Although the percentage of consumers who usually wash their cars at home continues to decline, the carwash industry’s messages touting wash quality, value and environmental stewardship don’t seem to be making headway with the public. This perplexing dichotomy is illustrated in the latest triennial Study of Consumer Car Washing Attitudes and Habits report released in April by the International Carwash Association.
The good news is 65.6 percent of consumers surveyed said they prefer to use a professional carwash, up from 62 percent in 2005, the last time the ICA released data measuring consumer habits. Just 34.4 percent of respondents said they most frequently wash their cars at home, compared to 38 percent three years ago.
Consumer Preferences: Home Washing vs. Professional Carwashing | ||||
| 1999 | 2002 | 2005 | 2008 |
HomeWash | 44.5% | 43.0% | 38.0% | 34.4% |
Carwash | 55.1% | 57.0% | 62.0% | 65.6% |
Source: International Carwash Association, Study of Consumer Car Washing Attitudes and Habits. | ||||
In fact, consumer preference for home carwashing has been on a steady decline during the last decade, dropping about 10 percent since 1999. The preference for using commercial carwashes has increased about 10 percent during the same time frame. Oddly, though, the general perceptions consumers have toward professional carwashes in terms of vehicle damage, wash quality, overall value and convenience have either worsened since 2002 or remained about the same.
For example, just 16.3 percent of those surveyed believe a professional carwash is safer for their vehicle than performing the task at home. While that number is up from 14.5 percent in 2005, it is down from 17.3 percent in 2002. It also is discouraging that nearly 84 percent of respondents believe that home washing is safer for their vehicles. That figure is up 3.2 percent from 2005 and is the highest it has been in the last decade.
Similarly, 65.4 percent of consumers believe that washing their vehicles at home provides better overall quality, and 78.3 percent believe home washing is a better overall value. Since gaining 10 percentage points to 38.7 percent in its rating for better overall quality between 1999 and 2002, professional carwashing has not reached that level of consumer confidence again, falling to 32.9 percent in 2005 and improving slightly in 2008 to 34.6 percent. In the meantime, consumer confidence in their own washing quality has increased in each of the last three reports, standing at 65.4 percent in 2008, the highest it has been since 1999.
Consumers who most often use full-service carwashes are the only ones who believe they receive a better quality wash at a professional facility than at home (57 percent). Exterior customers were the next highest at 45 percent. In-bay automatic customers seemed to have the least faith, with just 35 percent of that segment’s primary customers believing they are receiving a better quality wash.
Carwash Convenience, Quality, Safety and Value | ||||||||
Which is better in the following areas? | 1999 | 2002 | 2005 | 2008 | ||||
HomeWash | Car Wash | HomeWash | Car Wash | HomeWash | Car Wash | HomeWash | Car Wash | |
Safer for the car | 81.2% | 13.3% | 82.7% | 17.3% | 80.5% | 14.5% | 83.7% | 16.3% |
A better overall quality of wash | 67.6% | 28.7% | 61.3% | 38.7% | 63.5% | 32.9% | 65.4% | 34.6% |
A better overall value | 78.7% | 16.7% | 78.8% | 21.2% | 76.8% | 18.5% | 78.3% | 21.7% |
More convenient | 42.1% | 54.8% | 47.9% | 52.1% | 46.3% | 51.3% | 49.3% | 50.7% |
Source: International Carwash Association, Study of Consumer Car Washing Attitudes and Habits | ||||||||
The numbers seem to defy industry-touted improvements in technology, chemicals and wash processes. Clearly, messages regarding closed-cell foam technology and improvements to touchless equipment have not done much to change public perception. On the other hand, these perceived deficiencies also don’t seem to be keeping customers away.
Interestingly, the only primary metric in which professional carwashes topped home washing was convenience, and that was nearly split down the middle, with carwashes receiving 50.7 percent and home washing tallying 49.3 percent. In fact, the convenience edge professional carwashing has enjoyed since 1999 seems to be slowly eroding. In 1999, some 54.8 percent of consumers said professional carwashes were more convenient than home washing, but that figure has declined in each of the last three ICA consumer reports.
Thus, it is slightly puzzling why the preference for home washing has declined 10 percent since 1999. With the rise in popularity of environmental stewardship, one may be tempted to credit the carwashing industry’s green practices as a way to explain the increase in carwash patronage despite a lack of confidence in car protection, quality and value, but those numbers also are lagging.
As the ICA points out in its analysis, “Since 1999, the number of consumers who have identified professional carwashing as safer for the environment has ranged between 35 percent and 44 percent, but it has not consistently trended upward.” In the latest report, just 40 percent of consumers believe professional carwashes