Car owners paid out £1.6bn last year to repair their out-of-manufacturer's-warranty cars, with the average garage bill ranging from £85 to £1,623, according to Warranty Direct. The average bill paid by the firm last year stood at £379.31.

Analysis of claims paid by Warranty Direct on cars aged between 3-10 years old found the Ford Ka was the cheapest to repair, with an average £86.49 bill. At the other end of the scale, engine failures on the Subaru Impreza pushed it to an average of £1,623.

With 12.689m registered vehicles between three and 10 years old, Warranty Direct claims suggest the chances of failure run at more than a third.

Warranty Direct's top ten models over three years old in terms of average warranty repair cost were in descending order the Ford Ka, VW Polo, Volvo S/V40, Renault Clio, Mazda MX-5, Vauxhall Corsa, Vauxhall Astra, Ford Focus, Ford Mondeo, and Volvo 850. The Mazda had the fewest claims per 100 Warranty Direct policies, at 8%.

Warranty Direct's bottom ten models in descending order of average warranty repair cost were the Subaru Impreza, Jeep Cherokee, Porsche Boxster, Range Rover, Ford Scorpio, Fiat Coupe, Saab 9000, Mitsubishi Shogun, Rover 600, and Nissan Primera. Of these, the now-discountinued Ford Scorpio had the highest incidence of warranty claims, at 55% of Warranty direct policies on the vehicle.

In terms of market segment, superminis cost an average of £197, less than half the £414 faced by 4x4 owners. Lower medium models cost £221 on average, executive models £335, sports cars £328 and MPVs £325.80.