It’s that time of year again – for the startrescue.co.uk Valentine’s Day Customer Survey (actually it’s the first time we’ve done it). And we’ve certainly found out some interesting things. Do our customers love or hate their cars? What’s the most popular pet name for a motor? How many people think they are better drivers than their partners? And this is the biggie – do men or women think they’re the better drivers?

We love our customers here at startrescue.co.uk - and we think they love us (especially when we rescue them and their cars from the Hammersmith Flyover at 2am on a cold February night). But we know true love doesn't always come easy. It’s important to get to know one another – properly – before love can blossom. That's why we put together this little survey just in time for that unforgettably wondrous celebration of love, Valentine’s Day.

What do you mean you forgot?

♥ Let's hear it for the motor car

In the age of pot-holes, road rage and increasing congestion, it's heart-warming to find that motorists still have a lot of love for their four-wheeled friends. In our survey, over 80 per cent of respondents said they loved their cars. Women were slightly more likely to display automotive amour than men, at 84 per cent – compared to 78 per cent for males.


♥ Silver is the colour of passion

We discovered all kinds of other fascinating car facts from our customers. One of the most interesting related to car colours. While red may be the colour of passion, it is only the fourth most popular colour among startrescue.co.uk customers. 21 per cent of those surveyed owned a silver car, followed by black (18.5%) blue (17%), and red (9%). Yellow was one of the least popular colours. Out of over 2,500 repondents, only three owned a pink car.

♥ Heavens to B-B-Betsy!

We were also excited to find that many of our customers had pet names for their motors. However, we were a little disappointed to discover that the most popular name was 'Car'.

But our interest was piqued again when we saw the second most popular name – 'Betsy' – a name given to no less than 22 cars. 18 owners called their car 'Baby' and another 12 called theirs 'The Beast'.

Names beginning with B were by far the most popular. Of the top 15 names, nine began with the letter B.

Surprisingly, only one respondent called their car “Sharon - After Sharon from Eastenders”. And only one was christened “Katy Perry”, because, the driver explains, ‘my car is a Vauxhall Tigra - sounds like tiger, she has the eye of the tiger’.

♥ Marque Amour

When it comes to car brands, startrescue.co.uk owners are big fans of Fords and Vauxhalls, which constituted 15% and 13% respectively. French favourite Peugeot came third at 7% followed by German stalwart Volkswagen in fourth (6%).

How do these stats compare with current purchasing trends?

Ford and Vauxhall are perennial favourites, nearly always managing a one-two in the UK sales tables. But while Peugeot is the third most popular marque among our customers, it is presently only the eighth best-selling car in the UK (Q1, 2015).

But while many of our customers own Fords and Vauxhalls, what they would really love is something much shinier and more costly. Aston Martins, Audis, Jaguars and MINIs were the most likely to trigger ‘love at first sight’ when it came to cars. While Astons were most lusted after by men, MINIs were most desired among women.

♥ Who’s driving you out of your mind?

But it's not just about the car. It's who sits in the driver's seat that really matters – unless you have a back-seat driver on board. Our survey revealed a stack of information about how we regard our own driving skills – and those of our partners. We dared to ask the question...

♥ Is your partner a better driver?

44% of respondents believe they are better drivers than their partners, while only 9% think their other half is superior behind the wheel. That does suggest some differing opinion!

31% diplomatically said, "We are both equally good", while 16% said 'Only one of us drives'.

Men were more likely to say they were the better driver - and were less than half as likely to say their partners were better in the driver's seat.

However, that flies in the face of one survey last year, which suggested women were in fact better than men on the road. Female drivers outscored men consistently in in-car tests, as well as when observed anonymously on Hyde Park Corner – one of Britain’s busiest junctions. That study, carried out by Privilege, also found only 13% of men thought women were better behind the wheel.

The largest proportion among those who said they were better drivers were from the south east.

And among those who said their partner was better, south eastern drivers also came out top, closely followed by drivers in the East Midlands.

♥ Giving back the love...and the car

When asked - "what’s the most irritating thing you find when your loved one borrows and returns the car?" – the top answer, at 31%, was "Seat not returned to your driving position, you can’t get in the car … or if you can, you can’t reach the pedals".

Not far behind was "Rubbish left in the car" at 21%, followed by "Your favourite radio station has been tuned out" at 12%. "No fuel in the tank" was next (11%), then "Radio on full volume when you turn the ignition" (5%) and finally "They've hit the kerb and damaged the wheel again" (5%).

Both male and female respondents were most perturbed by "Seat not returned to your driving position". However, after that, men were more concerned with rubbish being left in the car, while women didn't like finding that their favourite radio station had been changed!

♥ The sweetest things...

When asked "What’s the nicest thing you have found when your loved one has borrowed and returned your car?", the leading answer was "They moved the seat back to where it was and didn’t touch the radio", followed by finding the car had "A full tank of fuel". “A rose on the front seat” was one of the answers most befitting Valentine’s Day.


♥ Driving dates

As regards destinations for romantic drives, “A trip to the coast” came out top, at 54%, followed by “A trip to the countryside” (30%). “A romantic drive in a limousine came third, at 8%. Both men and women preferred coastal getaways. One respondent’s lucky partner is in for a treat as they would take a trip to a “McDonalds drive through - a large meal, with milkshake instead of fizzy drink and dare i say some nuggets to share as a treat.”

In terms of favourite music played in the car after a romantic dinner date, ‘Pop’ was by far the most popular, at 23%. Between the sexes, musical types were broadly similar, although men were more likely to listen to classical music, while ‘Indie’ and ‘R&B’ were higher up the list for women.

♥ The course of true love ... is sometimes pot-holed

So what have we learned in our Valentine’s Day survey? Well, we're delighted to find that the majority of people still love their motors. That they're attracted to shiny things (i.e. cars painted silver) and that a lot of them like to call their car, err, 'Car'. And while the jury may be out on the question, 'Who are the better drivers – men or women?' – what we do know is that 100% of our customers only have eyes for a single breakdown recovery service – startrescue.co.uk!

Happy Valentine's Day!