Ageing car parc offers profit opportunities

An ageing car parc spells profit opportunities for the independent aftermarket, a survey conducted by GIPA UK on behalf of the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) has concluded, writes John Loughran.

Findings of the “Irish Driver’s Aftermarket Knowledge and Perception Survey” were presented at the society’s Independent Aftermarket Conference at the Iveagh Gardens Hotel in Dublin recently.

Quentin Le Hetet, Country Director, GIPA UK, gave an overview of the findings to a well attended audience of motor industry professionals.

The survey of 816 Irish drivers, who said they were responsible for the maintenance of their vehicles, builds on a similar survey carried out in 2023.

The big taking from the 2025 survey is that the average age of the car parc is 9.6 years, while more than half of the cars on the road (52 per cent) are over 10 years old. This marks an increase of 1.1 years on the 2023 survey when the average age of the car parc was 8.5 years.

Nearly nine out of 10 (87 per cent) drivers in Ireland have an ICE car, with almost half (49 per cent) saying they will want an ICE vehicle next time round.

The allure of electrified cars seems to be falling slightly with less wanting full electric next (down 2 percentage points) with 86 per cent of hybrid EV owners wanting the same engine next (vs 97 per cent in 2023).

Three out of 10 drivers (31 per cent) mentioned battery life expiring quickly as a reason for not purchasing a battery electric vehicle.

Maintenance
More than three out of 10 drivers surveyed (34 per cent) carry out some, if not all, maintenance on their vehicles.

In 2023 the figure was 20 per cent suggesting that drivers are becoming more confident in sourcing and fitting parts.

Drivers, according to the survey are also increasingly going to motor factors as a source of buying parts, with 81 per cent saying they have used a motor factor at least once to buy parts. Most drivers that do buy parts tend to use a mix of channels.

57 per cent of drivers surveyed said they had used the Internet to source parts, down from 65 per cent in 2023.

Overall, drivers that have purchased parts from motor factors tend to have more positive feedback, scoring an average of 8.1 out of 10, compared to drivers that rate online activity as 7.9 out of 10. The gap is less important than in 2023.

Workshop
Seven in 10 drivers in Ireland visited a workshop in the last 12 months. The average number of workshop visits show an important increase compared to 2023 (1.62 vs. 1.36). This increase could be attributed to the ageing car parc, according to the survey.

Compared to 2023, franchised dealers strengthened their share of workshop entry volume by 4 points, increasing from 22 to 26 per cent.

However, independent garages still hold sway with 69 per cent down from 72 per cent in 2023. Naturally, as the car ages the share of workshop entries done at the franchise dealer fall, as more drivers lose their relationship with Main Dealers, and opt to use independent aftermarket players. 30 per cent of workshop entries for cars aged 5-9 years old were carried out at a franchised dealer.

More than two thirds of drivers surveyed said they service their car at regular service intervals. However, as the car gets older, drivers are increasingly not servicing regularly, either because they forget or the price is too high.

Tyres
Tyres are a big ticket item and the survey found that independent tyre dealers and independent garages are the two main channels of choice for drivers purchasing tyres. Only three per cent bought their tyres online, the same figure as in 2023.

Brands
Just under half of drivers pay attention to the brand of parts that are fitted to their car, while more than a third want to know about the brand before hand. Increased DIY activity may have given drivers more knowledge about brands, the survey suggests.

Most drivers (56 per cent) believe that it is important for the same brand of parts to be fitted when replacing worn out parts on their cars.

Turning to remanufactured parts, More than half of drivers are aware about the definition of the remanufactured part, and nearly 9 in 10 drivers consider that remanufactured parts are better for the environment.

Summary
Irish drivers are increasingly managing at least some of their car repairs , with one in three stating they carry out some maintenance themselves. They are also increasing the average number of visits they make per year to the workshop, signifying a overall increase in driver participation in aftersales.

When looking at tyres, 45 per cent go with the tyre offered by the professional, so 55 per cent make an active decision about the tyres they want. When thinking of general workshop visits, 36 per cent ask about the brand of the part before it is fitted on the car.

Most drivers typically want to replace parts like for like in their car, with 56 per cent stating they want the part to match.

With that being said over half of the Irish drivers are aware of remanufactured parts, and of those 85 per cent believe such parts will improve the environment.

Since 2023, the share of drivers that said they would choose a reman part if given a choice between reman and a new part has increased by 23 points to 47 per cent.

Those that would of preferred new car parts are more reinforced in their ways since 2023, with only 21 per cent saying they would change to reman if they knew it was cheaper.

95 per cent of drivers expect to be informed about the work done before they take their car to a repairer, signalling an increased knowledge and interest Irish drivers have in car maintenance, and 89 per cent would like to be offered different options based on price and part quality.

Only 73 per cent are aware that parts of varying quality can be used on their car, showing that more needs to be done by repairers to give their clients options when taking their car in.