Anyone "Spreadsheet" their next car(s)?
Discussion
Help me out here - does anyone go to these lengths? Adding up the service costs, potentials like tyres, fuel over 12,000 miles, insurance etc etc?
I'm doing it A LOT. Why? Well, I like a half dozen car ideas - some sensible, some not-so.
I realise that once I drive what I want, man maths may take over and I'll start justifying this with "SCIENCE IS WHY!" but for now... I like the numbers.
I'll even post the spreadsheet if you want to see the insanity. :P
I'm doing it A LOT. Why? Well, I like a half dozen car ideas - some sensible, some not-so.
I realise that once I drive what I want, man maths may take over and I'll start justifying this with "SCIENCE IS WHY!" but for now... I like the numbers.
I'll even post the spreadsheet if you want to see the insanity. :P
vtecyo said:
No. You can't predict unforseen costs and replacing parts that wouldn't "normally" go, so why bother?
Fair point. No one can plan for a random clutch change (like the Audi is receiving) - but then, that's not really the aim. More like - tax, servicing and MPG over time. I don't care much about depreciation or purchase for example. I guess, think of it this way - I own Car A and it costs me X over a year - is Car B worth two three.. four times that because it's a nicer car? When juggling costs, it's the sort of thing I stay awake at night mulling over.
When I was 20 I'd just buy a car (Porsche 993), drive it, get in debt... I'm not 20 anymore though :P
I did exactly this when looking for the car I have now. (The curse of being a Project Manager!) 
I was in the market for a faux-by-four, (everything in the range of X3, Tiguan, CX-5, Sportage, Kuga, Evoque, etc)
Whilst I didn't go down the route of daily running costs (Other than the 12-month 10k miles fuel costs), I did go down to the level of what spec for what price (and how much extras cost), size of boot, etc.
It was surprising to see what did and didn't come as standard across the range of manufacturers, and the fact that the most expensive of the list would have cost me around £10k more than what I eventually bought to get it to the same sort of spec toys-wise.....
You can probably tell from my Username what I ended up with
The dealer even took a copy of my spreadsheet so they could understand how their car stacked up against the competition
I was in the market for a faux-by-four, (everything in the range of X3, Tiguan, CX-5, Sportage, Kuga, Evoque, etc)
Whilst I didn't go down the route of daily running costs (Other than the 12-month 10k miles fuel costs), I did go down to the level of what spec for what price (and how much extras cost), size of boot, etc.
It was surprising to see what did and didn't come as standard across the range of manufacturers, and the fact that the most expensive of the list would have cost me around £10k more than what I eventually bought to get it to the same sort of spec toys-wise.....
You can probably tell from my Username what I ended up with
The dealer even took a copy of my spreadsheet so they could understand how their car stacked up against the competition
Not my future purchase, but I track all my running costs in a spreadsheet. This way I knew that for the last 6 years my "buy outright" approach to motoring has cost me £390 a month every month in depreciation and maintenance (fuel, insurance excluded). I therefore knew I could easily afford £390 a month on finance to buy a new car when looking recently, so that's what I did.
Martin350 said:
With those Porsches in there your spreadsheet needs a 'bork fund' column!
Yep - typically all I can stand spending money on are the ones that are likely to throw intermediate shafts. They kinda qualify themselves right out! Mind you, I love 911s and once had a 993, so I'm familiar with the "you need 4 wheel alignment doing, so I'll just add a few zeros to your bill, here" 
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff