Running a car is an expensive part of life, but fresh figures indicate that it could be becoming cheaper. The news could endanger the government drive to make public transport cheaper.

The news was revealed as part of the annual ‘cost of motoring index’ conducted by the RAC. The daily expense of running a car, including fuel costs and vehicle maintenance, has returned to 2005 levels. The cost of car maintenance appears to have fallen by £273, and fuel consumption costs have slipped by 10 per cent. Petrol prices are lower than last year also, by around 0.24 per cent for petrol.

Lower costs of running a car don’t make motoring cheap. The average cost of keeping a family car on the road remains at £5,672. The study considered purchase price, depreciation, insurance, fuel, servicing, breakdown cover and VAT.

The technical director of the RAC, David Bizley, reportedly commented: It's good news that the day-to-day costs of motoring are in decline, which will help to relieve some of the burden of running a car. However, with both bus and train fares continuing to rise, and with growing congestion making journey times unreliable on our roads, the fall in car running costs is unlikely to help government in its attempts to persuade motorists to make greater use of public transport. If motorists continue to be wedded to their cars, then financial incentives are going to be needed to encourage the uptake of greener vehicles.