To have your front end serviced, it is better to live in Brittany than in Île-de-France. This is what emerges from the latest car repair price barometer published on Tuesday by the comparator IdGarages. Between the two regions, for the same intervention, it will be necessary to pay an average of €69 in Brittany compared to €85 in Île-de-France, a difference of 23%.
The fact remains that, regardless of the territory, motorists will not save money this year. Between 2022 and 2023, the price of repairs has increased by 11.5% on average. This upward trend does not affect all repairs equally, however. “The increase mainly concerns services including a change of parts”, explains Jonathan Bloch, general manager of IdGarages. “Braking, clutch or shock absorbers suffer the biggest price increases. In the inflationary context, the equipment manufacturers, manufacturers of parts, have passed on the increase in production costs to their selling prices”, he continues. The repair of a braking system has thus gone from €279 to €329 on average in France.
Conversely, repairs involving more time than materials increase little. To limit the rise in prices, many mechanics sought to contain their labor costs, which therefore stabilized around 3.5% in the first quarter.
Inflation in the sector does not, however, go back to the last quarters. The increase in energy prices had already caused the increase in charges to rise to almost 10% in 2022. The significant differences from one garage to another are explained in particular by the adoption of different strategies from one garage to another. teach another.
These “could be implemented by focusing either on maintaining the margin or on the number of workshop entries” analyzes the manager of IdGarages. “The gap has never been so wide; but with the difference in cost comes the difference in service. A more expensive garage will more often offer split payments, delivery of the vehicle after work or better customer service.
The trend should reverse quickly, both because the peak of inflation seems to have passed, and because the period is conducive to promotions on repairs. “The third quarter promises to be much weaker in terms of price increases, in particular due to a significant reduction in inflation on the price of parts. It’s a period with a lot of promotions, especially on air conditioning, coming from garages but also pushed by brands and chains of repair workshops. All the more reason, if you are looking to save money, to compare prices before choosing a garage.
