how much does it cost to run a car a year

[LGriffiths88]

Morning all

Trying to decide what car to get next. But I'm trying to figure out how much it will cost me a year to fill it up with petrol. Has anyone got an equation they use or a decent website where I can work it out
Thanks

[z4chris99]

how many miles you do/mpg * gallon price

a gallon is 4.546 litres

did you really just ask that?

[Orillion]

LGriffiths88 said:

Morning all

Trying to decide what car to get next. But I'm trying to figure out how much it will cost me a year to fill it up with petrol. Has anyone got an equation they use or a decent website where I can work it out
Thanks

Here is a good link. It covers more than just fuel costs.

http://www.theaa.com/motoring_advice/running_costs

[CraigyMc]

VED ("Road Tax")
Insurance
Fuel
Consumables (screenwash, tyres, brakes, clutch, bulbs)
Servicing (oil changes, cambelt, + other service items like filters/spark plugs)
Cleaning costs (jetwash/drivethrough/even doing it yourself isn't free)
Breakdown assistance (AA/RAC/Green Flag/other)
MOT (if car is >3 years old)
Repairs (Everything breaks eventually)

Have you considered all of these things?

[caprirob]

I run an excel spreadsheet for my accounts - coming up to the end of the Tax year now I have spent just under £2k on fuel and about £1000 on insurance/tax/repairs - depreciation is another cost although difficult to quantify until you actually sell the car.

Slightly annoying bearing in mind all the tax we pay already on fuel I have had to earn over £4k to get the 3k net that it has cost me just to run the car.

I also track my MPG using www.fuelly.com - a bit geeky but very useful to track trends - also shows you cost per mile and various other things - handy if you change cars to see whether you have made the right move !

Edited by caprirob on Wednesday 13th March 07:53

[Rickyy]

I sat down and worked it out once when deciding on a new run around for the OH. It worked out cheaper to lease and run a brand new Citroen C1 than it did just to run our ageing 2.0 Petrol Focus

55MPG vs 30MPG.
Free road tax vs Band K road tax.
No MOTs vs MOT regularly returning £200-£300 bills.
£50 vs £90 tyres.
3 year warranty vs bits falling off all the time!
£480 insurance vs £950 insurance.

I can't quite remember the figure, but it is saving us a substantial amount. But I'm going to undo all that hard work shortly by running a 330i alongside it

[y2blade]

CraigyMc said:

VED ("Road Tax")
Insurance
Fuel
Consumables (screenwash, tyres, brakes, clutch, bulbs)
Servicing (oil changes, cambelt, + other service items like filters/spark plugs)
Cleaning costs (jetwash/drivethrough/even doing it yourself isn't free)
Breakdown assistance (AA/RAC/Green Flag/other)
MOT (if car is >3 years old)
Repairs (Everything breaks eventually)

Have you considered all of these things?

That^^^

[CaptainSlow]

Rickyy said:

I sat down and worked it out once when deciding on a new run around for the OH. It worked out cheaper to lease and run a brand new Citroen C1 than it did just to run our ageing 2.0 Petrol Focus

55MPG vs 30MPG.
Free road tax vs Band K road tax.
No MOTs vs MOT regularly returning £200-£300 bills.
£50 vs £90 tyres.
3 year warranty vs bits falling off all the time!
£480 insurance vs £950 insurance.

I can't quite remember the figure, but it is saving us a substantial amount. But I'm going to undo all that hard work shortly by running a 330i alongside it

She/He must do a fair few miles!

[LGriffiths88]

Yes I have. Got a spreadsheet set up. Just need to add the odd bit to it.

And to the first reply I really did ask that. Haha brain was never my strong point

[gradeA]

http://www.fuel-economy.co.uk/calc.shtml

[DanielJames]

A lot.

Certainly more than SWMBO seems to think

[bp1000]

XFR

£232 servicing
£475 tax
£350 insurance
£1700 fuel

£3k depreciation might slow to £2k soon
£180-£300 per tyre depending on tyre make and size
£45 pads
£68 discs
£30 wear sensor
£200 2 yearly valets

It has a comprehensive warranty to cover repairs

Fuel is easy to work out - depreciation is the biggest. So don't go buying a newish diesel to get 50mpg when it would be cheaper to buy an older petrol, have fun and fuel it.

[tim0409]

Just been through this process to work out the man maths for swapping my 60 plate 118d for an older Boxster. I soon realised that the BMW was a very cheap car to run....

Depreciation - circa £1000pa (bought from auction so should not be too bad)
RFL £30pa
Insurance £160pa
MPG 48
Maintenance 5 year plan paid for by previous owner (which was a bonus)
Warranty for next year circa £400.

The Boxster on the other hand has the potential for big bills, 27mpg, more expensive road tax/insurance (but less depreciation if bought right), but I suspect none of that matters when you get up on a nice summers day and get the roof down.....

[Ozzie Osmond]

tim0409 said:

none of that matters when you get up on a nice summers day and get the roof down.....

Very true!

Unless you drive old cars depreciation and fuel are always likely to be the biggest costs so you can pretty much ignore everything else. Since I don't buy cars unless I can buy them outright (no loans) that means every journey is a freebee - except for the fuel. Perfect!

[bakerstreet]

tim0409 said:

Just been through this process to work out the man maths for swapping my 60 plate 118d for an older Boxster. I soon realised that the BMW was a very cheap car to run....

Depreciation - circa £1000pa (bought from auction so should not be too bad)
RFL £30pa
Insurance £160pa
MPG 48
Maintenance 5 year plan paid for by previous owner (which was a bonus)
Warranty for next year circa £400.

The Boxster on the other hand has the potential for big bills, 27mpg, more expensive road tax/insurance (but less depreciation if bought right), but I suspect none of that matters when you get up on a nice summers day and get the roof down.....

I wouldn't count on the depreciation. I remember reading that Boxters would bottom out at £5k...well that didn't happen.

Out of interest, does the maintenance plan include wear and tare parts?

[z4chris99]

2003 z4 3.0 i

VED £245
Insurance £450
Fuel 25mpg @ 6000 miles = c£1500
Consumables (screenwash, tyres, brakes, clutch, bulbs) £500pa
Servicing (oil changes, cambelt, + other service items like filters/spark plugs) £400pa
Cleaning costs (jetwash/drivethrough/even doing it yourself isn't free)
Breakdown assistance (AA/RAC/Green Flag/other) £99
MOT (if car is >3 years old) £40
Repairs (Everything breaks eventually) £nothing major
parking permits £130
depriciation £1000pa

so its about £240pm just sitting there, not including fuel.

[tim0409]

bakerstreet said:

tim0409 said:

Just been through this process to work out the man maths for swapping my 60 plate 118d for an older Boxster. I soon realised that the BMW was a very cheap car to run....

Depreciation - circa £1000pa (bought from auction so should not be too bad)
RFL £30pa
Insurance £160pa
MPG 48
Maintenance 5 year plan paid for by previous owner (which was a bonus)
Warranty for next year circa £400.

The Boxster on the other hand has the potential for big bills, 27mpg, more expensive road tax/insurance (but less depreciation if bought right), but I suspect none of that matters when you get up on a nice summers day and get the roof down.....

I wouldn't count on the depreciation. I remember reading that Boxters would bottom out at £5k...well that didn't happen.

Out of interest, does the maintenance plan include wear and tare parts?

No, just the servicing, but I do my own discs/pads etc and if I keep it I will be moving from RF to non-RF Hankooks which are about half the price. I had it into BMW for some warranty work recently and they told me it needed pads and disks ("you do know your pads are down to 3mm and the discs are below the minimum and will need replaced in the next 500 miles or the car will be dangerous to drive"), even though the discs are only 50% worn (checked with a micrometer) and the pads still have 6mm left. A comedy quote of circa £500 was politely declined.

[princeperch]

z4chris99 said:

2003 z4 3.0 i

VED £245
Insurance £450
Fuel 25mpg @ 6000 miles = c£1500
Consumables (screenwash, tyres, brakes, clutch, bulbs) £500pa
Servicing (oil changes, cambelt, + other service items like filters/spark plugs) £400pa
Cleaning costs (jetwash/drivethrough/even doing it yourself isn't free)
Breakdown assistance (AA/RAC/Green Flag/other) £99
MOT (if car is >3 years old) £40
Repairs (Everything breaks eventually) £nothing major
parking permits £130
depriciation £1000pa

so its about £240pm just sitting there, not including fuel.

450 quid insurance on that, in E1? or is it not "parked" there 'technically'