The average British motorist will ignore issues with their car for almost three weeks, according to new research.

Over 2,300 UK motorists were polled on behalf of online savings website MoneySavingHeroes, with 48 per cent admitting to not getting a problem with their car sorted within 48 hours.

Of the people falling under this category, it was determined that the average length of time between noticing a problem and enlisting the skills of a mechanic is 19 days.

Further to this, 41 per cent claimed they didn’t have the time to get the issues checked out by a professional, while 37 per cent said they didn’t have the money.

George Charles, spokesperson for MoneySavingHeroes, said: “It’s never a good idea to leave a problem on your vehicle for too long, and many mechanics will offer some sort of payment plan if you aren’t in a position to pay upfront in full for the work required.”

Additionally, it was found that 82 per cent of drivers have experienced at least one problem with their vehicles within the past six months.

When asked to select from a list of problems that they had initially ignored, the most common issues among respondents were tyre pressure (62 per cent), engine warning (43 per cent), oil pressure (47 per cent), brakes (36 per cent) and power steering (34 per cent).

Charles added: “It’s better to drive a safe vehicle than go without getting the work done and drive one that is potentially unsafe to drive.

“Always try to have some sort of savings for your vehicle, and general day to day emergencies, as you never know what kind of problems you will run into – and some of them can be costly.”