When speaking to vehicle manufacturers and dealer service providers about their position on performance chemicals, they are firmly against them. The main reason is liability.
They simply cannot test all products and will not endorse products that pose a potential liability risk. Furthermore, some service providers believe that performance chemicals can create more issues than they solve because they tend to address the symptoms, actually masking problems and creating further harm to the vehicle. Vehicle manufacturers have a strong understanding of component and system life expectancies. Maintenance schedules are designed to provide regular system inspections with the intent of detecting potential problems and servicing parts to prevent deterioration.
Despite objections from vehicle manufacturers, performance chemicals continue to thrive as a category. Extensive testing and trial opportunities continue to attract users and once consumers try one, the likelihood they try others increases dramatically. The year 2009 created some unique challenges for the repair industry. During a 2009 survey of issues related to maintenance, Frost & Sullivan specifically asked about behavior changes resulting from the economic downturn. Twenty-eight percent of vehicle owner’s stated that they increased the length of time between maintenance intervals while 28 percent also reported using performance chemicals as a means of enhancing engine performance.
Frost & Sullivan’s research indicates that owners of all vehicle brands and vehicle types use chemicals but their use tends to be concentrated amongst owners of older, post warranty vehicles. Owners of pick up trucks are the most likely group to buy all types of performance chemicals while owners of minivans and luxury vehicles tend to prefer fuel treatment products. SUV and medium/large vehicle owners are more inclined toward fuel injector cleaners.
Across the general vehicle population, about 22 percent of vehicle owners use performance chemicals. Domestic vehicle owners (Ford, GM, and Chrysler) have usage rates that are 10% higher than that of owners of imports such as Toyota, Honda, Nissan and other Asian brands. This is likely because of the high concentration of pick up owners amongst domestic vehicles and the larger population of older domestic vehicles. Frost & Sullivan’s maintenance study also found that of all of the import brands, Toyota owners behaved more like domestic vehicle owners than any other import brand with respect to vehicle maintenance behaviors and performance chemical use. Honda owners have chemical use rates that are 5-10 percent below Toyota owners.
Chemical products as well as other “add-on” sale items such as wipers, air filters, flush items, and batteries suffered as a result of the economy. “Add-on” purchases to oil changes dropped by an average of 28 percent between 2008 and 2009 and the number of people reporting no “add-on” purchases increased by 13 percent. Only 3 percent of oil change purchasers bought a performance chemical in 2009.
In general, use of performance chemicals increases with the owner’s level of vehicle involvement. Chart 1 defines reported purchase rates of performance chemicals by the various vehicle owner groups. Enthusiasts typically add 3-5 modifications to their vehicles and spend upwards of 3 hours weekly on their vehicle. An “accessorizer” adds bolt on type products and spends approximately 4 hours/months on their vehicle. Maintenance owners are those who are typically “do-it-for-me” owners who conduct routine maintenance and repairs.
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