Average fleet parts prices have risen by more than a third (35%) in four years, new data from Epyx shows.
Analysis based on a basket of common parts, including front discs and pads, wiper blades, clutch, pollen filter, headlamp bulbs and spark plugs, reveals the total cost has risen from £713 in 2020 to £963 in 2024.
The biggest increases were for headlamp bulbs (up by over 45%), clutch (up by over 40%), spark plugs and pollen filters (up by over a third).
The data is taken from Epyx’s 1link Service Network, used by fleets totalling more than four million cars, vans and trucks to manage their service, maintenance and repair processes.
The figures support existing fleet findings that parts production has been hit, including from the pandemic as well as the war in Ukraine, with a marked impact on prices.
Tim Meadows, CCO, Epyx, said: “This data shows exactly how much. While the overall rate of UK inflation since 2020 has been around 22%, fleets have seen the prices of these parts rise by an additional 13%. These are dramatic increases that have had a definite impact on overall running costs.”
The problem has been compounded by many fleets now running vehicles for longer, in response to the pandemic and also new vehicle shortages, resulting in many operators needing to buy more parts as a result.
“For example, looking at our basket, few fleets would have needed clutches when operating on a three-year replacement cycle but for those that are keeping cars until four or five years old, the incidence of clutch issues is unavoidably higher. Just at the point when they’ve needed to spend more on parts, fleets have had to pay more,” Meadows added.
A potential brighter point, he continued, was that the rate of price rises appeared to be slowing, with the increase for 2024 over 2023 currently running at over 6%, compared to 11% for 2023 over 2022 and for 2022 over 2021.
“We have seen overall UK inflation begin to fall quite dramatically in recent months, and there have also been corresponding reductions seen for our parts basket. While prices are still rising, we are hopefully starting to see increases become more manageable.”
The BVRLA warned in mid-2023 that fleets were being hit by a lack of parts and increasing SMR (service maintenance and repair) costs and delays. Some 92% of respondents to its half-year Industry Outlook Survey reported an increase in vehicle downtime, compounded by an upsurge in labour costs (reported by 94% of respondents) and an aging fleet requiring more maintenance.
