UK motorists faced £18 billion car repair bill over the past year
Average repair was £803 per person.
UK motorists paid out more than £18 billion in vehicle repairs over the past year, with the average car owner forking out £803 each.
The research found repair costs ranged from £37 to almost £1,796, with 64 per cent of the 2,320 UK drivers surveyed saying they had had to pay out for repairs at some point over the past 12 months.
With the latest Government statistics indicating that there are 35.9 million driving licence holders, multiplying the average cost of repairs to account for this number indicates £18.5bn worth of repairs.
When asked what repairs they’d had to pay for, 62 per cent said they had had to replace tyres, while 52 per cent had paid for brake repairs.
Meanwhile, 43 per cent said they had repaired or replaced a windscreen, 29 per cent had their wheels aligned, and 20 per cent had replaced spark plugs.
James Jackson, CEO of vehicle repair finance provider Bumper.co.uk, which conducted the survey, said: “High repair costs can leave some road users feeling unable to maintain a vehicle and therefore unable to travel for both essential reasons, such as work or childcare, and also to do the things they love, such as visit friends and family or even go on holiday.”
Unsurprisingly, the largest repair bill faced by those surveyed was in London, with Oxford the second highest (£1,587) and Bristol (£1,267) in third. The lowest repair of £37 was in Liverpool, with the next lowest being £61 in Newcastle and £85 in Cardiff.
