How much do you reckon it costs to run your car(s)?
Discussion
I'm flirting with the idea of going back down to one car and thought I'd do some sums to see how much it costs me to run the current pair.
I'm basing this on 7,000 miles in my daily driver (the rest done virtually for free on my bike), with servicing mostly from the cheap garage round the corner, and 3,500 miles in my fun car with servicing done by me.
I've included fuel costs, insurance, MOT, servicing, additional maintenance, and a yearly contribution to the tyre budget (based on a 5,000 mile life on the Caterham, 15,000 on the Focus). The results were:
Focus @ 7,000 miles
Fuel £1095 (34 mpg av)
Paperwork £690
Mechanical £492 (£180 service, £200 contingency)
TOTAL £2,277
£/mile 0.325
Caterham @ 3,500 miles
Fuel £868 (20mpg av)
Paperwork £585
Mechanical £780 (£100 servicing and consumables at home, £400 contingency, the rest is tyres)
TOTAL £2,233
£/mile 0.638
Now I've set up a scarily over complicated Excel sheet I can pop a few figures for an E36 M3, for example, as a single-car alternative. This would cover the same combined mileage at 25mpg average, £1,400 a year insurance and £650 annual servicing, with a few other assumptions thrown in. And it comes to a grand total of... £5,052 (or 48p/mile), so about £540 a year more.
I'm basing this on 7,000 miles in my daily driver (the rest done virtually for free on my bike), with servicing mostly from the cheap garage round the corner, and 3,500 miles in my fun car with servicing done by me.
I've included fuel costs, insurance, MOT, servicing, additional maintenance, and a yearly contribution to the tyre budget (based on a 5,000 mile life on the Caterham, 15,000 on the Focus). The results were:
Focus @ 7,000 miles
Fuel £1095 (34 mpg av)
Paperwork £690
Mechanical £492 (£180 service, £200 contingency)
TOTAL £2,277
£/mile 0.325
Caterham @ 3,500 miles
Fuel £868 (20mpg av)
Paperwork £585
Mechanical £780 (£100 servicing and consumables at home, £400 contingency, the rest is tyres)
TOTAL £2,233
£/mile 0.638
Now I've set up a scarily over complicated Excel sheet I can pop a few figures for an E36 M3, for example, as a single-car alternative. This would cover the same combined mileage at 25mpg average, £1,400 a year insurance and £650 annual servicing, with a few other assumptions thrown in. And it comes to a grand total of... £5,052 (or 48p/mile), so about £540 a year more.
Edited by Chris71 on Monday 29th March 15:00
123d (annual avg over 2 years)
Fuel (14000 miles) : £1450 (48mpg)
Servicing : £130 (one condition based service in 2 years @£260)
Tyres: £220/yr (4 tyres in 2 years)
Tax: £120
Insurance: £400
Depreciation: £3500
£5800ish/yr, or £480/mth, of which depreciation is 60% (!!!!)
(I won't go into the opportunity cost of the £27k captial)
I'm now cured of the new car thing
Fuel (14000 miles) : £1450 (48mpg)
Servicing : £130 (one condition based service in 2 years @£260)
Tyres: £220/yr (4 tyres in 2 years)
Tax: £120
Insurance: £400
Depreciation: £3500
£5800ish/yr, or £480/mth, of which depreciation is 60% (!!!!)
(I won't go into the opportunity cost of the £27k captial)
I'm now cured of the new car thing
pilchardthecat said:
therealpigdog said:
If you have an iPhone try Roadtrip as it gives you realtime figures. I'm on £9 day not including insurance or depreciation!
Do you include the cost of the iPhone contract......I'll stick with my 5 year old pay-as-you-go s
te, and keep saving for that 997 thanks 
Who gives a monkeys!!! Just enjoy it if you can afford it...in a few years you,l either be driving a soulless electric car...or be taxed off the road by a goverment hell bent on taking us for every penny....drive while you can...I havent got time to work out how much my car costs...and believe me its a lot......but my love is cars so i aint bothered.
You only live once.
You only live once.
chrissyr32 said:
Who gives a monkeys!!! Just enjoy it if you can afford it...in a few years you,l either be driving a soulless electric car...or be taxed off the road by a goverment hell bent on taking us for every penny....drive while you can...I havent got time to work out how much my car costs...and believe me its a lot......but my love is cars so i aint bothered.
You only live once.
Indeed. You only live once.
Only this morning, I was thinking about how the motoring world would actually look in ten years time. Will the un-catalysed, large capacity tank I've poured money into and spent the last few years restoring have a place in that world? The possibilities scare the s
t out of me.Actually, I think I'll go out for a drive...
One car VS many cars costs will depend mostly on your insurance arrangements and depreciation levels. Funnily I have been spending the same over the last 3 years (from 1 to 3 cars now, petrol exlcuind), but that includes relavitevly big suspension and other upgrade bills. I separate maintenance (parts, labour, taxes, insurance) from petrol. You should be able to get below 20p/mile, or even close to 10 once your car(s) is(are) sorted in terms of mainenance costs.
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