VW vs Audi vs Seat vs Skoda: Which Costs the Most to Maintain?
FixMyCar compares the average maintenance costs of four popular car manufacturers.
Book a car repair nowEllie Dyer-Brown
Monday August 11 2025
2 min read
Audi, Volkswagen, SEAT and Skoda are four popular manufacturers that produce many of the cars we see every day on our roads. Vehicles made by the two German brands are generally more expensive to buy than their Spanish and Czech counterparts - but how do they compare for maintenance costs? Find out in this guide.
Annual maintenance costs
As you can see from the table below, Skoda is the cheapest manufacturer for maintenance overall, with a total average cost of £478.64. That's just £7.64 less than Audi, the most expensive manufacturer.
| Category | Audi | SEAT | Skoda | Volkswagen |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aircon regas | £80.22 | £91.73 | £88.02 | £85.06 |
| Full service | £209.57 | £202.16 | £202.64 | £205.44 |
| Interim service | £149.82 | £143 | £141.02 | £144.72 |
| MOT | £46.67 | £46.36 | £46.96 | £47.33 |
| TOTAL | £486.28 | £483.25 | £478.64 | £482.55 |
Data insights
The cheapest make for a full service is SEAT; the most expensive is Audi.
Skoda is the cheapest for an interim service; the most expensive make is, once again, Audi.
A Volkswagen MOT will cost you the most, while a SEAT MOT is, on average, the cheapest.
In the aircon regas category, Audi is the cheapest, while the most expensive manufacturer is SEAT.
Model maintenance costs
Next, let's take a look at the maintenance costs of specific hatchback models.
| Category | Audi A3 | VW Golf | SEAT Ibiza | Skoda Octavia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aircon regas | £79.71 | £83.66 | £85.82 | £83.91 |
| Full service | £204.79 | £205.30 | £198.48 | £207 |
| Interim service | £148.04 | £145.87 | £149.64 | £145.90 |
| MOT | £46.94 | £47.96 | £46.06 | £46.91 |
| Total | £479.48 | £482.79 | £471 | £483.72 |
The cheapest model overall is the SEAT Ibiza, and the Octavia is the most expensive.
For more information about these models, check out our common problems blogs:
How we worked it out
All prices in this guide are averages based on quotes from the FixMyCar over the past 12 months. To work out which manufacturer was the cheapest to maintain, we compared their prices in four categories to come up with a total annual maintenance cost:
Looking for affordable car repairs or maintenance? Whatever you need, FixMyCar can help you find the right garage at the right price.
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- Related topics:
- Audi
- Cost
- Seat
- Skoda
- Volkswagen
