Ahead of Car Care Week, from the 30 September – 6 October, breakdown cover provider Green Flag has uncovered how many UK drivers are failing to perform basic vehicle maintenance, and how much our motors are costing us to repair as a result.
Car Care Week aims to educate motorists on the benefits of regular vehicle inspection, maintenance, and repair, so Green Flag has also released basic car care tips to ensure thorough vehicle maintenance.
Where car maintenance tasks are concerned, it has been discovered that a whopping 51 per cent of motorists don’t know how to change a tyre, and similarly, 1 in 5 (20 per cent) don’t know how to check for tyre pressure and pump a tyre.
Otherwise, over a quarter (28 per cent) of drivers wouldn’t be confident in checking oil and fluid levels, and over half (53 per cent) wouldn’t know how to replace a light bulb in their car. Meanwhile, only a one In 10 drivers (11 per cent) know how to fix a dent or a windscreen crack.
It has also been discovered how few Brits are addressing problems with their motors efficiently, as a whopping 51 per cent confess they wait more than two months to fix faults with their vehicles. Shockingly, one in 7 (14 per cent) UK drivers report they only fix faults with their car when it’s urgent, such as before a MOT check.
Last year alone, of the MOT tests taken nationwide, one third (33 per cent) were fails, and a shocking one in 10 (9 per cent) yielded dangerous results***. As a result, Brits are spending a whopping £574.50* a year on car repairs, despite the fact that 47 per cent of drivers agree that repair costs could have been cheaper if they were addressed sooner.