Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I am wondering how much the respected member's Average Monthly Car Ownership Cost would be..
Please do not include Gas, Financing, Insurance, Tickets, Parking, Tolls and Tax related costs...
Hi spalam01--
In 2007, I bought a 2000 Toyota Echo for $4,000. It had 80,000 miles on it. It got me through college, and I sol it at 180,000 miles earlier this year for $3,300.
Maintenance included a bunch of oil changes, two sets of tires (plus one oddball bastard Korean tire after I hit a nail at ~155,000), two wheel bearings, one set of shocks and starts at ~140,000, and a couple headlights/tail lights.
Call it $2,500 over five years? Not bad.
Replaced it with an '07 Prius in March. Only maintenance so far has been a headlight ($10 at Wal-Mart and some knuckle scuffing).
Our van was bought used and amortized off years ago.
"Please do not include Gas, Financing, Insurance, Tickets, Parking, Tolls and Tax related costs..."
That leaves tires and oil changes and a battery. Last calendar year that worked out to $17/mo. Total costs including gas, insurance, etc. was about $175/mo. (actually less, since gas for mowers and such gets lumped in.)
Hmm...
$120 for oil changes, $300 for tires, original battery, brakes $20, air filters, wiper blades, headlights $50?, I paid half of the cost of replacing the AC condenser, other half Mazda corporate picked up so that was $100. So about $50 a month. That's for an '08 Mazda3 bought new, just rolled over 120,000 last month.
I am wondering how much the respected member's Average Monthly Car Ownership Cost would be..
Please do not include Gas, Financing, Insurance, Tickets, Parking, Tolls and Tax related costs...
hmm, I have a 1995 Ford 1/2 ton pickup with 195,000 miles on it. I have never paid a penny of: Financing, Tickets, Parking, or Tolls for it.
I pay $12.50/year for safety inspection;
anywhere from $300 to $500/year for it's annual tune-up / fluid & filters change / anything else the mechanic can find that needs to be fixed.
That is $312.50/year to $512.40/year; or $26.04/monthly to $42.71/monthly.
My Dw drives a '11 Prius. She does pay for financing; though there are no tickets, parking, or tolls fees. All servicing and maintenance has been free via the dealership. It's annual safety inspection is free [provided it is done by the dealership]. So far all ownership costs [excluding gas, financing, tickets, parking, or tolls] are included in the purchase.
My car is a 98 Saturn, that I bought new and have owned for 14 years. Discounting the items you mentioned, all I have is oil changes, wipers, emission testing, and an occasional somthing like battery, filters, fuses, tires, brakes, etc. I would say around $200/year average (I drive very little so things like tires/brakes last a long time, but still bring the average up a bit, I only have 75k miles on the car). This year so far I've had oil changed x 2, replaced the battery....I think that's it. So I'm going to say $15-$20/month average on my 14 year old car on maintenance/repair items.
On the other hand, in college, before I bought this car, I was driving my parents first car, a 75 Datsun 280Z, and in one year of college, I put over $2000 into repairs on it AND had to call a tow truck 4 or 5 times to get towed back into town when it left me stranded on the side of the freeway. I decided it was more efficient (and safer) to just get a new car.
DH & I have 3 vehicles, all of which we own outright (a Chevrolet Camaro, Mazda Miata MX5 and a Subaru Impreza RS). Most of our trips are 10 miles or less with the exception of a couple of major roadtrips back and forth to St. Louis this year to buy a house.
DH does all of the minor repairs and routine maintenance (oil changes, brake changes, etc) on the cars himself and gets a 10% discount for being military at Autozone.
So far, repairs to my car have cost $600 this year, the Miata about $300 and the Camaro about $200. The Miata and Subaru needed pretty significant stuff changed out this year (new catalytic converter and timing belt for the Subaru, new Fuel Pump for the Miata, etc) so hopefully next year the costs on both will be lower.
Therefore, for 3 cars it's cost $1100 for 10 /12 months, rounding it back down to 10 months that's $110 a month- or an average of $37 a month per car.
Thankfully we don't have tolls or paid parking where we live!
Also, none of the cars are financed and just have liability insurance so our costs are definitely at a minimum.
Both cars are paid for so I guess the costs would just be maintenance, tires etc not sure how much that averages but it's very little. There is no better feeling to have a reliable car and NO PAYMENTS.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
