Financial stress over expensive car repairs falling, claims UK research

The percentage of UK motorists who would be “anxious and financially stressed” by an expensive, unexpected car repair bill is falling, according to research carried out for the RAC Dealer Network.

Those who would feel this way about having to spend £1,000 at a garage to keep their car on the road is now 33 per cent compared to 46 per cent when the same question was asked in 2023, and 37 per cent in 2021.

However, there has been an increase in those who, while they could afford the expense, would still be worried.

Today, 43 per cent say they would be “anxious but not financially stressed” compared to 38 per cent in 2023 and 45 per cent in 2021.

Lee Coomber, RAC client director at Assurant, which partners with the RAC in the aftersales sector, said the data “provides quite a subtle understanding of how motorists’ attitudes to being hit with a big, unplanned motoring bill has changed over the last few years”.

“The picture it provides covers the immediate post-pandemic period, through peaks in food and power inflation, to today,” he said.

The research was carried out for the RAC Dealer Network and Assurant by Toluna Harris Interactive, questioning 800 UK adults who own a car and are looking to purchase another within the next three years.