Car repairs: how garage quotes for servicing, brake and exhaust repairs vary across the UK

Study reveals the affect your location has on how much you will pay for car repairs.

New research has revealed the 'postcode lottery' motorists face when getting their car repaired.

While on average motorists have to shell out £220 to get their car fixed, some regions are more than 30% cheaper than others, according to the research by Who Can Fix My Car. The website has used data from its 10,000 monthly users to reveal how repair costs vary around the country. It analysed a list of common car repairs, including ‘under the bonnet’ work, servicing and brake and exhaust repairs to see how garage costs fluctuate.

Repair costs around the country

You’ll pay the most if you get your car repaired in East Anglia, where the average visit to the garage will set you back £241. But head to Northern Ireland and that price drops by a whopping 25% to just £180.

Car owners in the country’s big cities tend to pay more with London being the most expensive city. Surprisingly though, getting your car fixed in the capital is cheaper on average than getting it fixed in East Anglia.

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Driving habits around the country

The research by Who Can Fix My Car also shines a light on the different driving habits around the country. Perhaps because of the congested roads Londoners are twice as likely to need bodywork or dent repairs than drivers elsewhere in the country. Drivers in the capital also like to have a flash car. They are 75% more likely to drive a Mercedes and 65% more likely to have a BMW than car owners in the rest of the country.

Liverpudlians “seem to enjoy a quick getaway at the lights,” says the report, as they are 30% more likely to need a replacement clutch.

Thanks to the rough terrain and unpredictable weather Scots are the most likely to be behind the wheel of a four-wheel drive, with Suzukis and Subarus more popular north of the border than anywhere else in the UK.

Car manufacturing plants can also have a huge effect on what car we drive. Car owners in Birmingham are 78% more likely to drive a Jaguar than the rest of the country. That’s perhaps unsurprising when you consider that Jags have been build at the Jaguar Land Rover factory in Castle Bromwich since 1977.

Meanwhile, drivers in the North East prefer Nissans. The car brand is 70% more popular there than anywhere else. More than eight million Nissans have been built at the firm’s Sunderland plant since 1986.

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