Tough on tyres - the cars most in need of new rubber

When it comes to choosing your lease car there are a lot of factors to consider beyond the monthly payment. Fuel costs, road tax, insurance bands, and the like will all influence your decision. And if you don’t opt for a maintained agreement that covers servicing costs and replacement tyres then you might be in for some unexpected bills: according to Kwik Fit, some cars need replacement tyres much more often than others leading to higher running costs over time.

Exclusive analysis by the automotive servicing and repair company has revealed the cars which are most likely to wear tyres the quickest and need more frequent changes.

Each year, more than two million British car owners take their vehicles to Kwik Fit centres. Kwik Fit says it fits more tyres to the nation’s cars than any other company in the UK, including EVs and hybrids as well as petrol and diesel models. Compiling the data from all those Kwik Fit centres has now revealed which car models are disproportionately likely to need new tyres in every area of Britain.

The company’s analysts looked at which models were likely to be brought in for more frequent tyre changes than the average car across every area of Great Britain, using the data to calculate an index figure for each model. From its Maintenance Index 2025, Kwik Fit has ranked the models by the number of locations in which they were most likely to have had tyre changes.

And it’s not good news for one car that tops the list in significantly more locations than any other vehicle.

The Kwik Fit ranking is led by the Tesla Model 3, which topped the table in 54 areas across Britain. That’s more than twice as many as the second place, Citroen Berlingo, which comes top in 24 locations. To make matters worse, sitting in third place is another Tesla, the Model Y, topping the table in 16 areas.

There’s a bit of a jump from there, with fourth place occupied by the Mercedes CLA (top in nine areas). The next two spots are taken by the Volvo XC40 and BMW 4 Series (both with 7), and the top 10 is rounded off by the BMW 2 Series, Jaguar XE, Kia Niro, and Skoda Karoq.

It’s not just individual models either. When all the models from each manufacturer are combined, just five brands account for the vehicles most disproportionately needing new tyres across 80% of the UK.

Tesla and Citroen remain in first and second place in this combined table, but BMW takes the third position with a range of models contributing to its score, namely the 2 and 4 Series, as well as the X1, X3 and X5. Mercedes and Volvo follow closely behind to complete the list.

It obviously depends on how much detail you want to delve into, but this is all worth bearing in mind when it comes to choosing your next lease car.

If you do want to get knee-deep in the data, the analysis also shows that the results vary from area to area, indicating that geography can play a part too.



It’s inevitable with the state of some of our roads that driving conditions in certain parts of the country might be tougher on some models than others. You also have to factor in the prevalence of certain brands and models in a geographical area, leading to more of one model turning up at the local Kwik Fit more often – although we’re sure the analysts took this into account too.

For example, the 54 locations where the Tesla Model 3 tops the table cover a wide variety of areas, ranging from Aberdeenshire to Devon, which suggests it’s quite a heavy user of tyres no matter where you happen to live. However, it also sees its highest single score in Enfield, and across London in general the Model 3 tops the chart in 14 of the capital’s 32 boroughs and features in the top three places in a further seven.

By comparison, the second-place Citroen Berlingo comes top in areas from Argyll and Bute to Wiltshire, also indicating that it can go through tyres sooner than you might expect. Yet, despite being top of the table in 24 areas of the UK, the Berlingo doesn’t even make the top three in any of the London boroughs.

That suggests there are a lot more Tesla Model 3 drivers in London than elsewhere, and that the Citroen Berlingo probably isn’t the car of choice for the modern urbanite.

There are also a few local twists to take into consideration if you really want to get nerdy about this stuff. While the top five marques account for 80% of areas, the data reveals some models heavier than average tyre usage is confined to one specific area. For instance, the Suzuki Alto tops the table in Dundee, while the Welsh borough of Torfaen sees the Vauxhall Adam at the top of the list. In contrast, the MG ZS appears to be burning through its tyres on the mean streets of Barking and Dagenham.

The Kwik Fit Maintenance Index is available online as an interactive map that lets you select any area in Great Britain and find the top three car models most disproportionately requiring new tyres in that area. Ideal for those who really want to delve into the detail and make sure they choose the perfect lease car for themselves.