A recent Startline Motor Finance survey has revealed that 80% of dealers say that advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) are deterring some buyers from selecting newer used cars.
The effect of ADAS on used car buying was highlighted in the November edition of the Startline Used Car Tracker.
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According to the survey, 55% of dealers believe motorists are not yet convinced about the safety benefits associated with these recently introduced systems.
Meanwhile, 20% observe that some customers prefer slightly older vehicles with limited ADAS functions, and 18% report that certain buyers find such features bothersome.
Startline Motor Finance CEO Paul Burgess said: “New EU regulations mandated a whole host of ADAS devices from July last year and UK cars tend to be made to the same specifications, partially in the expectation that our government will follow suit.”
It was noted that while certain ADAS features such as emergency braking, had already been present in UK vehicles for a while, the newer additions tend to be intrusive.
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By GlobalDataFor instance, new introductions such as audible warnings when the speed limit was exceeded or by activating lane departure functions could take control of the steering wheel.
Burgess indicated that research had been dedicated to developing these technologies, and road safety experts believed they would have a noticeable impact on accident rates.
Nevertheless, it was acknowledged that some drivers found these systems “annoying”, and most dealers reportedly felt this was affecting the cars’ saleability.
Despite these concerns, Tracker’s research revealed that none of the dealers surveyed believed consumers would generally choose to disable ADAS features after purchasing their cars.
Burgess added: “This is an interesting finding which has two potential explanations, we believe. One is the option to turn off the devices tends to be buried in a submenu and they reset to ‘on’ every time the car is started anyway. The second is the possibility that drivers will just become accustomed to ADAS over time and perhaps start to perceive the advantages.”
The Startline Used Car Tracker is a monthly research report prepared for Startline Motor Finance by APD Global Research.
The latest wave involved input from 302 consumers and 60 dealers to measure attitudes towards new technology in the used vehicle market.
