A YouGov poll has highlighted a generation gap amongst car buyers with 44% of respondents aged 55 and over not visiting classified websites when researching their next purchase.

The online poll, commissioned by car search engine Carsnip, asked people who had previously bought a car whether they used traditional classified car sites like Autotrader. 

The results suggest that over-55s are half as likely to use online car search tools as 18 to 24-year-olds. The same is true for retired people compared to full-time workers.

Alastair Campbell, Carsnip CEO, said: “Over-55s are a powerful consumer group in the UK, but while car dealers and manufacturers have done plenty to make the process of finding the right car easier for them, the same can’t be said for the traditional classified site. Existing online car search just isn’t good enough - it needs to do better.”

Some large regional and demographic differences across the UK were also revealed.

People in Wales were least likely to have used a traditional classified site the last time they purchased a car, compared to 22% in the East of England where people were the most likely to have used a car search website the last time they purchased a car.