In fact, 92 percent of respondents to the www.123ie SMILES Index on driver happiness say that their car is essential to their way of life. This Index researches driver behaviour to see what makes people happy about motoring in this country.
But not everyone is happy on the road and overall, 73 percent of us complain about fuel costs. And cars are no longer toys for boys with 92 percent of women saying they are happy to attempt to repair their husband's car!
Cost of fuel ranked as the most frustrating thing about owning a car, followed by having to pay road tax. Having to cope with vehicle breakdowns, getting the NCT and the cost of general maintenance ranked on the list of frustrating things about car ownership here in Ireland.
Just 8 percent of consumers said they would get rid of their car first if faced with financial difficulty. They would drop holidays, household luxuries, TV packages, and gadgets before selling their cars. The only thing we seem to like more than our cars are our mobile phones.
It seems that we love our cars and love driving, but want the road all to ourselves. Poor driving by other drivers came in most prominently as an irritation for 29 percent of respondents. Other drivers disregarding the rules of the road was next most annoying trait followed by lack of respect for other drivers.
The research was conducted using online polling and is based on over 500 respondents completing the survey. The survey was conducted using OnePoll online polling.
