The Cheapest Family Cars to Maintain
FixMyCar reveals which family cars are the cheapest to maintain.
Compare car maintenance quotesEllie Dyer-Brown
Thursday November 07 2024
3 min read
Buying a new car is often an exciting experience, and it’s easy to get carried away with the idea of a particular model without considering the practicalities of owning it. So, if it’s time to upgrade the family car, FixMyCar is here to make the process as straightforward as possible by looking closer at the annual maintenance costs.
Find out which cars are the most and least affordable to maintain in this guide based on average MOT, full service, interim service and aircon regas prices.
Top ten family cars
| Top 10 | Total average cost |
|---|---|
| Renault Clio | £453.34 |
| Vauxhall Mokka | £453.88 |
| Ford Focus | £457.53 |
| Tesla Model 3 | £461.52 |
| Volkswagen Golf | £468.60 |
| Renault Captur | 470.18 |
| Kia Sportage | £476.19 |
| Nissan Qashqai | £476.39 |
| Toyota Corolla | £476.44 |
| SEAT Leon | £480.65 |
The cheapest family car to maintain
The cheapest model to maintain is the Renault Clio, a great value small car with a smart interior, a sizeable boot, and a five-star rating from WhatCar?.
Read about common problems with the Renault Clio.
| Category | Average price |
|---|---|
| Full service | £190.52 |
| Interim service | £139.14 |
| MOT | £45.32 |
| Aircon regas | £78.36 |
| Total | £453.34 |
The most expensive family car to maintain
Last on our list is the SEAT Leon, with a total annual maintenance cost of £480.65, just £27.31 more expensive than the Clio. The Leon is a great all-rounder, outperforming the VW Golf in many areas despite being less popular. It has a five-star rating from WhatCar?.
| Category | Average price |
|---|---|
| Full service | £197.08 |
| Interim service | £146.64 |
| MOT | £44.86 |
| Aircon regas | £92.07 |
| Total | £480.65 |
Data insights
The cheapest model for a full service is the Tesla Model 3 (£179.63), and the most expensive is the Kia Sportage (£205.03).
The Model 3 is also the cheapest for an interim service (£115). The most expensive model in this category is the SEAT Leon (£146.64).
For an MOT, the cheapest car is the SEAT Leon (£44.86), while the most expensive is the Tesla Model 3 (£46.47).
Finally, an aircon regas costs the most for Model 3 owners (£120.42) and the least for Vauxhall Mokka owners (£69.78).
Looking for affordable car repairs or maintenance? FixMyCar can help you find the right garage at the right price.
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Ellie is FixMyCar's Content Manager. She has over three years of experience writing about cars and regularly collaborates with automotive experts to provide trustworthy advice for drivers that is easy understand. Her work has been featured in Yahoo! Finance, iNews, The Daily Express and The Sun. She has a BA in English literature and an MA in creative writing from Durham University. Outside of work, Ellie follows F1 and eagerly awaits Ferrari's next era of dominance in the sport. She drives a Suzuki Swift.