The wealthier you are the dirtier your car?

Here’s a survey from the AA that’s likely to raise a few eyebrows: according to its research, lower income earners are more likely to keep their cars cleaner than higher income earners.

8.5% of those with “blue collar, part-time, unemployed and pensioner backgrounds” claim to wash their car once a week compared to just 6% of owners from “professional and managerial backgrounds.”

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At two weeks the gap increases further still, with 16% of “poorer folk” (as the AA puts it, we hasten to add) washing their car once a fortnight verses just 11.5% of “richer folk”.

In fact, forget two weeks – over a third of professionals and managers only wash their car once every two months. According to the AA’s stats 35.5% of higher income earners will leave the wash this long, compared to 29.5% of lower income earners.

We’re not entirely sure what all this tells us (don’t buy a car from someone who’s well off?), but the with 18,080 AA members polled, the survey is pretty comprehensive.

According to AA President, Edmund King:

“The study suggests you don’t need a Rolls-Royce to chow pride in your car. The Victorian concept of the ‘great unwashed’ perhaps needs to be reversed as richer drivers have dirtier motors.”

Here are some of the AA’s other car washing stats:

–> 3% of all AA members surveyed admit to either washing their car once a year or not at all. This figure doubles to 6% if you restrict the results to women.

–> 23% of women are also more likely to wash their car less than once a fortnight, compared to only 11% of men.

–> Half as many young drivers wash their car once a week or fortnightly compared to those aged over 55 (22% v 44%).

–> However, taken as a whole 47% of are likely to wash their car at least once every two months.

–> Finally, the cleanest cars in the UK are to be found in Scotland and the North East; 11% of local drivers wash their cars every week, only 4% of drivers in the London and South West say the same.

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Image credit: Autoglym