The growing popularity of online auto repair increases the need for shops to enhance their digital presence to attract younger generations
Fort Wayne, Ind.—The three youngest adult consumer generations in the U.S. — Generations X, Y (Millennials), and Z — are changing how auto repair is purchased in the do-it-for-me (DIFM) marketplace. In an ongoing series of nationwide consumer studies, Lang Marketing explores how the those generations differ in their values and perceptions of the auto repair experience and how best to market auto repair to each generation.
Lang projects that Gen Xers, Millennials (Gen Y), and Gen Zers will purchase nearly 70 percent of all auto repair as Baby Boomers, once the dominant DIFM market segment, will experience a decline through the end of the decade.
The following are highlights from Lang’s most recent report.
Generation Age Ranges
Gen Xers have birth-year brackets of 1965-1980 and are aged 46-61. Millennials (Gen Y) were born between 1981 and 1996 and are now 30 to 45 years old. Gen Zers, born from 1997 to 2012, are now 14 to 29 years old. Most of this youngest group is engaged in the DIFM market to some extent, and their influence will grow significantly in the next few years.
As their share of the nation’s population changes, each generation will represent significantly different portions of the DIFM market in the coming years. Generations X, Y, and Z are expanding their combined share.
• Gen Xers climbed about one-tenth in their DIFM share between 2015 and 2025 and generated the largest portion of last year’s DIFM market.
• Millennials (Gen Y) have achieved the biggest growth in DIFM share, ranking second in 2025.
• Generation Z is the fastest-growing consumer segment in the DIFM market.
DIFM Changes Through 2030
Over the balance of the decade, each of these generations’ shares of the DIFM auto repair market will increase.
Gen Xers will account for 36% to 38% of the DIFM market by 2030, and Millennials will constitute the second-largest share. Gen Z will account for nearly a double-digit share of DIFM sales by 2030. Baby Boomers and older consumers will slip to less than 20% of the 2030 DIFM market.
Generation Differences in Auto Repair Buying
In its ongoing nationwide consumer studies of auto repair, Lang Marketing asked consumers across generations how they prefer to purchase auto repairs: online, by phone, or in person.
While only minor differences existed in the overall findings (across all generations), Lang found generational differences within all three purchase experiences.
Online
While approximately one-third of consumers prefer to purchase auto repair services online, there are significant differences across generations. Approximately half of Millennials prefer buying auto repair online rather than calling or visiting repair outlets. Generation Z consumers are even more digital-native, with over 60% preferring to use a computer keyboard first. In contrast, less than one-third of Gen Xers favor this approach, and only about one-fifth of Baby Boomers.
Call Repair Outlets
Just over 30% of consumers prefer calling repair outlets to purchase auto repair. Again, there are significant differences between the three generations.
Calling repair outlets is the most popular option among Gen Xers (over 37%), and the second choice of Baby Boomers. However, barely one-quarter of Millennials prefer to call repair outlets, and Gen Zers are even less inclined to do so.
Visit Repair Outlets
The first choice of nearly half of Baby Boomers is to visit repair outlets to purchase auto repair. However, they were alone in this choice. Only one-third of Gen Xers select visiting repair outlets as their first choice. Only one-quarter of Millennials do so, and less than one-fifth of Generation Z.
The growing popularity of online auto repair, fueled by Millennials’ and Gen Z’s expanding share of the DIFM market, increases the need for repair shops to enhance their digital presence and expands DIFM market opportunities for eCommerce, particularly o2o (online-to-offline) auto repair transactions.
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