Aussie states differ on car-buying priorities - with one surprising stat

According to insurance experts iSelect, the car-buying priorities of Australians differ between states and territories as discovered in a 3,000-person survey it conducted across the country.

While price, reliability and safety were, unsurprisingly, the main priorities across all parts of Australia when assessing a new car, there was also a surprising finding: a vehicle’s carbon emissions was rated lower than its colour as purchase consideration.

The importance of the car’s colour rated second-last for most states, aside from Tasmania where it was the last priority.

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Location also shifted other priorities - in the ACT, reliability ranked higher in importance than price. Tasmania was the only state to rank low emissions in its top 10 factors, while Victoria, Tasmania and the ACT placed warranty and service plans lower in priority than the national average, preferring to focus on exterior style and design.

The make of a car matters most in South Australia, and least in Tasmania, where brand reputation was also much lower than most other states. Yet Tasmania also ranked engine performance higher than a lot of other states at fourth place.

Car-buying priorities also changed across generations, with older buyers (55+) placing greater emphasis on safety features as their third priority.

Older buyers also care more about brand reputation, ranking the make of the car as their fourth highest priority - much higher than younger age groups.

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On the flip side, younger buyers (18-34) are more cost-conscious, ranking fuel and ownership costs higher than safety, practicality and brand reputation.

Other interesting insights included that men care more about the make of the car than safety features or fuel costs, while women place a higher priority on practicality and comfort.

Given their extensive warranties, Kia and MG buyers ranked warranty and service plans the highest as their sixth and fifth priorities respectively, and luxury car owners like Audi and BMW ranked exterior style and design far higher than the national average as their sixth priority, which is four places higher than the national average.

How do you decide on which car to buy? Let us know in the comments below.