The average British motorist could buy a family home with the money they spend on car care over a lifetime, according to a new survey.
The average driving Brit will spend a staggering £189,416.64 on motoring in their lifetime – that’s over the £179,492 needed to buy the average house in Britain today.
The survey reveals that car loving Brits splash out an average £380.49 per year just to keep themselves insured on their vehicle.
And taxing their car is costing the typical driver £91.70 over 12 months adding up to almost six grand over their driving lifetime.
But they’ll fail an average of six MOTs out of all their compulsory yearly tests costing them £759.78 in total – that’s on top of the £2,659.86 spent on having it done in the first place across a potential span of 63 years.
A spokesman for blackcircles.com which commissioned the study, said: “At first, it’s a big surprise to find out how much a typical driver is spending just on owning a car nowadays.
“But when you really break it down and look at how much you’re paying yearly for things like insurance, tax and MOTs it actually makes a lot of sense.
“Almost a grand of the total figure goes on failing MOTs too which could easily be lowered if we keep an eye out for problems with our cars.
“Finding out that the average driving Brit could be paying out more for their car than their home is a big surprise.
“Although we know how cars can give people a big sense of freedom so it might be the case that it’s worth every penny.”
It was found that half of the MOTs we fail were either partially or completely to blame on the vehicle’s tyres.
But they’ll replace at least one wheel of the car every three years at around £90 a time this means drivers will have spent more than £2K in total over the years.
And getting the car serviced once a year on average will add a further £5,590.50 to the total driving bill.
Other expenditures the typical driver will fork out for over their driving lifetime is petrol, taking three trips to the pump per month adding up to £1,282.63 over a year.
This becomes the largest item on the bill tallying up to almost £81thousand by the time we finish our driving years.
The survey revealed the average driver will own 15 cars in their lifetime, the first of which will cost more than £1,600 and their current vehicle costing £7,000.
But Brits will end up spending an average of more than £58,000 on buying vehicles alone from the time they pass their test until their senior years.
And to make sure they’ve got the safety net of road side assistance, Brits will pay out an average of more £60 a year adding up to almost £4K in a driving lifetime.
The early years of driving is particularly expensive as learners suggest they take 21 lessons before passing their practical test costing £15 a time.
Adding this to the two driving tests and one theory test they’ll be looking at £418 by the time they are legally able to drive alone.
Smaller payments drivers are looking to cough up for are de-icer, in-car air freshener, getting spare keys cut, car seat covers and other car accessories coming to £153.21.
The Blackcircles.com spokesman added: “There are lots of things that can be done to lower these costs with a little bit of pre planning.
“Blackcircles.com are the largest online tyre retailer and the fully fitted costs of our tyres (fitted at a garage local to the customer) is up to 40% less than RRP therefore motorists would be advised to check and replace their tyres prior to MOT or service checks as this will save significantly on tyre costs.”
The cost of motoring over a lifetime
The average driving lifetime of 63 years
Petrol £80,808.84
Vehicles £57,795.04
Insurance £23,970.87
Tax £5,777.10
MOT £2,659.86
Failed MOT £759.78
Car Servicing £5,890.50
Roadside Assistance £3,771.18
Tyres £2,008.02
Parking Fees £4,249.35
Replacement Batteries £421.47
Parking Fines £257.94
Other Fines £278.40
21 Driving Lessons £329.91
2 Driving Tests £66.36
1 Theory Tests £21.35
Car Valeted £197.46
De-icer and car accessories £153.21
TOTAL: £189,416.64
