More than the postcard of the Levantine coast, one of the recurring images this summer has been that of a damaged vehicle on the side of the road, waiting for the tow truck to arrive under the inclement summer sun.
According to the DGT, in July and August there were 93.4 million long-distance journeys —45.3 and 48.1 million, respectively—, an increase of 2.4% compared to the same period in 2019, the last year that was not affected by mobility restrictions. Given that in the summer of 2022 the price of fuel had doubled compared to 2021, flying by plane had become almost prohibitive. This, after two years of limitations, triggered resident tourism and sent the Spanish to the highways.
Unfortunately, 2022 has also been the summer with the highest number of breakdowns, with an increase in roadside assistance of 11%, which constitutes
the highest figure in the last five years according to the insurer
Axa. The main cause has been problems with the tyres, which have increased their incidents by 26% compared to 2019. With regard to blowouts, one of the most dramatic and dangerous situations —especially when the car is loaded, as is usually the case. occur on vacation—have doubled, 97% more than three years ago.
If you haven’t had an accident, a blowout is, in a modern car, a disabling breakdown. A decade ago, if you had a flat tire, you could be back on the road in half an hour. Today, it is a must-see in the workshop, since spare wheels are no longer included in modern vehicles. This is due to the need for manufacturers to reduce the weight of their vehicles to comply with increasingly aggressive emissions regulations.
“And if this happens on a Saturday, it can take away four days of vacation,” he says.
Anthony Rubio, manager of Grúas del Sur, which operates in Malaga, one of the provinces with the most traffic this summer. “Workshops have fewer and fewer tires in their inventory and have to order them from a warehouse. Meanwhile, the insurers have to give you accommodation, but good luck finding a hotel in Malaga in August…»
This in the event that it is only a breakdown and not a fatal accident. 2022 has also ended the worst summer in the last three years, with 225 people who lost their lives on the roads.
an aged park
According to the corporate director of Ganvam —the Spanish association that includes distributors and workshops—,
Jaime Barea, “the older the car, the less it visits the workshop. When the vehicle is 10 years old, the visits are reduced by half, and when it is more than 15, it is done once every two years. So far this year, 1.2 million used vehicles have been sold.
Of these, 459,589 were over 15 years old, and 277,954, between 10 and 15. Regarding the oldest, it is an increase of 9.4%, accentuated by two factors: the lack of inventory in dealers, caused by the shortage of semiconductors; and the loss of purchasing power by the Spanish population, which leads the buyer to the cheapest models, even if they have hidden costs.
According to the European Association of Manufacturers (ACEA), the Spanish mobile fleet was 13.1 years old in 2020, 2.3 more than the continental average. Anfac, the Spanish association, offers more up-to-date data, with an average of 13.8 years.
This places our country in twelfth positionalthough if the size of the park is taken into account, it is heading the ‘top 5’, with more years than Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom or France.
The age of a car fleet is inversely proportional to
the per capita income of your country. In Luxembourg, whose cars are on average 6.7 years old, GDP per capita is $115,873 per year. In Lithuania, where the park is 17 years old, the annual rent is $19,997.
When rents are low, car maintenance is no longer a priority. The General Directorate of Traffic, common sense and all the garage, roadside assistance and insurance associations insist on checking the vehicle before going on vacation, but not everyone can afford a cost of 500 euros, often unforeseen, when summer starts. At best, check tire pressure and oil level before heading to the beach…
Attendance at the ITV has also suffered. According to AECA data, absenteeism in exam centers is around 40%, 13 points above those registered in 2019.
The heat, an enemy
To the lack of mechanical habit is added one of the greatest risk factors for rubber and rubber elements of vehicles: heat.
Heat is dangerous for vehicles since it increases rubber wear — wheels deteriorate 25% faster in summer — and affects the O-rings, which are responsible for keeping fluids inside their ducts. According to
Tony Milla, manager of Asistencia Torrejón Milla 365, “of the 1,412 operations carried out between July and August, the vast majority were overheating caused by having low coolant.” The directive affirms that the workshops have been full this summer, with capacity problems.
“These are breakdowns that are nonsense,” he says.
Pepe Robaynapresident of the
Canarian workshops association. “A rubber grommet costs nothing, but it can prevent a much more complicated problem.” The veteran mechanic also points out the influence of temperature on the filters, another element of frequent failure: hot air contains less oxygen, so it produces a dirtier combustion than normal. This fills the EGR valves with soot and can eventually clog the injectors, causing power losses and increased fuel consumption.
“A large part of the fault has been having the cars stopped for two years,” says Robayna. “The tires have deformed and the fluid levels have dropped. The ideal is to fill it all in every two years, but few people know when was the last time they did it », he says.
Cranes essential
“Of all the vehicles that are present in any incident on the road,
cranes are the only ones that always act«, declares Antonio Rubio. However, it is a sector that seems doomed to concentration in large groups that can meet its two main costs: that of qualified personnel available 24 hours a day —»they have to be well paid or they go to competitors«— and the of diesel, doubled compared to last year.
Insurers insist on digitizing their services to provide more and more immediacy for their clients, with services such as geolocation or mobile applications that speed up processing. However, this translates into additional pressure for assistance companies: if they take more than 30 minutes to provide service on the breakdown, their billing is penalized. In addition, depending on the distance, your kilometer bonus is progressively reduced. “It is as if they thought that after 100 kilometres, the cranes would consume less diesel”, they lament.
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