The credit crunch has lead to more than half (53%) of UK motorists attempting to carry out vehicle repairs themselves in order to save costs, according to AutoTrader.co.uk, the UK’s largest motoring website.

Repairs
The AutoTrader.co.uk survey, conducted amongst more than 2,000 motorists nationwide, shows that a massive 70% of motorists will try to replace brake pads/discs, with a further 70% confident to repair broken brake lights/headlamps and 55% willing to attempt to repair faulty electric windows, suspension problems and missing/broken seatbelts.

Alarmingly, 30% of motorists will attempt to repair gearbox damage, leading to potentially dangerous or failing gearboxes if the repairs are carried out to a low standard.

The new research from AutoTrader.co.uk shows that nearly half (45%) of the UK motorists have some form of repair that needs doing to their vehicle and of these, 20% are ‘quite major’ and 5% are ‘very major’.

MOTs /Insurance
To help avoid being hit with a repair bill of their vehicles, 10% of motorists are delaying putting their car through an MOT until after its due date and a further 7% are delaying getting road tax to try and save money. An additional 7% of motorists have also downgraded their insurance policies from fully comprehensive to third party in order to reduce the cost of motoring.

Matt Thompson, Marketing Director of AutoTrader.co.uk, comments: “It is shocking that over half of the UK’s motorists are attempting to repair their vehicles themselves and risking the safety of the vehicles. These cars could become unsafe and unroadworthy and could certainly end up costing the motorist more money in the longer term.

“A qualified mechanic has spent years learning their skill and how to carry out repair work to a high safety standard – this just simply cannot be matched by a motorist attempting to save costs by doing the job themselves and could lead to all sorts of problems – both financial implications and safety issues.”

Emma Holyer, Spokesperson for Britannia Rescue said: “We are increasingly being called out by people who have broken down because they have tried to repair their car themselves. We’d advise people to stick to the knowledge level they are comfortable with and not try to attempt jobs they aren’t sure about – particularly jobs like replacing worn out brake pads or suspension problems, as these will heavily impact on the safety of the vehicle. Many modern car engines have complex electronics meaning that if you do fix a job incorrectly the whole car won’t work so you may end up with an unusable vehicle that will cost a lot more to repair than the cost of the original problem.”

Nationwide Autocentres
AutoTrader.co.uk is currently running promotions with Nationwide Autocentres that include a half price MOT, as part of Auto Trader’s Cut Car Costs campaign, which aims to help every motorist save up to £500 on the cost of motoring.

MOT Offer
With this offer, an MOT costs from just £27 at Nationwide Autocentres, which is the only chain of AA-approved garages with more than 200 MOT centers across the UK. Nationwide Autocentres offers 12 months or 12,000 miles guarantee on all work, with more ATA-trained mechanics than anywhere else and a price promise that they won’t be beaten on costs.

All motorists need to do to claim their money off is go to AutoTrader.co.uk and print off the voucher and book the deal!

AutoTrader.co.uk’s new Cut Car Costs campaign is a free of charge service that aims to help every motorist save up to £500 on the annual cost of motoring. The campaign features money-saving tips, advice and exclusive discounts to ensure that all the information motorists’ need on cutting their costs can be found quickly and easily.

AutoTrader.co.uk is the world of cars made easy – from new and used cars to insurance and finance, along with advice and solutions to help reduce the cost of motoring.

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Notes to Editor:

• AutoTrader.co.uk is the UK’s no 1 motoring website, with over 10.3 million monthly unique users, who carry out over 106 million searches on new and used vehicles*. The brand is building a competitive position across all effective channels including online, mobile and magazine. (*Source: Auto Trader Audit, January 2009).

• AutoTrader.co.uk is owned by Trader Media Group, one of Europe’s largest specialist multi-media groups and provider of market leading websites and their associated magazines, including Top Marques, Bike Trader, Truck & Plant Trader, Ad Trader, Motorhome and Caravan Trader, Farmers Trader – all with the largest reach in their sectors, through web visitors and magazine readership.

• Trader Media Group operates in the UK, Ireland, Italy and South Africa. The Group is looking to expand on its winning formula: giving trade customers the opportunity to choose all effective channels to market; building the service and relationship with dealers and manufacturers; and strengthening its portfolio of automotive and specialist classified titles.

• Trader Media Group is jointly owned by Guardian Media Group and Apax Partners

For further information, please contact:

Caroline Burnell
The Drum Consultancy
18, Soho Square
London W1D 3QL

Tel: 020 7025 8044
Fax: 020 7025 8100
Mob: 07920 140663
www.thedrumconsultancy.co.uk