Drivers urged not to 'scrimp' or risk being forced off road

Petrol and diesel drivers have been warned to never “scrimp” on servicing, maintenance and repairs despite heavy costs. Nick Mullender, RAC mobile servicing and repairs team leader, stressed that fixing problems as they arise is the "best advice” despite the costs.

Nick warned that leaving problems to simmer can often backfire, with problems only getting worse and leading to more costly repair bills. More importantly, leaving issues to get worse could build-up a backlog of problems which may force a car off the road completely. This will leave road users without access to their mode of transport in a major blow to commuters or those with family commitments.

Nick said: “Keeping a car longer can definitely make sense financially, but it doesn’t come without risks, especially if you choose to scrimp on servicing, maintenance and repairs.

“Servicing cars at the correct interval and fixing issues as they arise is by far and away the best advice. Those who choose not to are running the financial gauntlet as any issues that are left to get worse often lead to more expensive repairs when they spectacularly go wrong, often resulting in a very unwelcome breakdown.”

According to the RAC, almost four-in-10 drivers (39%) have had their main vehicle off the road for at least a day or more due to unplanned repairs over the past year. Almost one third (32%) of road users were without their cars for no more than a day. Just over two-thirds (68%) said they had to endure multiple days without their vehicles.

Just over one-in-10 respondents (13%) said they were effectively vehicle-less for a week or more in a major blow to road users' freedoms.

The research was carried out for the RAC Report on Motoring, interviewing 2,395 drivers between 4-21 April earlier this year.

Nick added: “Having a car off the road for any period of time can be problematic, which we believe is why we saw bookings of RAC Mobile Mechanics who can fix cars on customers’ drives, doing away with the need to go to a garage, quadruple to nearly 100,000 last year.

“This is perhaps explained by our research showing that for almost nine-in-10 drivers it’s seriously inconvenient to be without a car for any period of time.”