A study combining maintenance costs and write-off rates across 20 major brands finds that some of the most trusted names in motoring offer surprisingly poor long-term value – while others consistently punch above their weight.
The price on the forecourt is rarely the most significant number in a car purchase. For drivers planning to keep a vehicle for a decade or more, annual maintenance costs and the probability of a car being written off after an accident can matter far more to the household budget than the original sticker price.
A new analysis by Ovoko, one of Europe’s largest used car parts marketplaces, examined those two factors across 20 major brands sold in the UK, combining average annual maintenance costs with each brand’s write-off likelihood to produce a Long-Term Maintenance Score. The results contain some findings that will surprise even experienced buyers.
“A lot of buyers focus on the upfront cost or monthly payments, but the real financial impact comes from how easy and affordable it is to keep your car on the road for the next decade,” said Kazimieras Urbonas, Supplier Excellence Manager at Ovoko. “Some brands are simply cheaper to maintain and less likely to end up written off after an accident – and that makes a huge difference to your wallet over time.”
The Brands That Come Out on Top
MINI achieves a perfect score of 100, combining annual maintenance costs of £425 with the lowest write-off rate in the study at 63.16 percent. The combination of manageable running costs and strong structural survivability – meaning a higher proportion of MINIs are repaired rather than scrapped following accidents – puts the British-built brand at the head of the table by a clear margin.
Hyundai follows in second place with a score of 95. The Korean manufacturer matches MINI on maintenance costs at £425 and comes close on write-off likelihood at 64.29 percent – figures that challenge the assumption that budget-friendly brands carry hidden long-term costs.
Volkswagen ranks third at 92.6, with the same £425 annual maintenance cost and a write-off rate of 64.85 percent. Urbonas attributes part of Volkswagen’s strong performance to its strategy of sharing components across multiple models in its range, which keeps parts readily available and repair costs predictable.
Toyota takes fourth place at 89.4, maintaining the same £425 maintenance cost with a write-off rate of 65.54 percent – a result consistent with its longstanding reputation for mechanical durability.
Skoda completes the top five at 86.9, benefiting from shared engineering with Volkswagen while frequently undercutting it on purchase price. Its maintenance costs and write-off rate closely mirror the rest of the top group.
Surprises in the Middle and Bottom of the Table
Mercedes-Benz produces one of the study’s more counterintuitive results. At seventh place with a score of 74.1, it carries the highest maintenance costs of any brand in the top ten at £625 per year – yet its write-off likelihood of just 39.49 percent is the lowest in the entire study. For drivers who hold onto vehicles long-term, the engineering quality that keeps Mercedes cars on the road rather than in the scrapyard partially offsets the higher servicing bill.
“Premium brands like Mercedes often use higher-quality materials and more robust construction,” Urbonas said. “They cost more to maintain, but they’re engineered to survive impacts that would write off cheaper vehicles.”
Honda is perhaps the study’s most striking anomaly. Ranked 13th with a score of just 34.8, the Japanese brand carries a write-off likelihood of 78.10 percent – one of the highest in the analysis – despite a reputation for reliability that has been central to its marketing for decades. Urbonas points to parts availability as a likely contributor. When components are difficult to source or must be ordered from abroad, insurers are more likely to declare a damaged vehicle uneconomical to repair.
BMW scores zero – the lowest in the study. Annual maintenance costs of £625, combined with a write-off likelihood of 56.51 percent, place it at the bottom of the Long-Term Maintenance Score, suggesting that its premium pricing does not translate into the kind of survivability that would justify those costs for drivers focused on long-term value.
Land Rover ranks 18th despite a write-off rate of just 43.91 percent, pulled down by the highest maintenance costs in the study at £675 per year. Jaguar and Volvo round out the lower end of the table, both carrying elevated servicing costs relative to their write-off performance.
What Drives the Differences
Urbonas identifies three factors that most reliably predict where a brand will land on a long-term value assessment of this kind.
Parts availability has an outsized influence that most buyers do not consider before purchase. Brands that share components across multiple models – Volkswagen, Skoda, and SEAT being clear examples – benefit from economies of scale that keep parts stocked, affordable, and quickly accessible. “If a part has to be ordered from abroad or is unique to a specific model, that drives up costs,” Urbonas said. “We see this with some premium brands where even minor repairs can take weeks because the parts simply aren’t stocked in the UK.”
Repair economics determine whether a damaged car is fixed or written off. Insurance companies declare a vehicle a total loss when repair costs exceed a set proportion of its value. This dynamic disproportionately affects lower-value cars – even those with modest servicing costs – because the maths of post-accident repair can quickly tip against keeping them on the road.
Design and construction philosophy shapes how much damage a car can absorb before it becomes uneconomical to repair. Brands that invest in structural robustness tend to generate lower write-off rates, even if their higher-quality materials push maintenance costs upward.
What Buyers Should Consider
Urbonas offers three practical recommendations for drivers weighing long-term value in their next purchase.
Choosing the right brand from the outset – based on data rather than reputation alone – is the most impactful single decision. “Do your research, look at the data, and think long-term,” he said.
For used car buyers specifically, checking parts availability before committing is essential. A low purchase price can quickly become a false economy if components are scarce or expensive when something breaks.
Finally, calculating the total cost of ownership over five or ten years rather than focusing on the headline price often changes the calculus significantly. “A cheaper car with high maintenance costs and poor survivability can end up costing you more over a decade than a slightly pricier model that’s easier to keep running,” Urbonas said.
