THE

2014 WORLD CUP OFCAR RELIABILITYPart III: Financial Fair Play edition

WHICH NATION'S CARS GENERATE THE BIGGEST REPAIR BILLS?Its no secret that football is a money-dominated game. Manchester City players’ average wages now top £100k perweek, contributing to the English league champions’ recent £49m fine at the hands of Fifa’s ‘Financial Fair Play’committee.

Here at WhoCanFixMyCar.com we know that the estimated price of repairs is one of the factors that helpour usersselect their preferred mechanic. But which nation’s cars generate the big bills, and which continue to give great agreat performance for less money? Read on to find out…

Europe US Rest of world

England Japan Germany USA France

Spain South Korea Italy Czech Republic

Sweden

240

214

207

204

203

193

193

192

188

171

Average repair quote in GBP Competing Nations

Our Analysts say...Well, as nature imitates art, so motoring imitates football.By some distance, drivers of English cars face thehighest repair quotes.

But what’s behind that trend? In truth our figures areskewed by some fairly specialist players including AstonMartin, Bentley and Lotus, all British. So let’s strip outthe exotica and see how they stack up in more detail.

1. "PUTTING A SHIFT IN' - TRANSMISSION REPAIR BILLSOne of the most popular repairs on WhoCanFixMyCar, gearbox and clutch work, is a great ‘leveller’ when it comes totypical quotes from our garages. Which nation’s cars will put the biggest strain on the chairman’s wallet?

Clutch and Gearbox repair quotes in GBP, bynation of origin Once again its the British brands that

Our Analysts say...

England Germany Sweden France

Spain Czech Republic Italy

426

403

385

324

307

293

292

Ford

VW

Peug eot

Renault

Vauxhall

nation of origin Once again its the British brands thatcommand the financial premium, followed by

the Germans, with the straight-talkingSouthern European marques prompting the

lowest repair quotes from our expertmechanics.

Spain England Germany Italy

Czech Republic South Korea

191

169

167

127

120

116

2. "HE'S REALLY BLOWING..." - EXHAUST AND BRAKE REPAIRSLike clutches, exhausts and brake components are designed to be replaced as a car gets older - and with the averagecar passing through our site around 8 years old, we get plenty of data on these repairs too. How do our nations fare?

Ford

Ag ricultural Bank of China

VW

Peug eot

Renault

Vauxhall

Brake and Exhaust repair quotes in GBP, by nation oforigin

Perhaps surprisingly, the Spanish SEATs comeout highest here - but that’s something of

anomaly - overall they do well.

The next-dearest are the usual suspects,English and German brands, with Fiat andSkoda repairs a few £ more expensive than

the winners, South Korean KIAs andHyundais.

Our Analysts say...

195

240

3. BIGGER BILLS, BIGGER THRILLS?Its well known that as footballers reach their thirties, they’ll negotiate a lucrative final contract. Simply put,they get paid more to do what they do, even though they may be past their peak. How does that translate onour roads? How does the age of cars on WhoCanFixMyCar.com affect garages’ quotes?

Ford

BMW

VW

Peug eot

Renault

Vauxhall

Average Repair Quote by Vehicle Age (0 - 17 yrs) Fascinatingly, running costs peak at 7 years old. Is it

simply that older cars are easier to fix? Not quite:

Drivers of older cars may have a make-do-and-mendattitude, repairing only the essentials. Plus older cars maycover less miles, and basic servicing and MOTs will makeup a proportionally-higher share of the bill, with big-

Our Analysts say...

150

195

Avg quote

Ag ricultural Bank of China

BMWup a proportionally-higher share of the bill, with big-ticket repairs occurring less often. Let’s dive in to thedetail.

250

375

500

Avg quote

4. CAN OLDER CARS STILL PUT A SHIFT IN?

Ford

BMW

VW

Peug eot

Renault

Vauxhall

Average Clutch/Gearbox Repair Quote by VehicleAge (0 - 17 yrs)

Well… yes they can. Fascinatinglyclutch and gearbox repair costspeak amongst 3 to 7 year old

cars, gradually declining thereafter.

Why? It seems our mechanics aresimply able to quote lower prices -

either due to cheaper parts, lesslabour, or both.

Our Analysts say...

90

145

200

Avg quote

5. EXHAUST AND BRAKE REPAIRS REVISITED

Ford

Ag ricultural Bank of China

BMW

VW

Peug eot

Renault

Vauxhall

Average Brake/Exhaust Repair Quote by VehicleAge (0 - 17 yrs) Well, the pattern’s not quite as pronounced. But

there’s still a definite peak around 9 years old,after which garages’ prices start to decline -

presumably for the same reason.

Moreover the patterns are the same for bothbrake and exhaust repair / replacement -

further reinforcing the point that our garagessimply seem able to replace wear parts on

older cars for less.

Our Analysts say...

If older cars’ transmissions are cheaper to repair, what about the other main wear parts - do they follow the same pattern?

5. TROUBLE IN THE ENGINE ROOM?So, in conclusion: hang onto your car and you’re bound to save money, right? Well, not necessarily...

130

190

250

Avg quote

Ford

VW

Peug eot

Renault

Vauxhall

Average Engine/ECU/Cambelt Repair Quote by VehicleAge (0 - 17 yrs) Aside from higher fuel consumption and

road tax, plus the occasional big bill suchas rust repair, keeping a car’s engine ingood condition is clearly essential tokeeping an older car on the road - andits here that bills do seem to rise withage. Smoothing out our data, owners of13-year-old cars can expect to pay mostfor engine work.

Our Analysts say...

Next time we’ll pick our best and worst teams: the cars that’ll take you all the way without breaking the bank… andthose that won’t. Stay tuned!

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