Hobby Survey: What Drives Us
The results of the annual Hagerty Hobby Survey are in. More than 10,400 current owners of collector vehicles completed the Web-based survey in November 2006, sharing details about their attitudes, their behaviors, their aspirations and their vehicles. The results paint a fascinating portrait of who we are, what drives us and how we like to channel our enthusiasm for vintage automobiles and trucks.
Overall, we’re a unique and committed group. We know what we like, and we have particular ideas about the types of vehicles we enjoy. We also dedicate a lot of time working on them – we can’t keep our hands off our cars. Here’s a brief overview:
27.5% of us learned to work on cars from family. Enjoying collector vehicles has always been a family affair, and we continue to share the hobby we love with our families.
31.6% of us are involved in national clubs and 24 percent in marque clubs – that’s how we support the hobby we love. And of course we get revved up by attending car shows and events (nearly 90 percent), though most of these are local events (80 percent, up from 68.2 percent in 2005).
65% of us are buying vehicles – and only 24.5 percent of us are selling our vehicles. This tells us we’re in this hobby for the long haul, and we love to add to our collections. Since we’re so dedicated, we don’t sell cars very often and we’re not likely to be influenced by gas prices. Most of us don’t even change our driving habits because of high fuel costs.
20.8% of us sell our vehicles to family or friends. Even though we don’t sell often, when we do, we want our vehicles to stay in the family.
12% of us sold cars with online classifieds; 18.4 percent sold via eBay. Considering that the 2004 survey showed that 18.1 percent sold through eBay and in 2005 the figure was 18.0, eBay may have peaked.
23.6% of us feel more comfortable purchasing vehicles from family or friends. Although the numbers are slightly down from years past (35 percent in 2004 and 28 percent in 2005), just as we like to sell our vehicles to family, that’s who we turn to when making a purchase as well.
79.2% of us made purchases in cash. This is a number that remains virtually unchanged from last year, meaning cash is still king (though 55 percent of us might finance in the future).
This is just a snapshot of who we are. You can learn more about what drives our passion by accessing the 2006 Hobby Survey administered by Hagerty. Complete details can be found at www.hagerty.com .
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To see this article in its original format, view the pdf version of the Spring 2007 issue of Hagerty magazine.
