The corona virus appears to prevent relatively few people from taking the car to the garage. This is evident from research carried out by Bovag. Still, there is a part that now completely misses maintenance and sometimes does not come back to it later.
Perhaps it raises some doubts if car maintenance is planned, while we are urged to avoid contact with others as much as possible. Nevertheless, it appears that 74 percent of car owners just take the car to the garage at the planned time. According to Bovag, that is also fine, because garage companies generally take measures to limit contact or even come to collect the car. In addition, mechanics often use gloves and covers over contact points such as the steering wheel and the gear lever.
There is also a part of the car owners that postpone maintenance for a while, but intend to have it carried out at a later date. Eight percent indicate that they are leaving maintenance completely for what it is and will not come back to it in six months or at all. Bovag warns that the condition of cars will deteriorate even if there is little driving now. “That eight percent represents almost 700,000 vehicles throughout the Netherlands. Many cars are now of course largely stationary, but standing still also means deterioration. I understand that maintenance and repair can be a high cost and that many people are worried about their personal finances, but if you go on the road with an unsafe car, we will all be much further from home, “warns Bovag CEO Han ten Broeke.
Bovag says he is also working on an ‘overarching protocol’ for the mobility sector to properly implement the corona measures. That should prevent ambiguities. The protocol will be submitted to the Ministry of Economic Affairs upon completion.