In 2023, a decline was recorded in the number of calls to service stations from new car owners, dipping by nine percent. This finding is reported by Izvestia and attributed to Tatyana Ovchinnikova, the director of the Fit Service network. Meanwhile, the trend among owners of older vehicles shows an uptick in service requests, indicating a shift in the maintenance needs across vehicle age groups. Across the fleet, it becomes clear that the aging portion of the market is driving more complex service activity and reshaping the workload at service facilities.
Ovchinnikova highlights that the most pronounced growth occurred among cars aged 15 years or more, where orders rose by about twenty-one percent. The next strongest growth is seen in the 10 to 14 year old category, underscoring a pattern where older vehicles are increasingly seeking professional attention for more involved work rather than routine upkeep. This shift suggests owners are facing increasing repair demands as vehicles accumulate mileage and time, prompting a higher frequency of non-standard or non-routine maintenance, parts restoration, and sometimes safety-related interventions. The expert notes that owners of such aging cars typically engage service centers not for routine maintenance but for more complex, multi-faceted repairs that go beyond standard service intervals. This dynamic has implications for how service networks allocate labor, schedule time, and stock parts to meet the evolving needs of an aging car population. The growing volume of these intricate jobs also highlights the importance of skilled technicians, diagnostic tools, and access to genuine or equivalent parts to ensure reliable outcomes and customer satisfaction.
Earlier, another automobile specialist, Alexey Ruzanov, pointed out that the most expensive brands to service tend to be American makes. He explains that servicing the most common U.S. brands—Cadillac, Ford, Chrysler, and Chevrolet—often results in an average repair bill approaching 9.9 thousand rubles at car service centers. Within this context, European and other regional brands, including Swedish, German, French, and Czech cars, cluster in the mid-range of the cost spectrum for maintenance and repairs. For instance, visits to service centers for Audi, Volkswagen, BMW, or Opel typically average around 9.3 thousand rubles per visit, reflecting a combination of parts complexity, labor time, and model-specific requirements. These figures provide a benchmark for consumers planning maintenance budgets and underscore the variability of costs across brands and vehicle ages.
On the other end of the spectrum, Japanese, Russian, and Korean vehicles are noted as offering more economical maintenance and repair options. Choosing brands such as Toyota, Lada, Kia, or Hyundai can translate into lower average repair bills, with the typical visit to a service station estimated at about 7.5 thousand rubles. This relative affordability is of particular interest to owners aiming to minimize long-term ownership costs while maintaining reliability and safety standards. The distribution of costs across brands also reflects differences in parts availability, service network density, and the frequency of non-routine repairs among higher-mileage or older cars, which can influence overall ownership expenses. In light of these patterns, consumers are encouraged to consider age, brand, and expected repair needs when budgeting for maintenance, particularly as vehicles age and the likelihood of more significant interventions rises.
There have also been discussions in the industry about fraud schemes some service centers have allegedly engaged in, a reminder that transparency and accountability remain essential in the car service sector. The evolving cost landscape, coupled with concerns about service integrity, underscores the need for clear communication between service providers and customers, with detailed estimates, transparent parts sourcing, and documented service histories helping to protect owners from unexpected charges and ensure trust in the maintenance process. As vehicle owners navigate these trends, staying informed about typical costs by brand and age group can empower more confident decision-making when selecting a service partner and evaluating whether an aging vehicle may require specialized diagnostics, part replacements, or more extensive repair work to maintain safety and reliability. Marked industry observations indicate that the market is adjusting to a growing proportion of older vehicles, prompting the service ecosystem to adapt through broader skill sets, enhanced diagnostic capabilities, and a stronger emphasis on value-driven repairs rather than routine, low-margin servicing.