{"id":13986,"date":"2020-05-14T17:02:12","date_gmt":"2020-05-14T23:02:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lexingtonlaw.com\/blog\/?p=13986"},"modified":"2022-05-23T21:39:56","modified_gmt":"2022-05-24T03:39:56","slug":"1-in-3-americans-have-zero-budget-for-car-repairs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lexingtonlaw.com\/blog\/news\/1-in-3-americans-have-zero-budget-for-car-repairs.html","title":{"rendered":"1 in 3 Americans Have Zero Budget for Car Repairs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Family<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n

Average car maintenance and repairs cost between $0.08 – $0.10 per mile driven, or about $1,200 per year. [Source: AAA 2019 Your Driving Costs Report]<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n\nCar maintenance and repairs happen sporadically and, if you\u2019re lucky, there are some car repairs you\u2019ll never encounter. But the fact that car maintenance isn\u2019t necessarily a monthly expense doesn\u2019t mean you should forgo setting money aside.\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, not everyone thinks this way. We surveyed 1,000 Americans to learn whether or not people budget enough to properly take care of their car.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More Than Two-Thirds Don\u2019t Save Enough for Car Repairs<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The American Automobile Association (AAA) recommends<\/a> setting aside a baseline amount of $100 per month for car expenses ($50 for unexpected repairs and $50 for routine maintenance). However, over 66 percent of respondents<\/strong> said they deposit less than or exactly $100 into their car maintenance fund.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s worse, 36 percent<\/strong> said that despite owning a car, they don\u2019t save any money per month for car maintenance or repairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Chart<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Without a dedicated car repair fund, car owners can find themselves in a dangerous position. When unexpected repairs arise, those without funds may be forced to pursue financially risky options like payday lending or vehicle title loans. With extraordinarily high interest rates that can reach well into the hundreds, these predatory loans are an easy way to wind up in a debt trap that feels impossible to escape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Graphic:<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

One in Five Will Put Off Repairing a Cracked Windshield<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In addition to our budget survey, we also asked 1,000 Americans which car maintenance tasks or repairs they would put off due to cost. We found that 21 percent would drive with a cracked windshield to avoid the cost of the repair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just over 10 percent would be willing to drive with a broken side mirror, and 10 percent also said they would put off having a check engine light inspected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Survey<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It may feel as though putting off a car repair is a cash-saving behavior, but in reality, it can turn out to be the opposite. According to CarMD\u2019s 2019 Vehicle Health Index<\/a> report, the average cost to repair a \u201ccheck engine\u201d problem was $381. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, ignoring the issue can destroy the engine, costing you up to 10 times what it would have<\/a> to simply address the initial problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similarly, a small windshield crack or chip can cost as little as $100, but if the compromised integrity of the windshield causes the crack to spread, replacing the windshield can cost a car owner several hundred dollars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Graphic:<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s easy to see why, on paper, it\u2019s smarter to pay for car maintenance up front than it is to put it off and pay for greater repairs down the line. However, when you\u2019re in the midst of dealing with debt \u2014 from loans, a mortgage, credit cards, etc. \u2014 it\u2019s much harder to figure out how to set aside an emergency fund while continuing to make payments on time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re struggling to figure out how to balance expenses with debt payments, you may benefit from the help of a credit repair consultant<\/a>, who can help you draw up a plan that takes both your current financial needs and your debt requirements into account. With an expanded assortment of financial tools, it\u2019s possible to cope with even the trickiest debt in a healthy, productive way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Methodology<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This study was conducted for Lexington Law<\/a> using Google Consumer Surveys. The sample consisted of no less than 1,000 completed responses per question. Post-stratification weighting has been applied to ensure an accurate and reliable representation of the total population. This survey was conducted in March 2020.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s easy to de-prioritize budgeting for car maintenance and repairs, but our survey shows a concerning number of Americans are unprepared for an auto emergency.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":63,"featured_media":13987,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[531],"tags":[574,575,555],"yoast_head":"\n1 in 3 Americans Have Zero Budget for Car Repairs - Lexington Law<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"We surveyed 1,000 Americans and learned that most are putting themselves at risk by not budgeting for car repairs.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.lexingtonlaw.com\/blog\/news\/1-in-3-americans-have-zero-budget-for-car-repairs.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"1 in 3 Americans Have Zero Budget for Car Repairs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We surveyed 1,000 Americans and learned that most are putting themselves at risk by not budgeting for car repairs.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.lexingtonlaw.com\/blog\/news\/1-in-3-americans-have-zero-budget-for-car-repairs.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Lexington Law\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-05-14T23:02:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-05-24T03:39:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.lexingtonlaw.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/LL-car-repairs-header-6-gettyimages-1169695989-2048x2048-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1501\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"501\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lexington Law\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lexingtonlaw.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.lexingtonlaw.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Lexington Law\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.lexingtonlaw.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lexingtonlaw.com\/blog\/news\/1-in-3-americans-have-zero-budget-for-car-repairs.html#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.lexingtonlaw.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/LL-car-repairs-header-6-gettyimages-1169695989-2048x2048-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.lexingtonlaw.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/LL-car-repairs-header-6-gettyimages-1169695989-2048x2048-1.jpg\",\"width\":1501,\"height\":501,\"caption\":\"Family getting into a car\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lexingtonlaw.com\/blog\/news\/1-in-3-americans-have-zero-budget-for-car-repairs.html#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.lexingtonlaw.com\/blog\/news\/1-in-3-americans-have-zero-budget-for-car-repairs.html\",\"name\":\"1 in 3 Americans Have Zero Budget for Car Repairs - 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