings are driving shoppers to better fuel economy
Survey reveals what car buyers least like about buying a car, and it isn’t the dealership

—Jeff Bartlett

SLegacy99

I'll pay more for greater fuel efficiency. Especially with $4.00 a gal.

My roomate's parents just got an RX450h. We ran the numbers and found that if gas were $4.00 and they drove the car 180k miles (this was how long they had their last SUV) that they would save $13,000. That's alot of savings for paying a few thousand extra. Not to mention the added power, which they needed, and the savings from maintence (or lack of) with a hybrid.

caddyowner

How does an out-of-warranty hybrid with over 100K miles save on maintenance? The added complexity would indicate, to me, more issues. Plus, what is the life of the batteries?

SLegacy99

Many ways.

1. Electric motors require no maintenance. Batteries require no maintenance. The ICE does of course require maintenance, but note that it is of course being used less in a hybrid so there is less wear.
2. Brakes. This is a big one for hybrids as they have been shown to last three to four times as long as the brakes in a conventional vehicle. That is a lot of savings in the long run. At 70k miles, our Lexus mechanic said not anticipate on ever replacing the brake pads and rotors in our 400h, given the rate of wear.
3. You cannot replace parts that aren't there. Power steering pump comes to mind. Lexus hybrids feature electric power steering. There are other components as well.

This is a common misconception that hybrids are way more complex and will cost a fortune to maintain. This is simply not the case. In fact, this is why dealers do not want EVs because it leaves windshield wiper replacement and washer fluid refills as all that they need to do. This doesn't translate to income for them.

To answer your question, the Ni-mh batteries used by Toyota have proven themselves to be stalwart sources of electricity storage. There have been a number of articles on Toyota hybrids racking up over 300k miles. Yet, the idea that one might have to spend thousands on a replacement battery for his/her hybrid is still pervasive. Toyota has over 1 million hybrids on the roads throughout the world. Trust me, you would hear about it if even as many as 5% were failing.

mmarshall

Close. It depends on if the electric motor is permantly-lubed at the factory. Otherwise, if not, the bearings will require a little oil every now and then....probably through an oil-port. Batteries and their terminals also have to be kept clean and free of corosion, though with the sealed battery-packs on most hybrids, the seal-covers keep a lot of that corrosion out.

SLegacy99

Lexus does not prescribe any maintenance for the electric components of their hybrid powertrains.

In fact, this is all that Lexus does indicate that one should do:

IS-SV

Thanks for the facts related to Toyota/Lexus hybrid vehichles instead of the unrelated hearsay about non-automotive electric motors, etc.

Also, CR (if I remember correctly) did a long term report on an older Prius at well over 100K and the maintenance costs were very low.

kumquatism

iTrader: (10)

For me, it really depends on how much more I'd have to pay for greater fuel economy, and the sacrifice on performance, looks, etc...
But it really seems a lot of the high fuel efficiency cars are not all that great looking. That's a big turn-off for me. Even 100+ MPG won't convince me to drive a car if it's not a good looking car.

Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

Yeah I'm also one who buys for looks, design, performance. It doesn't have to be atop its category, but rather an overall player in a field of many

IS-SV

I see a increased awareness of fuel economy even amongst upper middle class/affluent/educated buyers. Even the better performance and luxury cars are delivering improved fuel efficiency when compared to 10-15 years ago (not to mention safety levels as pointed out in article), and buyers are aware of this.

mmarshall

Not surprising. Most electric motors, today, come permanently-lubed from the factory. There may be a few that don't....hard to tell.

caddyowner

Thanks for the info SLegacy99!

spwolf

and of course, resale value of used 5 year old 30 MPG SUV will be a lot bigger than of 20 MPG SUV.

This is why many europeans consider only Diesels for SUVs or in fact for almost anything but smallest cars - it is resale value. Here in Europe, selling used V6 or V8 is very hard to do and price difference between them and Diesels is even bigger than buying new (Diesel is usually more expensive to start with).

So people need to calculate TCO when buying vehicle, not just starting price.

And heck, when you buy car right now, consider you are selling it in 2014 or later... I am sure price of gas then wont be as LOW as now.

LexFather

GS69 I so appreciate your use of SEARCH!! Kudos!