Cost of running a vehicle soars by 52% in ten years

The cost of running a motor vehicle (i.e. excluding purchases) have risen by 52% in the past ten years, according to research undertaken by Kwik-Fit.

More specifically, vehicle maintenance costs have soared by 64.8%. That’s more than double the 32% rise in the rate of overall inflation during this time period. Tax and insurance costs have escalated by 50.2%, followed by petrol and oil costs which have risen by 48.4%.

But motorists still have a few things to smile about. The cost of purchasing motor vehicles has fallen by 26.1% over the past ten years. Furthermore, looking back at its historical pricing data, Kwik-Fit reports that it has actually dropped the average price of tyres in its centres by an impressive 15% since 1997 – a huge 53% below the inflation rate, and almost 80% below the inflation in car maintenance costs.

Indeed over the last 6 months the company has cut 3,000 tyre prices, delivering an annualised saving to motorists of £8m. More tyre price cuts are anticipated throughout 2007 and going forward.

The company’s MoT and servicing facilities which have been running for the last two years, deliver great value too and further savings of up to 25% can be made by those that combine the two into one appointment.

David White, customer services director at Kwik-Fit, comments: “It’s no secret that the cost of running a vehicle has risen dramatically over the past ten years, but many will be shocked to see that vehicle maintenance costs have risen by almost 65% - double the general rate of inflation.”

He continues: “It’s a core part of our strategy past, present and future that our customers receive inflated tyres at deflated prices in comparison to inflation. Nowadays, of course, Kwik-Fit is about more than just tyres as we’re bringing our quality, value and convenience values into more and more areas of motoring, such as MoTs and servicing.”