Drivers are failing to budget for repair costs

A survey has revealed that less than 30 per cent of drivers plan ahead for unexpected repair bills

Drivers are failing to budget for repair costs
29 per cent would use savings, and 23 per cent a credit card, to pay for car repairs.

The findings, published by Allianz Global Assistance UK, show that 52 per cent of people use a credit card or savings to pay for their car repairs.

Liz Grindell, head of warranty for Allianz Global Assistance in the UK, said: ‘It’s clear from our survey that most people fail to plan ahead for car repairs.

“The cost of owning and running a car doesn’t stop after paying for the insurance, MOT, road tax and fuel, but it’s easy to forget the added expenses such as new tyres and ongoing repairs and maintenance.

“And of course, with 79% of cars now making it to 12 years on the road, and the average age predicted to rise to 7.95 years in 2015, costs to keep cars running efficiently will rise proportionally.”

The survey found that 29 per cent of respondents have to use their savings and 23 per cent have to use a credit card, while only 15 per cent budget in advance for unexpected car repair costs.

Less than 15 per cent of car owners have a warranty to cover repair bills.

Share your stories and let us know if you relate to these findings. Have you watched customers drive away with a dangerous fault because they couldn’t afford the repair bill? How is this affecting your business, are you seeing a rise in people turning down work due to the cost? Leave your comments below or tweet us @GarageWireUK.

4 Comments

  1. Far too many of our customers are looking for us to say there car is safe for them to drive when we tell them we have found faults on an annual service.
    We often relay to them that we have found (for example) that the brakes are in extremely poor condition and in one case cracked and recommended they have the brakes replaced , to be told they don’t use the car much or don’t go far in it!

    Or my personal favorite was when a customer told me “its ok its only my wife’s car, she only uses it to take the kids to school in”

    The most common one is broken springs and refusing to pay for two on the same axle when only one is broken.

    My feeling is that customers need educating to there responsibility of being car owners. They need educating to the dangers of having poorly maintained vehicles.

    I have been in the motor trade for nearly 30 years and it is getting increasingly more difficult to repair vehicles without the customer taking a very negative approach to the repairing garage. I myself will try my best to help customers as will most of my friends that have garages but sadly I feel the motor trade is just looked at badly from a lot of the general public that uses our services.

    Reply
  2. I agree with Dan we see this most days they don’t want to pay or can’t, they nearly always go for the cheapest option. I’ve owned my garage for 35 years its gets harder, not helped by some local garages who don’t have qualified staff who you wouldn’t send your wheel barrow to. but the public don’t care as long as its cheap, or until something goes wrong.
    garages are looked at as the lowest of the trades. Fred in the shed image still remains

    Reply
  3. Dan + John, it’s interesting that you’re having those problems. We actually have a customer-facing solution for that, called FlexiFix. Feel free to get in touch with us at Dipstix.co.uk to see if we can help!

    Reply
  4. It seems to be the way of the world these days. Take no responsibility for your actions then sue everyone else when it goes pair shaped. My favourites are I’m selling the car, it has passed its MOT, it can’t be dangerous! I will get them done at the end of the month when I get paid, two years later they still have got it. I have seen safer car banger racing. Enough ranting, customers know best. We’re just rip-off merchants.

    Reply

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