Survey on 'First My Car' and 'Driving with Children' 2026: Average Initial Budget at 2.575 Million Yen. What is the Gap with the Actual Purchase Price? (Part 1)

Sony Assurance Inc. (President and Representative Director: Hiroyuki Tsubota, Headquarters: Ota-ku, Tokyo; hereinafter 'Sony Assurance') conducted an internet research survey titled 'Survey on "First My Car" and "Driving with Children"' over five days from February 20 to February 24, 2026. The survey targeted men and women aged 18 to 39 who purchased their first car within the past three years, obtaining 1,000 valid responses. This press release provides excerpts from the 'Survey on "First My Car" and "Driving with Children" 2026' announced by Sony Assurance on March 31. The full text of the survey can be viewed at the following URL: https://from.sonysonpo.co.jp/topics/pr/2026/03/20260331.html ## * Survey Overview ◆ Survey Title: Survey on 'First My Car' and 'Driving with Children' ◆ Target Audience: From the population of NetAsia Research's internet monitor members: Men and women aged 18-39 who purchased their first car within the last 3 years (500 men, 500 women) ◆ Survey Period: February 20 - February 24, 2026 ◆ Survey Method: Internet survey ◆ Survey Region: Nationwide ◆ Number of Valid Responses: 1,000 samples (extracted from valid responses) ◆ Conducting Agency: NetAsia Inc. ## * Terms of Use Both diagrams and text within this article may be freely reproduced, provided that all the following terms of use are met. Please note that if our company deems the use inappropriate, we may request the cessation of publication. <> 1. Clearly state 'Sony Assurance Inc.' as the source of the information. 2. If used on a website, provide a link to Sony Assurance's auto insurance top page as the source. https://www.sonysonpo.co.jp/auto/ ## * Survey Summary ### ◆ Triggers for purchasing a first car: #1 'Found a car I wanted', #2 'Getting a job' For married individuals, 'Pregnancy/Childbirth' stood at 18.0%. ### ◆ Top 2 struggles when buying a first car: 'Choosing the car', 'Setting the budget' Urban areas showed high tendencies for 'Securing purchase funds' and 'Securing a parking space', while 'Did not struggle' was higher in rural areas. ### ◆ Initial budget set when considering a first car: Average 2.575 million yen ### ◆ Actual purchase price of the first car: Average 2.745 million yen, resulting in 170,000 yen higher than the budget When 1,000 men and women aged 18 to 39 who bought their first car within the past three years were asked what triggered their purchase, the most common answer was 'Found a car I wanted' (21.6%), followed by 'Getting a job' (17.1%), 'Obtaining a driver's license' (16.3%), 'Bonus/Extra income' (10.2%), and 'Hobby' (10.1%).