You might think that the more you spend on a car, the less the repair bills will be. But such belief in the quality of some marques’ workmanship is occasionally misplaced, as demonstrated by a recent Which? Magazine survey.
The data, taken from 57,000 car owners, suggests that some luxury vehicles are costing up to £500 in annual repair bills, while more affordable cars are costing just £13 – in some cases.
An average of £478 pounds was spent by owners of Land Rover Discovery 3s of three years of age and over. That’s a good deal more than Kia’s modestly priced Picanto, which attracted repair bills of just £13, on average.
In many instances, car owners are protected for the first three years of a car’s life by a warranty.
Owners of the Volkswagen Toureg also had to fork out significant sums, averaging £428 a year. One of the key issues with the Toureg was the exhaust system, which also affected Skodas in similar percentages – 15 and 16 per cent respectively. Volkswagen build both the Toureg and the Skoda.
A Volkswagen spokesman said they could not comment on the findings without full data from the Which? survey.
A spokesman for Land Rover pointed out that problems with Discoveries related to models that were between four and ten years old. He said problems with those models did not reflect the improvements Land Rover had made in the reliability of its current line-up.
One in five cars were affected by suspension problems. The Which? survey suggested that poorly maintained UK roads may have been to blame for this particular issue.
As a provider of UK and European breakdown cover, here at startrescue.co.uk we are always alert to reports such as this one. Do you believe car warranties are generally long enough? Do you think the results do indeed highlight the poor maintenance of British roads? As ever, leave your thoughts below.
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