Car servicing comparison site WhoCanFixMyCar.com have helped consumers save money on almost 44,000 car repairs up and down the country.

They work with almost 5,000 garages nationwide, helping around 4,000 drivers repair and maintain their pride and joy every month.

And as a result, they really have seen it all - KIA key cutting to Aston Martin accident repairs and everything in between.

In the first of a regular series of 'big data' insights, the comparison site are putting the big three German premium brands head-to-head: BMW vs Audi vs Mercedes-Benz.

Here's what they found.

1. Audis cost more to maintain

The BMW i3 was recently titled Green Car Of The Year 2014

We compared the quotes received for comparable repair types across these three brands.

The result? Audi consistently came out on top , an at average 31% higher than for Mercedes maintenance and repairs.

BMW sat a little above Mercedes, but still 19% below Audi.

And Audi's high prices don't end there.

2.  It's a consistent trend across the volume models

Whether it’s an A3, an A4 or an A6, average repair estimates on an Audi remained highest - with the largest difference (+45%) apparent when comparing C-Class and A4 repair quotes.

3. Complex repair work causes Audi bills to rack up

When it comes to simple work - routine servicing, or wear parts such as brakes and exhausts - estimates across all three brands are comparable.

The biggest variation occurs when comparing transmission.

Cambelt changes also showed the same trend, as well as requests for ‘Engine Parts’ - a broad category of repairs typically requiring more ‘involved’ work.

4. The younger the car the pricier the Audi repair

Audi's come up top when it comes to maintenance costs

Mercedes cars 'go on for longer', with repairs most likely in 11-year-old cars.

Conversely, the majority of Audi repairs take place when the cars are 5-10 years old, with BMW somewhere in between.

The results

Having reviewed, sliced and diced over 10,000 rows of data, we have our findings.

Audis cost more to maintain than their premium German stablemates, driven by dearer major work, which tends to occur when the car is a little newer.

Mercedes, meanwhile, are inclined to last a while longer before the 'compulsory pitstops' really kick in.

Next time we’ll compare major volume models in a supermarket Showdown - it's Golf vs Focus vs Astra time.