4.5 million UK cars are lovingly referred to by name – just like ‘Herbie’

Added: (Sun Aug 18 2002)

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CARS WITH A ‘PET’ NAME ARE A BETTER BUY
4.5 million UK cars are lovingly referred to by name – just like ‘Herbie’

BEGINS:

The first question you should ask when looking to buy a second hand car is
‘does the car have a name?’ New research conducted by cars web search
Fish4cars reveals a driver that has taken the trouble to give their car a pet name like ‘Monty’, ‘Betsy’ or ‘George’, is likely to be a careful car owner.

74% of car dealers said cars with character names are more likely to have a
full service history, be kept in a garage, be driven better and have any minor defect replaced immediately.

According to Fish4cars director Russell Scott, “Our research reveals used cars that have been given a pet name are a better buy as they are more likely to have been driven with care and serviced regularly. Cars with names don’t have to be classic Mini Coopers or Mercedes. They are just as likely to be a Ford Focus or Renault Clio because the naming of a car is more a reflection of the owners attachment to the vehicle. Cars with names are usually well maintained.”

CAR NAMES
Fish4cars conducted separate research among 15,000 car owners to find out how many ‘named’ cars there are in the UK today. Almost one in five (18%) car owners have given their current car a pet name. This equates to 4.5 million cars on the road known as ‘Daisy’, for example, instead of my VW Golf.

One in three (32%) first time car buyers name their car. Female motorists are more likely to characterise their existing car with a name (22%) compared to male motorists (14%). Four out of ten (41%) women give their first car a name, while one in four (25%) men christen their first set of wheels.

“A person’s first car always has a special significance, which is why first
time car buyers are more likely to name their car. As women are more likely to christen their cars than men, the phrase ‘one careful lady owner’ on a car advertisement can be verified by asking if it has a name,” said Scott.

MOST POPULAR NAMES
Fish4cars has compiled the UK’s most comprehensive list of popular car names.

The ten most popular names are Betsy / Bessie, Fred, Baby, Bertha, Betty,
George, Daisy, Herbie, Henry and Bertie (see below for Top 50 list).

Names that are associated more with a car’s performance are much less popular, with ‘The Beast’ coming in at No.16 and ‘The Tank’ coming in at No.28.

The results show drivers under 35s are more likely to give their current car a name (22% compared to 18% for all age groups). However, Fish4cars’ research also suggests that the practice of giving the first car you buy a pet name has been around for decades with 27% of the over 55s admitting to naming their first car.

When broken into regions of the UK, the results show that car owners in the South West are more likely to name both their first (36%) and current (22%) car. By comparison, the practice of naming cars is slightly less popular in Scotland than in the UK as a whole with 30% of Scots having named their first car and 15% having named their current car.

Finally, Fish4cars looked at some of the more unusual names Britain’s car owners gave their cars. This includes “Nardmobile the third”, “La La Moon Unit”, “Rhubarb and Custard”, “The mobile fornicatorium”, “Milly Molly Micra”, “HOS” (abbreviation for heap of s**t) and “Vom Vom Volvo.”

ENDS

NOTES TO EDITORS:

Fish4cars Survey results

Telephone interview survey of 200 car dealers across the UK:

1) If a driver has taken the trouble to give their car a name (Betsy, Herbie, etc), are they more likely to have taken good care of the vehicle? For example by having a full service history, by having garaged it and by having driven it better?

Yes 74%
No 6%
Don’t Know 20%

Online survey of 15,169 car owners conducted by Lightspeed Research on behalf of Fish4cars:


2) Did you give your first car a name?

% who named first car
All 32%
Men 25%
Women 41%
Car owners aged under 35 36%
Car owners aged 35-54 32%
Car owners aged 55+ 27%

3) Does your current car have a name?
All 18%
Men 14%
Women 23%
Car owners aged under 35 22%
Car owners aged 35-54 17%
Car owners aged 55+ 13%

According to Government vehicle licensing statistics, there are 25 million
cars in the UK. That means that 4.5 million cars on the road today have been given a name by their owners.
>
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> The 50 most popular pet names for cars
>
> 1. Betsy / Bessie
> 2. Fred
> 3. Baby
> 4. Bertha
> 5. Betty
> 6. George
> 7. Daisy
> 8. Herbie
> 9. Henry
> 10. Gertie
> 11. Bertie
> 12. Percy
> 13. Monty
> 14. Molly
> 15. Doris
> 16. The Beast
> 17. Minnie
> 18. Lucy
> 19. Charlie
> 20. Ermintrude
> 21. Rusty
> 22. Freda
> 23. Kermit
> 24. Rosie
> 25. Sally
> 26. Morris
> 27. Moggy
> 28. The Tank
> 29. Poppy
> 30. Mildred
> 31. Bluebell
> 32. Matilda
> 33. Speedy
> 34. Freddie
> 35. Min
> 36. Bob
> 37. Flossie
> 38. Bluey
> 39. Mickey
> 40. Ruby
> 41. Oscar
> 42. Buttercup
> 43. Polly
> 44. Goldie
> 45. Mabel
> 46. Sammy
> 47. James
> 48. Arthur
> 49. Alfie
> 50. Nelly


Some of the more unusual car names as told to Fish4cars:

Kimberely the Green Peace Wagon
Hunk of Junk
Milly Molly Micra
Mitzie Bitch
Huff Puff the Silver Bullet
Romford Rustbucket
Freddy doesn’t like Ikea
Buffy the Fiesta Slayer
Wolf in sheep’s clothing
Nardmobile the third
The Chapmobile
Jonathan Livingston Seagull
H.O.S (stands for heap of s**t)
Big bum betty blue
Chug a lug Bug
The little orange shopping basket
Rhubarb & Custard
Mobile Fornicatorium
Vom Vom Volvo