According to a recent report conducted by leasing firm Central Contacts on behalf of the Telegraph newspaper, British drivers are often too busy and too lazy to wash their cars and much prefer to pay for the which is almost certain to be a higher standard than what they could manage themselves.

The poll asked British drivers if they washed their own cars or paid for the service at a car wash. The report found that 78% of the respondents prefer paying an acceptable cost at a local car wash service. However the report identified a notable sex and age gap. The report found that 90% of female respondents preferred to pay to have their cars washed. On the other hand, the male respondents took a slightly different view. Although only 69% of male respondent's stated they prefer to visit the local car wash service, a large majority of male respondents did state they looked at the car washing chore as a weekend leisure activity. The report also found that respondents aged 21 to 35 prefer to pay for the service, compared to those aged 36 and over, who instead wished to wash themselves

A spokesperson for Central Contracts said "I am surprised to see how many people do not wash their cars and prefer to pay to have it cleaned. It is interesting to see that the younger generation are more inclined to avoid washing their vehicles and it is rather disappointing to see€.

The report also found that the most common reasons why respondents choose not to wash their own cars included: having a busy lifestyle, it's a boring task or they feel too lazy. They also stated that there is now a large amount of affordable, good quality car wash services. The average cost for a car wash was 7 with respondents paying anything 3 and 25.

The report quoted several respondents, which are shown below:

A female respondent said "I never wash my vehicle because I prefer to take it to a car wash center. For me it's just another job that needs completing and unlike my husband I don't have all day€.

A 65 year old male said "There's nothing more satisfying than coming back from a round of golf and getting stuck in with polishing my car. This is what Sunday afternoons were made for. I could spend hours giving it a good wax and polish; it's my pride and joy€.