Maintaining your car has to be one of the least fun things you can do in your free time, second only to going to the dentist and filing your taxes. However, depending on the brand you buy, the time you spend in the store may be much longer than you anticipated. Consumer Reports’ A new study on the most and least expensive car brands to maintain has found that European automakers are most likely to bankrupt you with costs almost five times higher than automakers at the other end of the spectrum .
Land Rover had the highest ten-year maintenance costs, averaging $19,250. Porsche comes in second with costs of $14,090.
10 most expensive car brands to maintain over 10 years:
- Land Rover: $19,250
- Porsche: $14,090
- Mercedes-Benz: $10,525
- Audi: $9,890
- BMW: $9,500
- Volvo: $9,285
- Infiniti: $8,500
- Acura: $7,800
- Mini: $7,625
- Subaru: $7,200
The European brands at the top of this list aren’t that surprising. Land Rover has consistently established itself as one of the most expensive vehicle brands to maintain for years, although Porsche is generally considered one of the strongest performance brands. This could suggest that some models don’t always require more repairs, but that the repairs they do need are significantly more expensive.
Tesla, Buick and Toyota were the three cheapest car brands to maintain, with 10-year maintenance costs of $4,035, $4,900 and $4,900, respectively. Consumer Reports noted that these figures might be slightly skewed due to the fact that some automakers offer free maintenance for the first few years of ownership, and all companies cover their new vehicles for at least a few years after purchase.
Routine maintenance is a great way to avoid costly repairs over time because it’s much cheaper to catch a problem before it starts causing others. Check your oil, rotate your tires, and avoid driving like a wild person, and you’ll probably fare much better than others, even if you own one of the scariest brands to maintain.
yahoo
