Rising repair costs affect thousands of car loan customers

Thousands of car loan customers as well as other motorists could be facing huge repair bills after their warranties expire.

Tesco Personal Finance has estimated that as many as 400,000 motorists could be faced with crippling repair bills just to keep their cars running after their warranties expire.

Combined with rising fuel prices, increased car tax and the other economic constraints of the credit crunch, this could have a dramatic effect on drivers' pockets.

The most common faults in need of repair are alternator and central door locking failures. Over the next year, car loan customers and other motorists could end up spending about £45 million on such everyday repairs.

An up to date car warranty plan is essential, especially if your car insurance excludes certain repairs.

Leeds motorist Tim Downs was left £1,000 out of pocket after his car suffered an engine sensor malfunction: "I bought a Honda because of their reputation for reliability, so when the warranty expired around six months ago, I didn't feel the need to renew as I was confident there wouldn't be any problems.

"Recently, there was a fault with the engine which resulted in me having to pay out a large amount of money in labour and repair costs. This could easily have been saved if only I'd taken out a warranty."