• New Cars
    • First Impressions
    • Road Tests
  • Classics
    • Classic Profiles
    • Classic Driving Impressions
    • Classics Information
    • Events and Days Out
  • Motoring For Fun
  • News & Views
  • Bookshelf
  • Technical
    • Grumpy Old Mechanic
    • Kim’s Tips
  • Features
    • Visits
    • Track Days
  • Contributors
    • About our contributors
    • Kim Henson
    • Chris Adamson
    • Kieron Fennelly
    • Ant Henson
    • Rachel Henson
    • David Miles
    • Gerald Morgan
    • Dave Moss
    • Dave Randle
    • Robin Roberts
    • Tom Scanlan
    • Glen Smale
    • Jeremy Walton
    • Keith Ward
    • John Price Williams
  • More…
    • About Wheels Alive
    • Tips for using this website
    • Useful Links

Wheels Alive

Old cars, new cars, borrowed cars & blue cars. If it steers it's here!

Old cars, new cars, borrowed cars & blue cars. If it steers it's here!

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy

News – Servicing and repair costs – Great variations between makes?

Author/Source: Kim Henson

1st August 2017

 

Fiat comes out well in a recent survey of maintenance costs.
(Photo courtesy Shutterstock).

Cheap and Cheerful or Expensive and Exclusive? Your motoring costs will be significantly affected by your choice of car make.

Kim Henson takes a look at the figures…

Does the brand of my car make much of a difference on the cost of maintenance?

Whocanfixmycar.com have studied their own data and found the cheapest and most expensive brands for common service and repairs.

If you’re wanting a ‘cheap to run’ car go for a Fiat! If you’re happy to splash the cash, go for a Jaguar!

Suave and sophisticated cars can be lovely to own but don’t ignore maintenance costs when working out your finances…

According to this survey, with data collected from 322,603 quotes from WhoCanFixMyCar.com, Fiat is the least expensive car brand for common service and repairs including: Full Service, brake pads and discs, clutch replacement, cambelt change and head gasket repair.

The most expensive brands to maintain have also been revealed.

The cost of maintenance isn’t sometimes the first thing on your mind when purchasing a car, however it can have expensive implications later on.

Online car servicing and repair marketplace, WhoCanFixMyCar.com, have examined over 320,000 quotes submitted on their platform to reveal the most and least expensive car brands for servicing and repair work.

If you are considering a Fiat, you are in luck, they come out cheapest! Here is the breakdown by the most common service and repairs:

The top five least expensive brands for a full service:

  1. Fiat – £150.73
  2. Vauxhall – £153.04
  3. SEAT – £153.98
  4. Smart – £154.04
  5. Nissan – £154.57

The top five most expensive brands for a full service:

  1. Land Rover – £192.50
  2. Lexus – £187.07
  3. Jaguar – £183.36
  4. Mercedes – £177.90
  5. Subaru – £177.61

The top five least expensive brands for brake pads and discs:

  1. Fiat – £136.71
  2. Smart – £150.47
  3. SEAT – £152.00
  4. Subaru – £154.71
  5. Skoda – £155.84

The top five most expensive brands for brake pads and discs:

  1. Jaguar – £233.18
  2. Lexus – £229.10
  3. Land Rover – £222.17
  4. BMW – £220.74
  5. JEEP – £216.14

The top five least expensive brands for clutch replacement:

  1. Fiat – £331.18
  2. Peugeot – £368.69
  3. Mazda – £391.16
  4. Skoda – £399.01
  5. Hyundai – £399.36

The top five most expensive brands for clutch replacement:

  1. Mercedes – £658.66
  2. Alfa Romeo – £580.18
  3. Jaguar – £574.74
  4. Audi – £561.42
  5. Land Rover – £559.86

The top five least expensive brands for a cambelt change:

  1. Fiat – £250.87
  2. Vauxhall – £276.98
  3. Volvo – £288.96
  4. SAAB – £289.16
  5. Smart – £290.83

The top five most expensive brands for a Cambelt Change:

  1. BMW – £666.49
  2. Mercedes – £503.84
  3. Subaru – £457.77
  4. Jaguar – £424.14
  5. Land Rover – £413.94

The top five least expensive brands for cylinder head gasket renewal:

  1. Fiat – £387.12
  2. SAAB – £455.58
  3. Peugeot – £465.99
  4. Ford – £467.93
  5. Vauxhall – £477.83

The top five most expensive brands for cylinder head gasket renewal:

  1. Lexus – £800.39
  2. Jaguar – £746.90
  3. JEEP – £743.52
  4. Subaru – £697.70
  5. Mercedes – £689.06

In terms of the most expensive brands, the same names keep cropping up. Jaguar has been proven to come within the top five most expensive for the all the repairs listed above. Whereas Land Rover and Mercedes are also dominate names within the most costly repairs.

Louis Butcher, Digital Marketing Manager at WhoCanFixMyCar.com says: “We wanted to compare our data to give the UK a better understanding of how important it is to think about the long terms costs when purchasing a car. Everyone always looks at how much the tax or their insurance will be, but maintenance cost can sometimes be put to the back of their minds.

Thoroughly researching how much a car may cost you down the line, will help stop you from getting any nasty shocks should something go wrong!

WhoCanFixMyCar.com is the quick, simple way to compare the prices and reputation of garages and mechanics near you. Just tell us what work you require and where you live, and we’ll send quotes from friendly local specialists straight to your inbox. You can compare prices, reviews and location, and even book in online. For more information, visit: https://www.whocanfixmycar.com/ ”

Kim adds: “There are a few surprises here, and of course it is also worth noting that when calculating overall running costs, in the longer term there are further factors to take into account, including fuel consumption and depreciation, but nonetheless this survey makes interesting reading, and provides food for thought.”

Save Post as PDF

Categories: Kim Henson, News & Views

Tip: For improved search accuracy, enclose search terms for multiple words in quotation marks. For example:
"Land Rover".

Advertise with us

Recent Posts

Lakeland Motor Museum kicks off the start of The Club Triumph Coast 2 Coast Run

The Motor Ombudsman marks nearly one million contacts as ADR Regulations reach a decade of service

INEOS Grenadier ups its game with portal axle collaboration

New Chief Executive Officer for The British Motor Museum

Legacy of Austin pedal cars honoured with Blue Plaque at original factory site in Bargoed

Kia EV3 GT Line S – Road Test

National Motor Museum to take Sunbeam 350hp Blue Bird to Wales for the World Land Speed Record centenary

SMMT figures show higher car sales levels in June 2025

Contributors

contributors

Our well-respected contributors live and breathe motor cars; aren’t we lucky?

Contributors to the site include talented, highly-respected people (so they tell me) on the hallowed membership list of the Guild of Motoring Writers, and from the similarly well thought-of Western Group of Motoring Writers. In addition there are valued contributions from other knowledgeable and capable motoring writers who have something useful to say about all aspects of driving and running vehicles in the 21st Century. All of our team are passionate about motor cars!


Read about our contributors  ››

Tags

MPV 4x4 estate Kia Estate car The Motor Ombudsman SUV Tyres all-electric City car plug-in hybrid British Motor Museum PHEV EV Beaulieu saloon National Motor Museum luxury SUV crossover five door hatchback Coupé Seven seater SUV Suzuki large SUV Hybrid Compact SUV Electric hatchback road test First Impressions

All Tags ››

Like us on Facebook

Like us on Facebook

Wheels Alive Social

  • E-mail
  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Please share our website

Contact us

We welcome your questions, comments and feedback. Please click here to contact us.

Advertising Opportunities

Please contact us if you would like to discuss advertising opportunities on Wheels Alive.

Copyright © 2025 Kim Henson, Wheels Alive