In order to arrive at an annual repair cost for a vehicle, you have to take into consideration several factors. For instance, the age of the vehicle and whether it is a new car recently purchased or a used vehicle that has outlived its warranty can largely determine what your annual cash outlay will be. American domestic cars and foreign made vehicles may vary on annual repair and maintenance costs.
New and limited car warranties and the frequency of car maintenance can have a bearing on annual repair cost. For instance, new car warranties will cover tires and electrical and mechanical system problems, and therefore limit repair costs for owners. Yet, eventually, cars owned between three and five years can see an average annual maintenance and repair cost of $600 per year. These repair costs can include, heating, air conditioning, cooling system or engine and transmission problems. Some new car warranties may cover these repairs for 36 months, but, “with most new cars you're on your own in covering these repair costs,“ according to the website Safe Car Guide.
The vehicle reliability rating that Consumer Report provides for car owners can help to determine what the average repair cost may be for your vehicle. Consumer Reports bases its reliability rating upon at least five years of repair-cost data, along with a combination of other measurements, such as crash protection, airbags and accident avoidance. It is important to examine just where your vehicle falls on the reliability rating list, because car-brand cost is not necessarily a determining repair factor. What is certain is that the lower the reliability car rating, the higher the cost of annual repairs.
The age of the car has a lot to do with the average cost for repair of the vehicle. Typically after three to five years, the factory warranties have expired and the cost will escalate as the car ages. A car that is five years or slightly older and has more than 80,000 miles on it, can cost about $900 a year in repairs, according to the website Safe Car Guide. Yet, there can be a difference is annual repair costs between makes and models. For instance, The five-year old Range Rover’s maintenance and repair cost is approximately $2,000, while the Toyota Land Cruiser was lower, at $600 per year.
The cost of your vehicle’s car parts can determine whether or not you will spend several hundred dollars a year for repairs or a couple thousand. There are several Japanese and European car models that will cost more for similar repairs that are performed on a domestic American car because of higher foreign car-part costs. For instance, if you were going to replace the brake pads, rotors or small front-suspension parts on a domestic model like a Ford Taurus, the annual cost could be as low as $600, instead of possibly $2,000 for a similarly aged Audi A4, according to Safe Car Guide.
