New analysis by uSwitch.com reveals that in the last decade the cost to insure, service, tax and fuel a car has outstripped the rate of inflation by 34 per cent or £608. It now costs motorists £2,395 a year to keep their cars on the road. But if costs had stayed in line with inflation then drivers would only be paying £1,787.
The average UK motorist is now forking out £2,395 a year to keep their car on the road, a national spend of almost £75 billion on insurance, tax, MOTs and petrol.
Car maintenance now costs 11per cent (£228) a year more compared to last year and 78 per cent (£1,051) more than in 1997.
Since 1997 the cost of car insurance has outstripped inflation by 29 per cent - premiums have increased from £311 to £535 a year.
Car tax (VED) has seen the smallest increase. Consumers now pay just 2 per cent more than they did a decade ago.
If prices had increased in line with inflation, an MOT would now cost just £38 a year – not the £50 motorists currently spend.
In 1997 it cost £854 a year to fill the average car with petrol. This has now increased 94per cent (£803) to £1,657 a year - £521[8] more than if prices had stayed in line with the rate of inflation.
New car sales have fallen by 13 per cent as the credit crunch and rising costs of running a car hit motorists hard in the pocket .
Ashton Berkhauer, insurance expert at uSwitch.com, comments: “The Government has been accused of being anti-motorist and there is little in our report to persuade Britain‟s drivers otherwise. The cost of petrol, insurance and servicing has soared, far outstripping the rate of inflation. Collectively, British drivers are forking out £19 billion[2] more a year than they would have had to if the cost of keeping a car on the road had simply increased in line with inflation over the last decade.
“Consumers are feeling the pinch of the credit crunch and are contending with rising bills across all fronts. This has already had an impact on motoring. Sales of new cars fell by 13 per cent last month, while sales of green cars have increased 19 per cent as consumers realise that alternatively fuelled vehicles could save them £300 a year on running costs.
Berkhauer concludes: “The rising cost of motoring could potentially lead to more uninsured drivers on our roads and people invalidating their insurance by driving unsafe vehicles as they can no longer afford proper maintenance. For some, the increasing cost will price them off the road altogether. Some people do have other options, such as public transport, but for many, there is no other choice. We could be heading for a situation where motorists don‟t have to decide if they should take their car, but whether they can actually afford to.”
