What a used car really costs to keep on the road, which cars hold their value, and where you stand when a garage bills you for work that didn't fix it.
The cost of running a car arrives at different speeds, and the biggest one never sends a bill.
Fuel and insurance you feel monthly. Servicing arrives a few times a year. Depreciation takes the largest share of all and shows up only when you sell. Running costs of a used car puts real numbers against all of it, and depreciation explained covers which cars hold their value and why.
Maintenance is where a used car is won or lost. Common faults by age sets out what tends to break and roughly when, which is useful both for budgeting and for deciding how old a car to buy. What a full service history really means matters more than the phrase suggests. Plenty of cars advertised with one have gaps in exactly the wrong places.
Fuel grade is a smaller worry, and an easy one to settle. Is my car compatible with E10 petrol? covers the official checker, the ordinary early-2000s cars that get caught out, and what to do if you have already filled up.
Fuel tax is the quietest line of the lot. The 2026 fuel duty rise explains why September's increase never happened, and what the rate is now. It also works out what the next step actually costs you.
Cover is the other half. Used car warranties explains the types, what they routinely exclude, and when one is worth buying at all. Wear items are the usual exclusion, and they're also the usual failure.
Two more guides deal with the paperwork and the arguments. Keeping your V5C updated covers the changes DVLA needs to hear about. When a mechanic didn't fix your car covers where you stand on a bill for work that didn't work, including the lien that lets a garage keep your car.
Signs a garage is overcharging you is the one to read first. It covers the quote, the estimate and the invoice, before any money changes hands.
Paying for the car itself is a separate question. HP vs PCP sets out how the two agreements differ, and what the balloon payment does to your right to walk away. Is 0% finance worth it? answers the other half: a rate of zero is applied to a price, and the price is the part worth checking. Car finance commission claims explains whether you could be owed money while the FCA scheme is paused.
Servicing raises two questions. How much should a car service cost? covers the price. Do you have to use a main dealer to keep the warranty? sets out what the competition rules protect. It is less than the usual headline suggests, and there are places a manufacturer can still say no.
Had car finance between 2007 and 2024? You may be owed money, but lenders don't have to pay anyone yet. The payout part of the scheme is on hold during a legal challenge. You can still complain to your lender today, for free.
10 minPCP is hire purchase with one change. A big payment waits at the end, and paying it is your choice. That is why the monthly cost is lower. It's also why the car may not end up yours.
8 minExpect £170 to £300 for a full service on a small or medium car, on the RAC's own bands. Which? found dealer customers spend about £100 a year more than people who use an independent garage.
9 minInterest-free sounds like the end of the argument. It isn't. The rate is applied to a price, and the price is the part worth checking.
7 minWhat actually goes wrong once a car passes eight or ten years old? No official table answers that. Some competitors present their own workings as DVSA data. This guide is built from what is actually published: MOT failure records, a reliability survey, and the wear items that do go by age.
6 minGot a repair bill in front of you and no idea whether it's fair? The size of the number isn't the test. What matters is whether the price was agreed in writing before the work started, and whether the invoice shows what you paid for.
7 minIgnore the '40% in the first year' figures quoted all over the web, because nobody publishes a reliable number for that. What you can pin down is why some cars drop like a stone and others barely move.
9 minRunning an ordinary used car costs anywhere from about £2,500 a year to £5,000 and up. Which end you land on comes down to insurance, fuel, tax, servicing and how fast it loses value.
13 minCars built since 2011 all take E10. If yours is older it comes down to the make, and the official checker won't even ask for your number plate.
7 minFuel duty was set to go up on 1 September 2026. That rise was cancelled in May. The rate stays at 52.95p a litre until the new year, and the next step lands on 1 January 2027.
7 minNo, you don't. An independent garage can service your car. The manufacturer's warranty stays intact. But the conditions are real, and there are four times the answer changes.
10 minA full service history means every service the maker's schedule asked for actually happened. On time, with paperwork to prove it. It doesn't have to be a main dealer. No government database will confirm any of it. So a seller's word needs checking.
7 minThe V5C records who the DVLA holds as the registered keeper of a car. Get that wrong and letters go to the wrong house: tax reminders, penalty notices, the lot. Updating it is free and takes a few minutes.
4 minYour car came back from the garage with the same fault still there. You aren't stuck paying up and shrugging, and you can't simply refuse the bill either. The Consumer Rights Act 2015 sets out what you can demand, and in what order.
10 minBuy from a dealer and the law already gives you free cover, before anyone sells you anything. A paid warranty sits on top of that, and only some of them are worth the money.
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