Does Where You Live Affect Your Car Costs?

Car ownership is by no means a necessity for every household in the country, but it certainly becomes a necessity for many of them. Whether a household with several children and a generation’s worth of school runs to look forward to, or a professional household with commute-heavy jobs to attend, having a car can be utterly essential for keeping up with life. And it can be expensive.

All of us experienced the cost-of-living crisis at its worst, and the impacts of high inflation two years ago continue to impact us today, between heightened mortgage rates and increased grocery costs. Naturally, it’s become more important for us to scrutinise the way our finances pan out, car costs included – but there are some aspects that we don’t consider, such as place. Geography can have a huge impact on how much running a vehicle can cost, but how?

We’ll start with one of the more immediately impactful costs related to running a vehicle: insurance. Insurance is a legal requirement, but also a cost that can fluctuate greatly with respect to vehicle type and personal demographics. As well as factors like age and driving history, insurers will also take geography into account.

Generally speaking, urban areas will pose more risks than rural areas, with increased likelihood of both theft and car accidents in built-up regions. But insurers will also look at specific areas according to a number of factors – London, for example, being an affluent city as well as one with difficult roads to navigate, will naturally see insurance premiums skewed high.

Another obvious vehicle cost is that of fuel. Though electric vehicles have become incredibly popular in recent years, the roads are nonetheless dominated by petrol- or diesel-fuelled cars. Petrol and diesel prices are constantly fluctuating on a national level, with thanks to an ever-shifting supply dynamic internationally; on the domestic level, the logistics of transporting fuel to different areas can induce differences in cost. Rural areas face disproportionately more expensive fuel costs, on account of these logistical issues.

Maintenance is often the cost that can sneak up on households, where unexpected issues or annual check-ups don’t often get accounted for in monthly budgets. Place can have a similar impact on certain repair tasks, too – but not all. When it comes to replacing your tyres, and as long as you’re buying from a reputable source, buying tyres in Reading shouldn’t cost any more or less than buying tyres somewhere else. The regional differences tend to come more from labour costs, where different areas experience wage inflation differently.

Finally, we come to congestion charges. More and more of these are being introduced in cities across the country, effectively taxing the emissions efficiency of vehicles owned by households. Regionally, this effectively makes travelling through certain cities more expensive for drivers than travelling through other cities – but this increased cost is more of an incentive than anything, to inspire more thoughtful decision-making in buying your next car.