The highest hourly rate for dealer repair work was a staggering £240 at a Surrey garage, research by Auto Express and Warrantywise has found.
The motoring magazine, which gathered data from 1,200 dealers across the country, say motorists face a postcode lottery when it comes to main dealer labour charges.
The average labour rate in London was £101.60, while Scotland was the cheapest with an average labour rate of £71.42.
Graham Hope, deputy editor of Auto Express, said: “Obviously higher hourly rates in London are to be expected, but the huge difference in average costs across Great Britain shows motorists are not being treated fairly.
“And a difference of £204 per hour between individual garages is completely unjustifiable.”
Lawrence Whittaker, CEO of Warrantywise, said: “Some of the differences Warrantywise has discovered are, frankly, offensive.”
The findings sit in line with separate research recently published by Trend Tracker’s consumer survey and GiPA’s UK annual ATO survey for 2015, which both indicate that motorists prefer to have their car repaired at an independent garage over the main dealers.
