What car you choose; whether its clean or dirty; how you drive it – be careful what message you are sending to prospective partners
A new survey by Continental Tyres reveals some interesting facts about Cars & the Dating Game in Ireland.
On a first date, guys might like to consider picking up their dates in their car as fully two thirds of girls say they would be either flattered or pleasantly surprised to be picked up from their home by a prospective partner. For the boys, only slightly more than half (52 percent) said they would like to be picked up at the house on a first date. These are the findings of a survey of Irish motorists carried out by Continental Tyres Ireland.
But if you plan on picking up your date, try to ensure the car is clean and presentable: 57 percent of respondents said it would not be a great start to a date if the car was messy inside and a further 12 percent said they would mention the fact that the driver could have made a bit more of an effort. And as might be expected, the lads were more lax in this regard, only 48 percent of male respondents would be put out by a dirty car, while for the girls the figure was more than 75 percent.
However when it comes down to it, the majority of both girls and boys believe that the type of car will have little bearing on first impressions of their date: 80 percent of respondents said either they could not care less about the type of car or so long as it is presentable, they don’t really mind. The sexes were singing from the same hymn sheet on this as 85 percent of boys and 84 percent of girls said that car type would not matter to them.
But when asked what vehicle they would least like to see their new beau or belle driving – there were some definite opinions. Top of the list of least desirable vehicle was a mini-bus (36 percent). Between the sexes, there was a slight disparity of opinion in this regard; 49 percent of girls cited a mini-bus as the number one turn off while for guys, a “souped-up boy racer” was the vehicle they would least like to see their prospective girlfriend pull up in (25 percent). Bringing up the rear for both sexes was a van with branding on it: 21 percent for the boys and 27 percent for the girls – so the advice from the survey is leave the work van at home if you are trying to impress.
Conversely, perhaps reflecting the times we are in, the number one vehicle of choice would be a sensible small car, which marginally beat a top-of-the-range sports car as the preferred chariot for the first date (39 percent versus 38 percent). Girls were more likely to go for the bling of the sports car (43 percent) while a similar share of boys (44 percent) went for the more understated “sensible small car”.
Reflecting the widespread revulsion at drink-driving, 85 percent of respondents said that if their date and chauffeur proceeded to drink alcohol once they reached the pub / restaurant, it would ring alarm bells and would likely herald the end of the date. That is another area where boys and girls were in total agreement.
Driver behaviour was also highlighted as being a key indicator as to whether there may be a second date. When asked if their driver proceeded to drive aggressively, honking at other drivers, 79 percent of respondents said they would either get out of the car there and then or they would demand that their date calm down and alter their behaviour. Ladies were more inclined to react in this way, with over 85 percent saying this kind of behaviour would be unacceptable. For the guys, the corresponding figure was 72 percent.
So what do you think, can your wheels influence prospective partners? Leave a comment and tell us what you think.
13th February, 2013
