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States Ranked by Vehicle Repair Costs

CarMD has published its annual state-by-state ranking of repair bills that follow a check-engine light. Read our report to find out the states at the top and bottom of the list.

by Staff
June 17, 2015
States Ranked by Vehicle Repair Costs

Photo courtesy of CarMD. 

1 min to read


Photo courtesy of CarMD. 

Drivers in the District of Columbia pay the highest price ($467.11) when their check engine light turns on, while vehicle owners in Wyoming pay the least ($308.76),  according to CarMD's Vehicle Health Index.

The cloud-based solutions provider analyzed parts and labor data from 98,051 vehicles from the model years 1996 to 2014 that needed repairs in 2014.

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Other states with the most expensive average repair bill include Delaware ($451.03), New Jersey ($447.19), California ($437.97), and Connecticut ($436.98).

After Wyoming, the most affordable states for car repairs were Montana ($333.13), Nebraska ($340.36), Michigan ($353.81) and Vermont ($356.22).

CarMD publishes its annual state-by-state ranking as part of its Vehicle Health Index to bring awareness to the industry and consumers about the importance of check-engine-light health to minimize total cost of ownership.

The index includes 50 U.S. states and the District of Colombia. The repairs are related to a vehicle’s on-board diagnostic (OBD2) system, which is standard on vehicles manufactured since 1996. CarMD does not report on problems that are outside the scope of a vehicle’s OBD2 computer monitoring such as tires or mechanical parts such as belts and hoses.

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