DIY servicing beats garage rip-offs

Rip-off garages are driving more motorists to do their own car servicing, according to a new survey.

As many as 70 per cent of drivers are happy to carry out car maintenance, the RAC poll showed. A total of 23 per cent of the 2,000 drivers surveyed believed that 
garages knowingly went out of their way to get the better of
unsuspecting motorists.

The most common task under­taken at home was checking and topping up oil, which more than half of drivers were happy to do themselves.

However, more complex tasks, such as changing a wheel (31 per cent) and switching the battery (27 per cent), had also been attempted. Fewer people had attempted more complex tasks, such as modifying fan-belt tension (12 per cent).

Those who had conducted their own vehicle maintenance estimated they had saved an
average of £151 in the past year.