WhoCanFixMyCar.com has conducted a study off the back of research showing garages were quoting on average £45 more to women for the same job.

The comparison website for vehicle servicing and repair used their 113,000 previous users, 6,600 registered garages and 4,000 weekly tailored repair quotes to give them the data set to understand whether garages and mechanics really do increase their prices for women.

Results showed that the overall average female quote was actually over 10% lower.

Across 64,000 data points, encompassing everything from an oil change to more complex work such as clutch replacement and even full resprays, the average quote to women was £208, compared to £233 for men - something which immediately calls the earlier research into question. Here are the relative prices, broken down in full.

When you take into account the different makes and models men and women drive, the prices are just 1.3% apart (i.e., as good as identical.)

The two most common vehicles, the Ford Focus and Vauxhall Astra, are almost equally popular between men and women seeking servicing and repair. Superminis are 1.5x - 2x more popular amongst women, with MINIs and Ford KAs 2x and 3x more likely to be submitted by a female driver, respectively. Meanwhile, saloons such as the 3 Series, Mondeo, Vectra and Passat are around 2x more likely to be driven by men, according to WhoCanFixMyCar.com data.

Jaguars and Volvos appear to be the most male-biased marques of all.

While it’s safe to say that pricing is approached without bias, WhoCanFixMyCar.com did unearth two pieces of data that suggest that the UK’s car maintenance industry isn’t viewed equally by men and women.

Over 70% of WhoCanFixMyCar.com users are male and women shy away from certain, more ‘involved’ repair categories, as shown here:

The company said the UK’s car maintenance industry can do without coverage suggesting that garage owners and managers jack up prices for female customers, and it’s pleased to see that this myth can now be safely dismissed, with its research coming from a 64,000-point data set.

However, it said, it appears that service and repair outlets could still do better at attracting ‘direct’ female business, above all when the issue is seen as particularly complex.