Enrique Álvarez, a veteran mechanic at Talleres Piba in Daimiel, Ciudad Real, recently faced a familiar problem: a customer needed an airbag repair. Álvarez had to be blunt: “En cinco años nadie va a poder mantener un coche financieramente hablando.” The figures support his point: a part that once cost 80 euros now sells for 480 euros because manufacturers require buyers to replace the whole module instead of a single piece.
This is happening across Spain, where families are watching repair and maintenance bills climb, putting pressure on household budgets. The Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE) is often cited as confirming the trend, but its latest official releases do not include the exact July 2026 figures cited in the press: a 4% year-on-year jump and a 2.9% rise from January to July. El Imparcial and Mundo Deportivo have reported those figures. Motor16 puts the average annual cost of maintaining a car in Spain at around 600 euros; oil and filter changes typically cost 70-120 euros, while a set of four tires ranges from 200 to 600 euros.
Álvarez sees a bigger shift. The basic burden comes after purchase: new cars often top 40,000 euros, then a steady stream of repairs follows. “¿Cómo vas a tener coche si te compras uno nuevo, te gastas más de 40.000 euros y a los cinco años tienes que empezar a echarle averías de 500 euros?” he asks. For many families, car ownership could soon be out of reach.
Quality issues add to the problem. Álvarez says he finds bolts that deform under normal torque, which he sees as a sign of lower material standards. Claims of a 300% drop in part durability or a widespread decline in bolt quality, but, remain unconfirmed by manufacturers or official tests.
Repair practices are changing fast. When individual parts are unavailable, customers have to pay for whole modules, making even small fixes much more expensive. Álvarez says this is happening more often and changing how Spanish workshops work. Asegurazo.es reports that repair shops must provide a detailed invoice for all work, and that completed repairs carry a minimum warranty of three months or 2,000 kilometers. The site notes that this information is based on commercial interpretations, not direct publications from regulatory authorities.
For many, car ownership is starting to resemble Spain in the 1960s, when only the wealthy drove. Álvarez warns that if manufacturers do not change course, Spanish streets could soon look the same.
Digital tools and new technology are already changing how people in Spain shop for cars, as reported earlier. Online research, but, cannot protect families from rising repair costs once a car is in their driveway.
Unless manufacturers and policymakers tackle the rising costs of repairs and parts, private cars could become a luxury, leaving most Spanish families unable to afford to keep one on the road.
