Do women still love their cars?
Women don’t love their cars or give them names any more according to new research by Whipcar.com.
I only ever named one car, my Volvo 1800 S called The Little B’stard, but while I was writing a regular feature called Girls and cars for Street Machine, a lot gals had a pet name for their motor.
Whipcar’s survey showed fewer than one in five (19%) women bother to name their cars (the figure is 16% for men – I’m surprised that’s so high). More than a third can’t remember important details like the registration number - including me.
It’s not just women who are falling out of love with their cars, either, the figures for both sexes showed that just 8% described their car as a prized possession and 67% said it was purely 'to get from A to B'.
Of course WhipCar has an agenda (remember lies, damned lies and statistics) this website is all about renting cars from your neighbours.
Its nationwide survey of 2,000 people showed one quarter of respondents believed it’s less important to own a car today than it was 10 years ago. Therefore they are more likely to try an affordable, local car-sharing scheme. It is an interesting survey, however. As fuel costs, servicing, congestion charges and road fund licences all strip money out of our already depleted wallets, it's easy to start resenting the car. Some aren't even buying one in the first place - Government figures show the number of under 30 year olds obtaining licenses has fallen by 20% since 1992.
Vinay Gupta, Co-founder of WhipCar says: “People used to love getting behind the wheel and just going for a drive. These days, trips are more carefully considered. Increasing costs have taken some of the pleasure out of driving and, as people combine trips to save on petrol, more and more cars sit unused for extended periods.”
It's true, my husband and I would get rid of obe of our cars if the public transport was better. I'm going to give WhipCar a go.
Could you make money by renting out your car?
Beth rents out her Mini Cooper for £7/hour, £37/day, £185/week. She says:
“My experience with WhipCar has gone really well. When I first signed up I lived down in Brighton - but since I moved to London three months ago the number of requests I’ve been getting have gone through the roof. There’s just so many people in London who don’t have a car.
"I definitely think that renting my car out justifies keeping it now that I live in London – it’s nice to have whenever I need it but I don’t use it every day. It would just be sitting there, so if I can rent it out to someone else who needs a car it makes sense. It helps to offset the cost of motoring, too – I think it probably makes having a car cost-neutral, which is great.
“If people were hesitant about giving it a go, my tip would be that you’re in control throughout the process. You can decide who to give your car to, how long for, and when you want them to collect it. It’s great to have so much control over who you rent your car to.”
For more details see www.whipcar.com
If you love your car and give it a name, add a comment, or get in touch through my contact form. I'll put your photo on the blog!
I only ever named one car, my Volvo 1800 S called The Little B’stard, but while I was writing a regular feature called Girls and cars for Street Machine, a lot gals had a pet name for their motor.
Whipcar’s survey showed fewer than one in five (19%) women bother to name their cars (the figure is 16% for men – I’m surprised that’s so high). More than a third can’t remember important details like the registration number - including me.
It’s not just women who are falling out of love with their cars, either, the figures for both sexes showed that just 8% described their car as a prized possession and 67% said it was purely 'to get from A to B'.
Of course WhipCar has an agenda (remember lies, damned lies and statistics) this website is all about renting cars from your neighbours.
Its nationwide survey of 2,000 people showed one quarter of respondents believed it’s less important to own a car today than it was 10 years ago. Therefore they are more likely to try an affordable, local car-sharing scheme. It is an interesting survey, however. As fuel costs, servicing, congestion charges and road fund licences all strip money out of our already depleted wallets, it's easy to start resenting the car. Some aren't even buying one in the first place - Government figures show the number of under 30 year olds obtaining licenses has fallen by 20% since 1992.
Vinay Gupta, Co-founder of WhipCar says: “People used to love getting behind the wheel and just going for a drive. These days, trips are more carefully considered. Increasing costs have taken some of the pleasure out of driving and, as people combine trips to save on petrol, more and more cars sit unused for extended periods.”
It's true, my husband and I would get rid of obe of our cars if the public transport was better. I'm going to give WhipCar a go.
Could you make money by renting out your car?
Beth rents out her Mini Cooper for £7/hour, £37/day, £185/week. She says:
“My experience with WhipCar has gone really well. When I first signed up I lived down in Brighton - but since I moved to London three months ago the number of requests I’ve been getting have gone through the roof. There’s just so many people in London who don’t have a car.
"I definitely think that renting my car out justifies keeping it now that I live in London – it’s nice to have whenever I need it but I don’t use it every day. It would just be sitting there, so if I can rent it out to someone else who needs a car it makes sense. It helps to offset the cost of motoring, too – I think it probably makes having a car cost-neutral, which is great.
“If people were hesitant about giving it a go, my tip would be that you’re in control throughout the process. You can decide who to give your car to, how long for, and when you want them to collect it. It’s great to have so much control over who you rent your car to.”
For more details see www.whipcar.com
If you love your car and give it a name, add a comment, or get in touch through my contact form. I'll put your photo on the blog!
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