Owners of prestige and performance cars face big bills

Owners of performance and prestige cars fork out twice as much to repair their cars as drivers of more regular runabouts.

That's the word from automotive specialist Warranty Direct. Their latest survey finds that not only do prestige and performance cars cost more to buy and run, but repairing them is also a costly practice.

The firm has found owners of pricy cars can be faced with bills of up to £13,000.

That's the price one unlucky driver had to pay to repair his smart Range Rover Vogue. Faulty injectors and a turbo unit were to blame, landing the owner with a £12,998.46 bill for the engine to be stripped, then replaced and a new turbo was needed.

In another case, a BMW owner faced a fill of £10,170.40 to replace the cylinder block in his 740i Sport, while an engine failure landed an Audi quattro TDI driver with a cost of £9,016.45.

Warranty Direct found the average cost of a breakdown across its 50,000 live policies is £325.25, but a study of the claims paid in the last 12 months on prestige vehicles reveals an average bill of nearly £635.

The survey follows Warranty Direct's discovery last month that garage rates have reached record levels, with franchised and non-franchised workshops charging an average of £83 and a high of £201.60 per hour.

Warranty Direct managing director, Duncan McClure Fisher, said: "Owners of luxury or sports cars are, by definition, able to afford something a bit less ordinary than the everyday runabouts.

"But, in reality, who can really afford bills that run into several thousands to repair their car?

"Parts for prestige models will always cost more than those for regular vehicles but you still have to account for labour, which is often also more expensive if you are using a prestige manufacturer dealership."