Car Questions
The most-searched car questions on Google
We all like to think we know what we’re talking about when it comes to cars, but it looks like a lot of us are relying on our old friend Google to answer common queries about our motors.
For example, did you know that 10,000 Brits each month search for how to jump-start a car or to find out what type of oil to put into their cars?
Or that 450 want to know how to hotwire a car, 350 think that Ford is a British company, and 200 a month are hurriedly trying to find out how to get the smell of smoke out from their (or perhaps somebody else’s!) car.
We’ve analysed the search volumes of some of the most common car questions to find the most popular.
Searching for basic motor information
They’re terms we hear and use all the time, but it turns out that many of us don’t know what SUV and BMW stand for, with 6,900 and 4,800 searches each.
And many of us are trying to find basic information on our vehicles, including “what model is my car?” (3,300 searches) and even “what colour is my car?” (1,800).
MOT questions we ask Google
The MOT is one of the things we turn to Google for information about the most, with over 70,000 monthly searches.
In fact, with 58,000 searches ‘when is my MOT due’ was the most searched of all the questions we looked at.
Questions about selling your car.
Selling
Selling your car can be tricky, so it makes sense that people go online for a little guidance.
The main thing people want to know is how much they can get for their car (43,000 searches). Other common queries include how much they could get for scrapping it, or how to SORN their vehicle (make a Statutory Off Road Notification) if they don’t want to sell it right away.
Car tax questions
The majority of people searching around car tax are trying to find out how much they’re going to have to pay (17,000 searches).
There are also queries on when car tax is next due and what tax band a car might fall into.
Car maintenance questions
Not only does carrying out car maintenance yourself save you a bit of time and money, it also shows you know your stuff – even if you’ve had a little help from Google.
The most common query is tied between ‘how to jump-start a car?’ and ‘what oil for my car’ with 10,000 searches each.
Buying a new car
Google can be handy when it comes to searching for your next car, with questions including things likes ‘what to look for when buying a car?’ (1,100) and ‘when is the best time to buy a car?’ (400). The most-searched query is a lot more open-ended, with 4,500 people simply wanting to know: ‘what car should I buy?’.
Brought to you by our car insurance experts.
Sources & Methodology
For each question, we took average monthly searches from Google. All search volumes correct as of April 2020.