Online UK car repair marketplace, ClickMechanic, said its survey showed a motorist spends an average of 14,000 hours behind the wheel and caring for their cars over the 63 years of their driving life.

The survey said that motorists will also spend 25 days at the service station filling up the car, and 63 hours comparing and buying insurance policies. In addition, they spend 210 hours during the period calling mechanics and 84 hours waiting for the car to be serviced.

ClickMechanic co-founder Andrew Jervis said: “It’s staggering when you add up how much we invest in buying, owning and maintaining a vehicle over our lifetime, both in terms of time and money spent.

“We all lead busy lives and are stretched for time, so anything that helps us save time as well as money is a bonus and many of us use cost comparison websites and other platforms to try and reduce the time spent comparing quotes and making sure we’re paying a reasonable price.”

Key findings in the UK also uncovered that the average learner driver spends at least £690 ($A1170) on lessons before passing their test.

ClickMechanic said that motorists spend approximately an hour comparing insurance prices and purchasing policies, a figure which adds up to 63 hours over the average motorist’s lifetime.

Owners calling out a mechanic approximately twice every three years, sees an average of £683 ($A1156) per repair, making £28,686 ($A48,541) in total.

Daily commutes can cost us at least £101,000 ($A171,000) on fuel and as much as 600 hours (or 25 days) at a filling station throughout the course of their lifetime.

Meanwhile, there is also the cost of the car.

The RACQ, in its 2016 car running costs guide, said that a Toyota Corolla will cost $7796.69 a year in costs, including financing the purchase, depreciation, insurance, registration, maintenance and fuel.

A Mazda CX-5 SUV will cost $9,600.15 a year to keep on your driveway, cheaper than a Holden Commodore 3.0-litre at $11,266.60, a Toyota Prado at $14,657.02 and a Ford Ranger 4WD ute at $A13,181.62.

Don’t think that buying an electric car will create big savings. The RACQ reports that a Nissan Leaf EV costs $A13,121.62 a year to keep.

By Neil Dowling