Cost to operate your car

[Totoro]

It just strikes me as trying to make a measurement because you can calculate it, not because it makes much sense.

Depends on what you want to calculate. It's short-term opportunity cost vs. long term. Both are appropriate depending on the decision you are trying to make.

If you want to know what it costs to drive your car today, only count the variable costs. If you want to know whether it makes sense to have a car at all, include the fixed costs and compare to alternatives (like taxis).

I use both ways: The second one made me give up my car in Amsterdam (vs. a taxi and rental budget), the first one I regularly use to decide vs. using public transport on any given day. I also used the total cost per mile to figure out the added cost of upgrading from a very small car to a small car given my expected miles driven.

 

[38Chevy454]

I spend too much on vehicles if you measure pure cost/mile, but I can, so it doesn't bother me. 2 daily driver, 3 occasional driver, 4 old classic vehicles and 1 motorhome. I am sure my cost/mile avg is much more than almost anyone else on the board. I don't care, old cars are my hobby, and I like having multiple vehicle options for whatever I want or need to do. I do not track cost/mile, or gas costs per vehicle, or really any of the misc costs. I do most all of my own maintenance and repairs on the vehicles. I know what insurance costs, I know what registration costs, and I know what I spend on gas each month. It's just not priority for me to get to any higher level of detail in my budget.

 

[Sunset]

....

Your $30K car still has some value after 110K miles, so that calculation is wrong, way too high. Again, it's based on age as well as miles. The other two are probably right.

Of course you are correct, a quick check shows my van would sell for approx $5,000 after 10 years

So it's more like $0.227 per mile

The corrected 4,500 mile trip on my car costs wear and tear on the van of:
$1,021.50 + $62.1 + $30 = $1113.6

 

[Running_Man]

2013 Honda Civic

Gas $0.10
Insurance 0.05
Service 0.08
Reg/Tax 0.01
Deprec 0.10
------------------
Total $0.34 per mile

 

[RunningBum]

Of course you are correct, a quick check shows my van would sell for approx $5,000 after 10 years

So it's more like $0.227 per mile

The corrected 4,500 mile trip on my car costs wear and tear on the van of:
$1,021.50 + $62.1 + $30 = $1113.6

Nope. Still not even close.

A quick check on difference of the selling price of a 2009 Honda Odyssey with 110,000 miles and 114,500 miles is $109, according to KBB. You didn't say which van but I'm guessing most models will be similar.

The corrected cost is closer to $109+$62+30=$201.

Like I said, depreciation cost is based on age as well as mileage. Much more, in fact. And depreciation doesn't go in a straight line, and certainly not for each mile. Think about it. That first mile you drove the car off the dealer lot didn't cost you 23 cents, it cost you thousands. And if you store your car in a garage for three years, it wouldn't hold the same value.

 

[FANOFJESUS]

I am coming up with .26 cents a mile on my old car. I am guessing a new one would be much higher.

 

[Car-Guy]

All of them together or each one separately? It doesn't really matter since I don't have a clue other than "it's a lot".

My daily driver is no doubt the most expensive to drive per mile, but the most fun. Heck, just the tires are two thousand a set and they only last ~6 months. Matter of fact, it's time for a new set this month.

 

[Independent]

I think that recording these expenses can be useful.

The big decision is when to replace the car. I can see that I've certainly saved money by keeping my car to the 14 year/160,000 mile point. Depreciation on my car might have averaged $4,000 / year for the first 3 years, and depreciation + repairs might be $2,100 / year for the 11 years since.

I've also used the per mile cost for thinking about whether I'd fly or drive. As others have mentioned, I only want to use the costs that vary by the mile. Gas, oil, and tires are easy to calculate. My car is old enough that I also have history for brakes and suspension. And, I can use the car pricing sites to get an idea of the mileage component in resale value.

But, for me, some of the utility is simply knowing the numbers. We track all our expenses, just knowing, even if we're unlikely to change decisions, is oddly useful.

 

[RunningBum]

Knowing the numbers is great, but you ought to use them in a way that makes sense. Just dividing all outlay by miles driven is not accurate, and can lead one to make faulty choices.

Using numbers to decide when to replace a car almost always favors keeping the old car unless you have very major repairs coming. Disregarding collectors/enthusiasts and those who just like having newer cars, most people replace their car when their old one becomes unreliable, is a safety hazard, requirements change, or they want the newest features. I'm willing to pay more to have a car that is a lot less likely to leave me stranded somewhere. There's a financial aspect to that decision, but there's a safety and convenience factor that outweighs that if finances aren't tight.

 

[Sunset]

Nope. Still not even close.

A quick check on difference of the selling price of a 2009 Honda Odyssey with 110,000 miles and 114,500 miles is $109, according to KBB. You didn't say which van but I'm guessing most models will be similar.

The corrected cost is closer to $109+$62+30=$201.

Like I said, depreciation cost is based on age as well as mileage. Much more, in fact. And depreciation doesn't go in a straight line, and certainly not for each mile. Think about it. That first mile you drove the car off the dealer lot didn't cost you 23 cents, it cost you thousands. And if you store your car in a garage for three years, it wouldn't hold the same value.

Now I get it, even if I don't drive my van all year and rent cars instead, the van will still depreciate based on age.

Well this makes me feel better about the past few years of doing thousand mile trips with my van, as it's cheaper than renting a vehicle. Since I already have the sunk cost of the van.

 

[iloveyoga]

Way to much work to compute for this retiree!

I think of our vehicles as a necessity so I don't worry about the upkeep costs. That said, we do keep ours as long as possible (not as long as some on this forum!)

 

[gerntz]

Our out of pocket dollar costs per mile are high for two pretty new cars and 15K miles total. But highly value their safety features and unlikely catastrophic failure. Don’t know how to calculate those added values in into return on investment.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

It is a pointless exercise for us. Our mileage has decreased significantly since retirement. Our costs are no doubt well above the average.

Knowing the numbers is great, but you ought to use them in a way that makes sense. Just dividing all outlay by miles driven is not accurate, and can lead one to make faulty choices.

+1. We are rarely driving these days, so a per mile cost analysis would show it to be a very expensive proposition. Instead, I track TOTAL expenses (not depreciation, though) and last year we were at $2693 for insurance, fuel, maintenance and assorted registration fees. This was on two cars...a 2012 and 2018 model.

Financially, it would make sense for us to just go to one vehicle, but we haven't felt the need so we haven't.

 

[Sojourner]

Well this makes me feel better about the past few years of doing thousand mile trips with my van, as it's cheaper than renting a vehicle. Since I already have the sunk cost of the van.

+1

It's much cheaper to drive my SUV on long road trips than to rent a comparable vehicle. OTOH, if I just want to get somewhere and a) don't care much about enjoying the journey there, b) don't really need the convenience of having my own car to drive around locally once I get there, and c) don't need the flexibility of changing my arrival and departure times, then it often makes more sense to fly.

 

[Chuckanut]

Well this makes me feel better about the past few years of doing thousand mile trips with my van, as it's cheaper than renting a vehicle. Since I already have the sunk cost of the van.

Aren't there easier ways to avoid having to rent a vehicle?

 

[rmcelwee]

Considering the frugality of what I drive, I thought I would spend the time to calculate mine:

Very nice 1999 Chevy (Geo) Metro with 6400 mile average per year. Paid $2000 for it four years ago.

Gas $0.055 ($350/year)
Insurance 0.053 ($340/year)
Service 0.007 ($50/year)
Reg/Tax 0.000 ($11/year)
Deprec 0.000 (car is appreciating)
------------------
Total $0.115 per mile

 

[Totoro]

Are you maintaining it yourself?

 

[rmcelwee]

Are you maintaining it yourself?

If you are asking me, yes I do all my own maintenance. The only thing I have ever taken a car to the shop for in the past 35 years was new tires and sometimes an alignment because I can't mount them myself. I did the alignment myself on the Geo using string and a carpenters square. Hmm, I did get a head decked and block re-bored one time when I bought a car with a blown engine.

 

[indiajust]

1995 Mazda truck, 1998 VW Jetta

10 cents gas which is over 30 MPG.
2 cents insurance. Liability only since 2003
11 cents repair
2.5 cents for registration and tax

My vehicles don't depreciate, they disintegrate. Value is exactly the last repair bill plus salvage value at LKQ. So total purchase price divided by total mileage, about 7 cents

 

[ychuck46]

The BMW is out

Unless you are getting a lot of pleasure out of the 2K/year miles being put on the BMW, I would get rid of that. Way too much cost per mile compared to the other two, much of it taken up by excessive maintenance costs both because it is a German car, and also because of the low mileage driven.

The wife and I have two vehicles and hers is only driven about 2K miles per year as well, but they are needed miles. Plus it is an H3 and she feels extremely safe in it, so our situation is both a little similar in miles put on a vehicles, but also dissimilar since we only have two cagers.

 

[wolf]

Way to much work to compute for this retiree!

++++1

Enjoy life. Find something more interesting to " think " about.

 

[Z3Dreamer]

Unless you are getting a lot of pleasure out of the 2K/year miles being put on the BMW, I would get rid of that. Way too much cost per mile compared to the other two, much of it taken up by excessive maintenance costs both because it is a German car, and also because of the low mileage driven.

That is the whole and only point of having the BMW. It is fun to drive. Otherwise, I drive my 2003 Subaru.

 

[Z3Dreamer]

Way to much work to compute for this retiree!

Just had shoulder surgery, so I can't do my normal retiree stuff. And re-arranging my sock drawer is too emotionally draining, so I compute the data while watching all the bad daytime shows I can find.