OSV car washing press release

Our research into how we don’t wash our cars anymore has hit the Nationals:

See Full Story Here

See Full story here

Our Original Press Release

Three in four women and even a third of motor mad men have NEVER washed their own car.

It used to be as much a part of a Sunday routine as mowing the lawn and eating roast dinners but new figures show the art of car washing is dying out in Britain.

For a staggering three in four women and even a third of motor mad men have NEVER washed their own car.

Those who do want a spotless vehicle are more likely to take it to an automated carwash or a bunch of entrepreneurial car washers operating from a local forecourt.

The figures, from vehicle leasing firm OSV, shatters the age old image of Sundays spent with a bucket, chamois leather or sponge trying to impress the neighbours.

A survey of almost 1,100 adults found 31 per cent of men have never washed their own car. Of those who do, only 12 per cent admit they do it ‘regularly’.

Among women, the figure is even worse – 76 per cent have never washed their own car.

Factors behind the decline are varied – the golden age of washing cars took place when there were no shops open on Sunday or live football matches to distract families.

There has also been an end to many kids trying to earn extra pocket money by knocking on doors and offering to clean a car for a fiver.

Only five per cent of those surveyed who have children had ever asked their kids to wash the family car, they said.

And with the increase in 4x4s and off road vehicles in Britain, the daunting prospect of trying to clean a so-called ‘Chelsea Tractor’ puts many off doing so.

The rise of car washes by gangs of guys willing to clean the car has seen a gap in the market filled offering to hand wash vehicles inside and outside for prices often between £5-10.

Instead of washing their cars every Sunday as their parents’ generation used to do, modern Brits only do so occasionally when there is more time, such as Easter.

The recent Easter break saw an estimated 15 million cars cleaned by their owners though one in four men (27 per cent) said they only did it to find an excuse go get out of the house!

It may be the only time they do – while 26 per cent of men wash their cars once a week, 12 per cent of men say they wash their car once a year.

Cars are most likely to be washed by their owners every week in Birmingham, Chelmsford and Sheffield and least likely in Oxford, Bath and Edinburgh.

Audis, Toyotas and BMWs are most likely to be washed by their owners and Range Rovers, Peugeots and Mercedes least often.

Co-founder of OSV Andrew Kirkley said: “A lot of us remember seeing our streets full of men cleaning their cars every Sunday. It was a national tradition.

But let’s face it, we don’t have as much time any more, the cars are bigger and even the kids don’t seem to want to earn a bit of extra money doing it for us either. On top of that, there is now plenty of choice out there if you want to put the car through an automated machine or get a gang of enthusiastic guys to do it for you fairly cheaply.