The cost of running a family car in Ireland has risen by just less than 1% in the last 12 months, according to the AA’s annual survey of motoring costs.

It now costs €11,934.40 to run a family car in the ‘Band C’ tax category*, an increase of €110.40 since 2012.

The AA’s annual assessment of the total cost of car ownership and usage has good news and bad news for Irish drivers. The cost of motor insurance increased overall by an average of 3.5% although this does not apply evenly to all Irish motorists with women seeing more severe increases than men.

“The Insurance changes are mainly a consequence of the gender directive which has been fully in place since the start of the year.” Says Consumer Affairs Director Conor Faughnan. “We predicted last year that it would mean an improvement for men but a hit for women, and it would result in an overall increase across the board. We predicted 3% and that is about how it has worked out.”

“We can’t stress enough though that this year more than ever you really should shop around. Plenty of people saw their insurance costs fall this year, including most AA customers, so take the time to put the research in before you buy.”

The AA calculates the annual cost of motoring each year using a holistic figure that includes the obvious things like fuel, insurance, servicing but also factors in a whole range of other costs. These include costs like depreciation and interest charges, replacement for components like tyres etc over the car’s life. The figure assumes a motorist that buys a new car and retains it for 8 years at an average annual mileage of 16,000 kms.  All repairs, replacements and servicing are carried out as per manufacturer’s recommendations.
While Insurance went up there was relief from a slight fall in fuel prices. Petrol costs fell from 162.9 cent per litre in July 2012 to 157.4 this year. That is quite a modest fall and fuel prices are still kept far too high by Irish taxes, but nevertheless it does add up to a substantial saving of €82.50 in a full year.**

Drivers also had to contend with a sharp increase in car tax which was increased by nearly 30% for Band C in last December’s budget. The cost of a driving licence also increased by a whopping 220% as we move to the new credit card format. While this is a huge rise proportionately it is still only €5.50 per year.

Servicing, repairs and replacements generally saw slight rises that were very slightly better than inflation at 0.4%.