Having your car repaired is becoming more and more expensive, up 7.64% in one year: where should you go to lower the bill?

A pleasant surprise for motorists in the region: it is in Occitanie that having your car repaired costs the least in France. This is one of the indications to remember from the 8th barometer of automobile repair prices published each year by idGarages.com, the leading site for comparison and online appointment booking.

Stay competitive

The first lesson still remains prices which continue to increase, after a real jump in 2023 linked to inflation. “The increase in prices initiated by inflation in 2023 continues but at a more moderate pace (+ 7.64% vs + 11.51% for the 2022/2023 evolution). Garages are striving to stabilize their prices, seeking to align with customers’ purchasing power in order to remain competitive while maintaining profitability”, notes the study.

This notes a strong impact on services with the change of “parts”: “Like braking where the front discs and pads which take 20.63% in one year, as well as the general overhaul intervention, which experiences a price increase of 13.22%“. Conversely, idGarages.com notices a slight change in the price of services with all-inclusive packages, such as air conditioning overhaul which increases by 5.75% and also a low impact on services with mainly labor. work such as engine descaling which remains on average almost the same price as in 2023 (+ 0.31%).

“This increase is particularly linked to the technological evolution of vehicles, the increasing complexity of repairs, the rise in spare parts costs, and more stringent environmental requirements. Professionals in the sector must, for their part, strive to find a balance between profitability and customer satisfaction, by continuing to evolve by innovating, and by optimizing their processes to contain costs”, analyzes Fabien Borsa, general manager of idGarages.

From one region to another

Disparities also apply from one region to another. If in recent years a trend towards homogenization of prices between regions has been confirmed, “particularly under the influence of digital which facilitates comparison between garages”the study still reveals this year a gap of 11 points between the most expensive region and the least expensive region, i.e. 5 points more than in 2023. And it is therefore Occitanie which becomes the region the least expensive (with prices 3.8% lower than the national average) while Île-de-France remains the most expensive region (7.2%) to maintain and repair your vehicle, closely followed by the Provence-Region. Alpes-Côte d’Azur (+ 3.8%) “due to high additional costs and the margins charged by mechanics”.

Obviously, within the same region, prices can also change from one garage to another. Fabien Borsa therefore warns: “More than ever, price transparency and clarity of quotes are essential to avoid unpleasant surprises.”