Sainsbury‘s Car Insurance has done new research that has found over a million drivers have stopped using their cars because of the high cost of trying to maintain them on the road. With the costs of tyres, services, insurance, MOTs and fuel the cost of maintaining the car can quickly escalate, at times getting so high that many are just giving them up completely.
That is what the new research by Sainsbury’s Car Insurance has concluded which found that the cost for an average car owner is over £1,700 each year to keep the car running, a staggering 23% higher than just a year ago. The costs are increasing because of the cost of petrol that is now 136p per litre but the petrol is not the only cost. Insurance premiums have increased and excesses have caused the cost motoring to become more expensive.
The drivers and the pressures they are going through are starting to take a toll. Forty-five percent of the motorists or about 16 million people are driving less, with 7% now participating in car-share and 25% said they stopped filling their tanks and are now buying less petrol each time the go to the station. There are even 10% of the drivers that have changed cars in order to get a cheaper run and making it less to insure.
The research has been released at a time people are feeling squeezed all around. The cost of living is continuing to rise and yet the wages continue to be stagnant making cars that once were a necessity becoming a luxury.
