Halfords’s boss has warned that soaring living costs are putting road users at risk.
Chief of the motoring and cycling retailer, Graham Stapleton, said that the UK has the oldest car fleet in its history and hard-pressed owners are keeping vehicles going that risk safety.
On average, cars across the UK are 8.7 years old, more than a year older than a decade ago.
The average scrappage age of a car is 13 years – and there are 8.4m, or almost a quarter of all cars, running past that age.
The average age of cars in country could top ten years before the cost of living crisis eases, according to Stapleton.
Meanwhile, Halfords reported that revenues grew by 9.2 per cent in the 20 weeks to August 19, compared with the same period last year.
However, Halfords claimed that the pandemic-fuelled bike boom had fallen victim to the cost of living crisis.
The vehicle service and repairs store said that the market for new bikes had been hit by customers having less money to spend.
2 thoughts on “Old cars are putting road users at risk, warns Halfords”
What a total load of cobblers. Strikes me this is more like some sort of public attention seeking than anything else.
Cars are being kept for longer. They are well built and reliable. Why not? I run two old cars, one 2003 and one 1990 and they are both properly maintained and kept up to scratch. My new car, a 2016 vehicle, is also kept up to scratch.
The problem lies with soaring costs across the board, only some of which have actually arrived. As essentials such as food and heat take an ever greater slice of money, so other spending goes by the board, such as maintenance. This is not good but an inevitable consequence of inflation.