Consumer Reports: Drivers Increasing Safety Risk by Delaying Automotive Maintenance

Cash-strapped consumers are delaying automotive maintenance at the potential cost of their safety. Forty percent of respondents to a recent Consumer Reports poll who are involved in repair decisions stated they are postponing car maintenance or repairs on their primary vehicle.

This delay in servicing items such as brakes, tires, light bulbs or other internal mechanical parts has consumers running the risk of larger, more costly problems down the road, according to the organization. 

Forty-four percent of those who deferred work in the past year also admitted that they felt the value, safety or reliability of the vehicle would suffer, with some saying the car was becoming an embarrassment. The failure to have small problems promptly repaired or regular maintenance performed on schedule can lead to larger, more costly problems down the road.

Those in lower-income households were more likely to delay necessary work, and the youngest drivers, aged 18 to 34 years, were more likely to delay work on wear items, such as brake pads or tires. Twenty-one percent of this age group admitted to not attending to a wear item in a timely fashion, compared to 14 percent of those aged 55 or over.

Compounding the issue is the fact that, with the economy being so poor, drivers found themselves holding onto their vehicles longer. Many of the respondents bought their cars used, and have owned them for five years with the intent to hold on to that vehicle for another five. Survey results showed that older drivers, residents of western states and lower-income owners go the longest before replacing their vehicles.

“The family car is the second largest purchase a consumer can make. It's also often one of the most abused,” said Jeff Bartlett, deputy online automotive editor for Consumer Reports. “We expect our car to work even in the harshest conditions. So protecting that investment should be a priority, especially when it becomes a safety issue.”

On average, owners have 78,000 miles on their current vehicle, meaning many are quickly approaching major maintenance milestones that shouldn’t be ignored.

Among those surveyed, the types of non-warranty work most commonly postponed were led by minor manufacturer-recommended scheduled service (22 percent); wear items (17 percent); and body or other exterior damage (15 percent). Interviewees stated that a major repair bill, costing an average of about $2,000, would become a serious financial burden. Lower-income households ($1,418 average), women ($1,601) and younger adults ($1,749) were shown to be most vulnerable.

This means that a major repair bill could be 2.4 times the size of what respondents actually spent on maintenance and repairs over the past year before it would become a serious financial burden across the demographic groups.

The study also showed that car owners put more faith in independent auto service facilities than they do in dealerships or chain facilities. According to the survey, independent repair shops were used more often (37 percent) than dealers (30 percent) or repair chains (11 percent).