Will an unexpected $1,000 repair bill make you want to sell your car?

A nasty surprise bill of £772 ($998) was the “tipping point” that led Brits to ditch their old car for something else, a new study has found.

To Chris Chilton

4 hours ago

A surprise bill of £772 ($998) is big enough to make drivers want to swap their car for one that may be more reliable, a British study has found.
The CarGurus study also found that a 10-day wait for repairs and three malfunctions per year are enough for drivers to time their cars on time.
The study found that nearly 75 percent of drivers are stressed by the prospect of unexpected repairs.

Cars, like all machines, wear out and break down. And while the diligent owner gets his car serviced regularly to improve reliability and minimize the chance of an unexpected repair bill, these unpleasant surprises can still happen. But how big does an unexpected repair bill have to be before you consider switching cars?

For drivers in the UK, the tipping point is £772 for any 12-month period, which equates to $998 at current exchange rates. That’s according to a survey carried out by CarGurus, which asked the opinions of 1,000 British drivers who didn’t own any vehicles. warranty coverage for your car.

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You can understand why someone who drives an old car that isn’t worth a huge amount, and therefore probably isn’t very rich themselves, might be shocked by a bill of that size. But this can easily happen, for example, if you are unlucky during United Kingdomannual inspection or if you need a new clutch and matching dual mass flywheel required on modern cars. And if the timing belt or chain breaks, 772 pounds won’t make much of a difference to the score.

But while the study found owners would draw the line at a surprise bill of £772, those same owners said they would then be willing to spend an average of £14,320 ($18,489) on a replacement. used car – and with no guarantee that it will be more reliable or immune to unexpected repair bills.

Other factors that can cause car owners to give up include a 10-day wait for repairs or experiencing three or more problems in a year. And 72 percent of respondents said they were worried about the prospect of unexpected repair costs.

What unexpected financial pain would make you consider replacing your current car with something else? Leave a comment below.