Morning discharge: batteries have become a weak point of aging cars

In 2025, Russians began to repair batteries and wiring of cars much more often, car service stations told Izvestia. Owners of older cars most often turn to the service station — the average service life of cars in Russia is rapidly increasing. Untimely repairs can lead to dangerous situations, such as failure of brakes and electronics on the move, experts warn. About what other problems car owners face and what they most often have to fix, see the Izvestia article.

A mandatory minimum for road safety

The repair of batteries and wiring of cars has become one of the most in-demand services at service stations in 2025, analysts of the international network of car service Fit Service told Izvestia.

— The proportion of older vehicles with high mileage is increasing in the Russian operational fleet. Therefore, we see a noticeable trend in the number of complex jobs: repair of aggregates, problems with wiring and other important systems," explained Tatiana Ovchinnikova, director of the network.

In the first half of 2025, the car service market in Russia is showing a significant shift towards complex and time-consuming repairs, Tamashi automotive expert Konstantin Ozhogin confirmed.

"Against the background of an aging fleet — the average age of passenger cars in the country is approaching 16 years — car owners are increasingly turning not for scheduled maintenance, but for capital intervention," he said. — The restoration of the suspension, steering, fuel system and, above all, the bodywork is in particular demand. At the same time, due to the shortage of original parts, craftsmen do not have to change, but repair damaged elements: fenders, sills, bumpers.

At the beginning of 2025, the average age of cars in personal use in Russia reached 14 years, the Autostat agency reported: the average age of a foreign car was 13 years, and a domestic car was 17 years old. As Izvestia reported in May 2025, car service stations are most often visited by people over the age of 15, the share of such cars is 36%. Cars aged 10-14 years were in second place, accounting for 33%. The share of cars that are 6-9 years old in car services is 18%.

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In 2025, air conditioning repair services began to be used 25% more often, analysts noted. The request for removal and installation of the engine has also become more frequent.

Car maintenance (maintenance) remains a popular service, that is, all types of diagnostics of car systems, explained Alexey Pavlovich, Director of production at Forsage Lubricants. The first priority is standard maintenance: oil change, filters, brake fluid and inspection of all major systems — suspension, steering.

— Skipping such procedures is fraught with not just wear and tear, but serious breakdowns — from a jammed engine to brake failure. That's why IT's not just popular, but a mandatory minimum for road safety," he said.

This service is used five times more often than, for example, for a camber (adjusting the wheels relative to the body position). Work on the fuel system is in second place.

"The steering is the third most common problem, and the fourth is the suspension, which is usually called the most problematic system in the car. In the fuel system, the air filter, manifolds and resonator are most often changed. It is precisely because of this mandatory and frequent operation that the fuel system group came in second place. Steering requires regular checking of wheel mounting angles, so this group took the third place in the rating," the car service network added.

Natalia Kustova, a member of the board of the Union of Car Services, the founder of Helikon, confirmed that the most popular services are maintenance, oil change, suspension repair, brake system, tire installation.

What are the problems with new cars?

It's not just very old cars that have problems. According to Alexey Ivanov, the owner of the Alliance Trucks commercial vehicle dealership network, interest in adapting multimedia systems, security systems, and electronics calibration has grown.

"There is a particularly strong demand for comprehensive diagnostics, including computer diagnostics, which is associated with an increase in the share of vehicles with modern control systems," he said. — Among the popular areas are body repair, polishing and local painting. This is due to both the growing number of cars involved in accidents and the owners' desire to keep their cars in good external condition.

Compared to 2024, the number of requests related to battery replacement, starter repair, control units, and system flashing has increased significantly. This is due to the active operation of relatively new cars, mainly Chinese brands, which, in conditions of intensive urban driving, begin to require scheduled and unscheduled maintenance.

Interest in electronics repair has grown dramatically this year, Alexey Pavlovich said. Modern cars are literally packed with sensors, from autopilot to adaptive cruise control.

"One failure and the car may not start, fail to recognize the key, or make an error that not everyone can 'read,'— the expert noted. — Plus, there are more requests for body repairs, especially to those who do high—quality manual painting. Automation doesn't solve everything yet: when you need to accurately hit the color or restore the geometry, you can't do without a human.

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According to him, more and more often there are situations when everything is fine with the car, but it does not drive: it does not start, does not respond to the key, does not turn on the gear — all because of a malfunction of one sensor.

In 2025, the car service market is showing steady growth, including due to an increase in the fleet of Russian and Chinese-made cars, Alexey Ivanov noted.

— Repairs have become more affordable, and the demand for service stations is consistently high. This reflects both the maturity of the domestic car market and the effectiveness of government support measures in the face of changing logistics and sanctions pressure," he said.

At the same time, it is very important to arrive at the service in advance and check the car so that you do not encounter problems on the roads later. For example, with the brakes failing or the electronics shutting down.