Like I said I tracked maintenance and repair costs over hundreds of thousands of miles. When I looked at the actual amortization of the vehicle cost there wasn’t a dimes worth of difference whether I started with new or a car with 100,000 miles. Over the long haul it made little difference. Just depends how much you drive. Buy new or used, driv3 for 15 years and 400,000 miles, no appreciable difference. So don’t think you save a lot of money buying used if you plan to drive it and not just look at it. Five year warranty, hardly any repairs compared to paying 50% for a five year old car with 100,000 miles. Suit yourself and your budget but don’t fool yourself.
Our fleet manager with several thousand cars, claimed most major work was needed in the 100 to 130,000 mile range. Then we’re good again for a while. Now that was many years ago and cars have changed.
Other factors to include in the cost of owning a vehicle are Depreciation (it will be worth less each year…), and Tolls and Parking Fees (none of which you would have if you took a bus, a taxi, a train, or your bicycle…)
It is a crapshoot, you can look at this that and the other thing and drive yourself crazy. My preference is to buy a car off a 3 year lease from the dealer that leased t with all records of maintenance
The OP is asking too many questions of one spreadsheet so let’s make it simple.
Take the “on the road cost” of the vehicle, subtract any expected resale value, divide it by the number of years you expect to keep it and that’s your annual depreciation.
Add your annual fixed costs, (insurance, tag renewal/taxes, garage, loan interest, etc.)
Add your expected variable costs based on your usage/mileage (gas, tolls, tires, repairs & maintenance, etc.)
Now you’ve got your expected annual costs and simply repeat for any alternative vehicles.
My general outlook is that the cheapest alternative is to “Buy New and Keep” until the cost of major repairs become prohibitive.
Leasing is the most expensive unless you can take a business tax deduction and/or have the need for a fairly new vehicle.
Buying Used can be a bargain because you avoid the Early Years Depreciation BUT without a warranty it can be much more risky. A through pre-purchase inspection will help reduce the risk
I have spent $13,697.31 in the 26 years of owning my vehicle + $3,446.57 for gasoline. That doesn’t consider the lost opportunity cost of spending the money otherwise, and it’s not adjusted for inflation.
But how many miles was that??? Last I heard you only drive 100 miles a year, but I know with that much in gas, that you used to drive way more… lol
But again that averages to only about $11.00 a month in gas over the 26 years…
To continue this list of expected maintenace:
Alignments
Coolant change
Transmission fluid drain and fill.
Brake fluid change every 10 or 15 years.
Timing belt and/or regular belts if applicable.
Air filter (sometimes behind some things)
Spark plugs
Then there are the things that usually fail but aren’t part of regular maintenance:
Engine mounts.
Exhaust issues.
CV axle rubber boot cracking, must replace or disassemble and repack.
Fuel pump replacement
Alternator rebuild or replacement.
A/C refrigerant charge and compressor replacement.
Replacement light bulbs. Not always easy to access.
Ball joints, struts, control arms, and other suspension.
Cracked rubber on brake calipers. Must rebuild or replace.
Wheel bearings
Belt tensioner bearing dries out.
Wires going to the driver’s door break
Window regulator wears out and the window won’t go up
Cabin fan wears out
Parking brake cable gets water in it.
Door handles break.
Remove and clean door and hood open sensor switches.
Hood and rear hatch struts need replacement.
ABS sensor goes out.
Electric power steering fails. Usually a non serviceable part.
Blend door actuator for climate control stops working.
Windshield needs replacement. The replacements often ■■■■■ (krack).
Some cars will need a whole transmission replacement.
Infotainment will go dead.
At least one power lock will get stuck.
Radiator will get a small ■■■■■ in it that grows.
Spark plug wires or a coil pack will go bad.
Something will happen with either the EGR or fuel EVAP emissions system and give you a CEL.
Rear main seal will star leaking (happened to 2014 RAM with ~120k miles)
So depending on the model of the car, any of the above things can be added to expected maintenance.
It makes a huge difference if there is a high chance the vehicle will be stolen or destroyed in an accident. A $20,000 almost new car and a $5,000 older but properly maintained car cost the same to own and maintain, but there is a $15,000 difference if the vehicle is destroyed. Full coverage insurance costs will reflect this difference.
I used to live in a cabin in the mountains. For a while I lived out of my truck. I used to go hiking in the mountains. As my health has declined I don’t get around so much anymore.
I hoped it was obvious that my example was extreme but also an invitation to others to post theirs. You don’t know until you look. I’ve spent $4,176.12 on my bicycle over the last 21 years, about 4¢/mile. I didn’t keep track before that, would have guessed less.
Pffftttt, I couldn’t tell you what I have spent this year on anything much, much less how much or little now a days I have spent on gas… without going through bank statements anyway…
Ask me next year and my Fuelly App will tell me…
I can however tell you how many miles I put on 2 full synthetic 0w20 oil changes for my truck… lol