A few weeks ago we wrote an article that showed you 6 unexpected facts about car repairs

and servicing. But that list didn’t cover everything we wanted to talk about! So today, we
bring you 6 more interesting facts about car repairs that you might not have known. Let us
know if you want to see more of this kind of post in the comments!

Break Down

No one likes to think about their car breaking down. It’s inconvenient, difficult to manage
and often very expensive. A lot of break downs can be prevented with routine maintenance,
but when a car gets to a certain age, things start to go wrong. On average, 1 in 3 cars that
are between 3 and 10 years old will break down on the road within the next 12 months. So if
you’re driving an older car and haven’t been looking after it properly, it’s time to think about
some routine servicing and maintenance!

Electric Car Boom

Electric cars have been around for quite a while now, and they have been steadily growing in
popularity over the past few years. And why wouldn’t they? Sure, they might not be able to
compete with the ‘fast cars’ (although, have you seen Formula E?), but they are quieter,
cheaper to run and environmentally friendly. Since the beginning of 2018, sales of electric
cars have risen by 11%, which is a considerable growth by any standard. But earlier this
month, statistics showed that electric car sales have surged over the last few months, and
now make up 1 of every 12 new cars sold. That means growth went from 11% to 23% in the
space of a few months!

Unexpected Bests

Do you think you could name the best selling car of last year? How about of all time? There
have been a lot of popular classics to choose from – the he Volkswagen Passat (which comes
in at number 5), the Honda Civic (number 4), the Volkswagen Passat (number 5) and the
Volkswagen Gold (number 3). Last year, the best selling car was the humble Ford Fiesta,
winning the hearts and minds of many a new driver. But when it comes to all time, the
answer is a bit more surprising. The number 1 best selling car of all time is… (drum roll
please) the Toyota Corolla, which has sold 44.1 million units from its launch in 1966 to today.

Big Spenders

This one might not be a shock, but cars are expensive business. In fact, it’s estimated that
the average cost of operating a car comes in at around £8,500 a year, including monthly
payments, insurance, servicing, MOT, repairs and petrol. But out of all of that expense, it’s
the servicing and repairs that run up the big numbers. In 2016, UK motorists spent over
£21.1 billion on servicing and repairs for their domestic and commercial vehicles.

Almost 900 Million Oil Changes Every Year

Last year, over 254 million cars and passenger vehicles were registered in the UK, which
adds up to a lot of repairs! Bu there’s one statistic that always jumps out at us. On average,
Brits drive their cars just over 10,000 miles a year, and they change the oil every 3,000 miles
(or at least, they do if they are getting their car serviced regularly!). That adds up to nearly
900 million oil changes! Granted, different cars will take different amounts of oil, but on
average we use at least 1.1 billion gallons of oil in our cars every year, most of which is
reused or recycled.

Older Car Average

As we drive around every day, we see a huge variety of cars on the road. A lot of these will
look pretty modern, especially since car finance makes it so easy to get a new car every 3 or
so years. But if that was the case, then you would expect the average age of a car on the
road to be around 3 years. But that’s not the case at all. Instead, the average of a car on the
road is around 8.1 years – which means they are more prone to damage and breakdown
than we think!

At W.N Auto Repairs, we look after your cars and vans, no matter how small, big, new or old.
Our experts can help repair problems with your car, do MOT testing, routine servicing and
provide maintenance tips to keep your vehicle in shape and out of the garage for longer. If
you’d like to know more, or to book your car in for repairs, just get in touch with the team
today.