Car running costs fall

Car operating costs have dipped 1 per cent overall from last year, says the Automobile Association.

But the reduction does not apply to all 50 models of New Zealand-new cars whose costs were tracked over the past 12 months.

Costs for cars over 2000cc fell by 4.4 per cent, with a drop of 3.2 per cent for small cars up to 1300cc.

But costs for cars in the 1301cc to 1600cc category rose by 1.1 per cent, and those for the 1601cc to 2000cc category jumped by 3.1 per cent.