LONDON DRIVERS MOST LIKELY TO MISS ESSENTIAL VEHICLE SERVICING, WITH COST-OF-LIVING CONTINUING TO GRIP CONSUMERS
Drivers in London have been identified as the most likely to skip recommended car servicing and essential maintenance compared to other UK areas.
With the cost-of-living still affecting many households, new research from Volkswagen Financial Services (VWFS) UK found that 36% of the capital’s drivers have skipped a car service due to cost, potentially compromising vehicle performance across the region.
After surveying 2,000 UK drivers, VWFS also revealed that a third (33%) of all London motorists are likely to avoid booking a car service in the next 12 months due to cost pressures. This is followed by 21% in Wales and one in five drivers in the West Midlands.
“Car servicing and maintenance is essential to ensure vehicles continue to perform safely and optimally for the long term. We know that finances are tight and, as a result, some may not be able prioritise their annual service. And it’s concerning that many London drivers are unable to afford this critical part of car ownership,” says James Taylor, Head of Product at VWFS UK. “With the cost-of-living at the forefront of drivers’ minds when they decide against servicing their car, it’s important that flexible, simple and transparent financial solutions are offered to support drivers to help them budget better for recommended vehicle servicing.”
Cost pressures compromising car servicing and safety
Concerns about paying for servicing and maintenance is dictating driver behaviour, and the research also highlights some traits that expose potential car safety issues.
Many drivers in London (40%) and Northern Ireland (41%) admit that they have driven their cars despite knowing they require essential maintenance, such as needing new tyres, tyre pressure checks, brake light replacement, or oil level top ups. These are the highest levels seen across the UK. Drivers in London also account for the highest percentage (68%) of motorists who believe they do not have to stop driving to check the issue immediately if a red warning light appears on their dashboard.
Easing the cost of servicing
Considering that drivers highlight that the cost of servicing and essential car maintenance is an ongoing challenge, it makes sense that 39% of all drivers are interested in options that would allow them to spread the financial burden and pay for a solution via regular monthly payments.
London’s drivers (60%) were most in favour of this option, followed by 50% in Northern Ireland and 42% in the Northeast of England.
The main motivation for spreading servicing payments is that it would ‘ensure I get all necessary servicing and maintenance’. On top of this, 38% of drivers also admitted that a flexible financial solution would mean they were ‘less likely to skip recommended servicing and maintenance’ in the future.
Safety warnings
When asked to identify common but important dashboard warning signals, just under half of drivers could correctly spot symbols such as ‘tyre pressure’ and ‘check engine.’ However, one in five (20%) were unable to identify the symbol indicating an issue with car tyre pressures, and 8% did not recognise the red ‘check engine’ sign that could be a precursor to a bigger problem.
