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BRITS SPEND £33 BILLION ON 'P-I-Y'
But over-personalisation costing sellers thousands
11 November, 2005
Extreme car makeovers are replacing home improvements on the popularity scale reveals new research from eBay Motors.
Findings from the UK's leading online automotive marketplace reveal Brits are now spending a staggering £33 billion on 'P-I-Y', a new phenomenon experts are calling 'Pimp-It-Yourself'.
Inspired by cult programmes like 'Pimp My Ride' and 'Changing Rooms', the eBay Motors research shows P-I-Yers are spending a whopping £1,093* on customising, accessorising or tuning their cars. However, experts warn that going overboard on fluffy dice and spoilers can drive the re-sale value down.
eBay Motors has joined forces with the UK's leading 'Car Doctor' - aka Dominic Littlewood, used car specialist and presenter of BBC's Right Car, Wrong Car to give people advice on fine-tuning the sale of their car and getting the best possible price.
Dominic says: "I've seen P-I-Y at its most extreme - from a Zebra themed Beatle to a F1 looking Peugeot. Although it's great to give your set of wheels a personality stamp, when it comes to selling not everyone will share your taste and it's best to keep the car interior and body understated. Getting it wrong can mean potential buyers walk away or cost you £100s on the final sale price."
Britain' biggest car accessory turn offs
- Furry dice
- Tinted windows
- Sporty body kit customisations including bucket seats and racing seat belts
- Tacky interior decoration such as seat cushions, themed seat covers and rug accessories
- Big speakers or powerful stereos
Clare Gilmartin, head of eBay Motors, says: "From alloys to stereos, a vehicle part or accessory sells every 11 seconds on eBay Motors, testament to how popular car improvement and makeovers have become. And with more than 100,000 such listings on the site at any one time, there's plenty to choose from."
"We're not suggesting owners curb their creativity, it's just that they may see more bids coming in if they adopt a more minimalist approach when it comes to selling."
Other findings from the eBay Motors study
- Air fresheners and magic trees remain the nation's favourite accessory, with half of all motorists buying one in the last year.
- Men spend eight times more than women accessorising their cars - £1,800 compared to just £230 for the girls.
- The biggest ticket items men splash out on are high-tech gadgets like built in DVD players, PS2s and MP3 players for the car
- Women prefer to splash their cash on cheaper, novelty entertainment items like fluffy dice, cuddly toys and nodding dogs to keep them amused while driving.
- Car owners in the North West will spend the highest on customising their cars - £2,837 as opposed to those in the West Midlands who only intend spending £159 on improving their motor.
To help people get the best price for their motor, eBay Motors has produced 'the easy peasy guide to buying and selling cars' which includes tips on writing the perfect pitch, taking top snaps and setting the best price. For a copy of the guide, go to www.ebaymotors.co.uk/epg.
Notes to Editors
* representative of average spend over the past five years
With a total of 30,500,000 cars currently on UK roads (independent figure recorded by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders Limited), an average spend of £1,093 on customisation per car brings the total P-I-Y spend to £ 33,336,500,000 (£33.3 billion).
eBay Motors research was independently carried out by ICM Research, who surveyed 1011 men and women from different occupations from 12-14 October 2005.
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