The study revealed men were slightly better than women for servicing diligence, older motorists were better than younger ones and - surprisingly perhaps - Aucklanders outperformed people in the regions.
Those prepared to skip scheduled services if their vehicle was running well numbered 49 per cent in Generation X (born early 1960s to early 80s); followed by 39 per cent for Generation Y (born early 1980s to the early 2000s).
In this category, the Baby Boomers (born 1946 to 64) were only 31 per cent.
A telling question was: have you ignored an engine oil warning light?
Far more of the younger motorists (Gen Y - 20 per cent) had, while the oldies had learnt their bitter lesson (Baby Boomers - 5 per cent) had learned this bitter lesson.
Key findings:
*45 per cent only get work done to fix a specific issue or if it fails a warrant
*46 per cent have reduced the regularity of car servicing in order to save money
*5 per cent have never had their car serviced
*41 per cent have done some basic servicing themselves to save money
*45 per cent would like to do basic servicing but don't know how
*11 per cent have ignored engine warning lights
*40 per cent skip scheduled services if the car is running well
*87 per cent think it is important to maintain the service schedule of the car
*86 per cent have bought a second-hand car
