One pothole could cause damage costing almost two months of an average UK salary, according to online car and maintenance expert MotorEasy.
According to MotorEasy’s database of 30,000 warranty customers, axle and suspension damage is one of the most common causes of repair claims.
The top repair cost for a suspension claim seen by MotorEasy in the last year was recorded by a Land Rover Range Rover Sport and came in at a whopping £3,863. This was closely followed by £3,528 for an Audi Q7 and £2,729 for a Mercedes-Benz E-Class.
The Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance Survey (ALARM), published last month, revealed that more than 24,000 miles of UK roads need repairing within the next year, putting many cars at an increased risk of suffering suspension and axle-related damage.
The state of the roads has worsened significantly thanks to the very cold spells of snow and wet weather earlier this year. Potholes are created when water gets into cracks in the road, freezes and expands, breaking open the road surface; with weather conditions now improving, the perilous state of the nation’s roads is now becoming clear.
Overall, the average cost for a suspension claim is £297, which is equivalent to 58% of an average weekly wage in the UK*.
Top 10 most expensive suspension/axle claims in the last 12 months:
Duncan McClure Fisher, MotorEasy founder, said: “Potholes can prove to be a costly problem for motorists, causing damage that can run into thousands of pounds. With the ALARM report showing that a huge number of roads are still in poor condition, this is a problem that could plague many British drivers for months to come.”
Those drivers unfortunate enough to suffer pothole damage can approach MotorEasy for a repair quote with the firm’s ‘do-it-for-me’ service doing all the legwork of finding them a local garage they can trust and even negotiating better parts and labour costs on their behalf.
Customers are also assigned a MotorEasy technician who will look after the repair process for them and can organise collection and drop-off of their vehicle to the garage.
MotorEasy offers an online suite of motoring services and products to cover all aspects of car ownership and maintenance. Customers also benefit from their own private online account area, where they can store all their vehicle documents and receive notifications for important dates, such as MOTs, services and insurance renewals.
For more information about MotorEasy’s products and services, visit www.motoreasy.com
