Unexpected car repairs are costing drivers an average of more than £600 a year, reveals data from the RAC.
As many as six-in-10 (59%) drivers say they are hit with unexpected repair costs for their main vehicle each year, with the average bill coming out at £617 across all ages of car.
More than a third (37%) of those facing these repairs said they experienced financial difficulty in paying for them.
Tyres top the list of unexpected motoring costs (64%) – no doubt due to all the wear and tear they are subjected to, followed by brake repairs on 24%. A further fifth (21%) of drivers surveyed by the RAC were seemingly victims of Britain’s poor road surfaces as they had to fork out for new suspension parts such as shock absorbers and springs. For cars between three and 10 years old, this figure was dramatically higher at 30%.
The next most common unexpected costs were getting new exterior lights fitted (15%), repairing bodywork damage such as dents and scrapes (14%) and having to replace faulty or worn-out 12-volt batteries.
While RAC patrols are famous for fixing four-out-of-five vehicles on the spot, the jobs they can’t do there and then are now being quickly and conveniently completed on people’s drives by its new nationwide team of RAC Mobile Mechanics.
In addition to repairs, they also specialise in servicing vehicles at customers’ homes or workplaces, saving them having to find a garage to do the job as well as the hassle of dropping off and picking up their vehicles.
RAC Mobile Mechanics’ top jobs in 2024 – aside from full and interim services – were carrying out electronic fault-finding ‘diagnostics’ tests (40%). Brakes took second spot in the RAC Mobile Mechanics’ routine repairs list accounting for a fifth (18%) of all jobs, with teams fitting new brake pads, discs and cylinders.
Problems relating to vehicles’ charging and starting systems dominated the remaining top five places, with replacing batteries on 13%, and fitting new alternators and starter motors, both on 7%.
Paul Coward, chief executive of the RAC’s service, maintenance and repair division, said, “Unexpected car repairs are something every driver dreads. This is even more the case for the estimated third of drivers who find it hard to cover these costs. What’s more, we know from long-term RAC research that eight-in-10 people depend on their cars, so any time a vehicle is off the road it can cause huge problems.
“Our patrols are experts at coming to drivers’ rescue when things go wrong, but not even they can fix every car. Now, with our growing nationwide team of RAC Mobile Mechanics we can get a wide number of repairs done at homes and workplaces. An RAC patrol simply tows a broken-down vehicle to the member’s home, then books a convenient time and date for a mobile mechanic colleague to carry out the necessary repair.”
