Report: Why Customers Delay Routine Maintenance
Sept. 11, 2017—IMR Inc., an automotive research company, released a study that examined the frequency at which customers delay routine maintenance.
The "Delayed Vehicle Maintenance Tracking Study" evaluated consumers that have delayed routine maintenance parts and services. In total, 7.9 percent of consumers indicate they have delayed routine vehicle maintenance.
Consumers who own used vehicles and vehicles 8 years or older and millennials are significantly more likely than their counterparts to delay routine maintenance.
Not being able to find a convenient time to have maintenance performed (33 percent) or the cost of the repair being prohibitive (30.3 percent) are the top reasons consumers delay routine maintenance.
Most consumers do anticipate eventually having the service or repair performed (91 percent), with 43 percent planning on having the service/repair performed within a month and 77 percent within the next 3 months.
The majority of these consumers (76.9 percent) plan on having a professional perform the service or repair rather than doing it themselves.