‘The safety tech tted to modern cars is pushing up repair costs’

How much? When I lent my car to a colleague recently, they managed to reverse it into a post.the damage looked to be minor, so it was quite a shock when I was told that it would cost more than £1400 to put right.

It turns out the car’s blindspot warning radar, located behind the rear bumper, makes any repair in that area tricky. And a What Car? investigation (from page 40) shows this sort of problem is becoming widespread; the safety technology tted to modern cars has helped to reduce accidents, but it’s also pushing up repair costs.

If manufacturers don’t address this, I can’t help thinking that in future many people will simply decide not to spec the latest safety kit for fear that a small mistake could land them with a huge bill. And then that kit will be of no use to anyone.