A new UK survey shows that motorists are becoming hugely confused about the price of servicing and repairs on cars with a wide diversity of charges ranging from just £36 an hour to £234 per hour.

The survey was conducted for car service and repair firm, motoreasy, analysing the labour rates at 6,000 garages across the UK. The average hourly rate was found to be £67 and as may be expected the average was higher in affluent southern areas such a Surrey and lower in the North of England and Scotland. 

A Manchester garage was found to be cheapest at £36 an hour, while a sportscar dealership in Reading had the highest basic rate of £234 an hour.

As expected franchised workshops generally proved more expensive, averaging £99 per hour, against £56 per hour of independents.
The survey also found that 3 out of four drivers could tell you what they paid per hour for their most recent work. A third also said they did not check the bill before paying.

It is also a sobering thought to think that the lowest UK hour rate of £36, which you might assume is for a simple oil change, is at roughly the same level as the hourly rate that Irish bodyshops are paid by insurers for complex, safety critical accident repair work.