How much does your car cost per month?
Discussion
07 Renault Megane 1.5 DCI owned for 22 months and 10k miles per year
Purchase price £1200 - Costs so far at 55 MPG over 22 months
Road tax = £30 * 2
Tyres = £208
Mats = £40
Wiper blades = £20
Servicing = £70 (eBay oil and filters)
Insurance = £220 * 2
MOT = £50 * 2
Fuel = 22k miles at 55 MPG (£1.3 per litre) = £2363.92
So excluding depreciation (which is negligible on a £1200 car) over 22 months I make that £3301.92 or £150 a month.
I seem to remember doing this same exercise when I owned a brand new Subaru Impreza Turbo back in 2000 and including finance, depreciation, fuel etc, it was around £700 a month. I got rid of the car pretty soon after.
Purchase price £1200 - Costs so far at 55 MPG over 22 months
Road tax = £30 * 2
Tyres = £208
Mats = £40
Wiper blades = £20
Servicing = £70 (eBay oil and filters)
Insurance = £220 * 2
MOT = £50 * 2
Fuel = 22k miles at 55 MPG (£1.3 per litre) = £2363.92
So excluding depreciation (which is negligible on a £1200 car) over 22 months I make that £3301.92 or £150 a month.
I seem to remember doing this same exercise when I owned a brand new Subaru Impreza Turbo back in 2000 and including finance, depreciation, fuel etc, it was around £700 a month. I got rid of the car pretty soon after.
Just sold my Mini JCW GP2 but here's a go at costs, with a somewhat irrelevant but interesting (in my view) attempt to compare it to how I get about now...
Mini (owned for 12 months)
Depreciation £2000
Insurance £1200
Tax £140
Fuel (20,000 miles @ 30mpg) = 3,027 litres @ £1.25l = £3,783
Maintenance £1500 (servicing + tyres)
Total for 12 months = £8623 / 12 = £718.58 per month.
Wow. never done that before. For comparison my (central london) transport costs are now:
ebike (3 days a week) = £62.50 a month (£750 total cost over a year)
Train London to midlands (£50 return) 2 x a month £100 a month (£1200 a year)
Taxis in London £25 a week - £108 a month (£1296 a year)
Van hire for the 3/4 times a year I can't get something delivered 16 hours @ £20 an hour - £320
Total cost £3,566 / 23 = £297.16 a month
I haven't added commuting costs in scenario 2 because I didn't use the car to commute. I added the ebike because I have replaced some shorter car journeys with it (going to play football, see friends etc)
All the above says I've done the right thing, but I am still hankering after something with 4 wheels and an engine. Glutton for punishment!
Mini (owned for 12 months)
Depreciation £2000
Insurance £1200
Tax £140
Fuel (20,000 miles @ 30mpg) = 3,027 litres @ £1.25l = £3,783
Maintenance £1500 (servicing + tyres)
Total for 12 months = £8623 / 12 = £718.58 per month.
Wow. never done that before. For comparison my (central london) transport costs are now:
ebike (3 days a week) = £62.50 a month (£750 total cost over a year)
Train London to midlands (£50 return) 2 x a month £100 a month (£1200 a year)
Taxis in London £25 a week - £108 a month (£1296 a year)
Van hire for the 3/4 times a year I can't get something delivered 16 hours @ £20 an hour - £320
Total cost £3,566 / 23 = £297.16 a month
I haven't added commuting costs in scenario 2 because I didn't use the car to commute. I added the ebike because I have replaced some shorter car journeys with it (going to play football, see friends etc)
All the above says I've done the right thing, but I am still hankering after something with 4 wheels and an engine. Glutton for punishment!
gizlaroc said:
bracken78 said:
The current 120d is presently very cheap to run however, the next service is going to be a big one and will need to include some discs and pads so the ppm will no doubt jump up, fair enough really. You make a very good point over using the money to invest elsewhere or pay down the mortgage but after looking over costs/options such as leases, PCP, HP etc. if felt more comfortable owning this car outright. It’s also worth bearing in mind I will own the car for a long time (5 years) and am doing 15K ish per year. I could not work out a cheaper way to commute without going for a smaller car. The budget was set at £10,000 but a good deal with a private sale come up so the budget went up a bit.
Would love an i3 but it worked out more expensive ?
Buying at 3-4 years old and keeping them for 2-3 years before issues arise does seem to be the sweet spot imho.Would love an i3 but it worked out more expensive ?
My Saab only cost £500 20 months ago. I have put nearly 40k on it. Last calculation was it’s costing 31p per mile. That was in Jan just after I spent £1k on clutch and brakes, before that had just been normal services plus tyres. Fuel wise it’s about 16-18p per mile. I have no depreciation so just spending on consumables plus a bit of preventative. Would probably be less if I did the work myself but I’m lazy.
Also depends on the car. Some can have horrendous bills. Looking through the forums clutch is about the most expensive thing on my car, unless the engine goes bang.
Aiminghigh123 said:
Depends.
My Saab only cost £500 20 months ago. I have put nearly 40k on it. Last calculation was it’s costing 31p per mile. That was in Jan just after I spent £1k on clutch and brakes, before that had just been normal services plus tyres. Fuel wise it’s about 16-18p per mile. I have no depreciation so just spending on consumables plus a bit of preventative. Would probably be less if I did the work myself but I’m lazy.
Also depends on the car. Some can have horrendous bills. Looking through the forums clutch is about the most expensive thing on my car, unless the engine goes bang.
Forgive if me this sounds in any way rude, but 31p per mile based on a mileage of 24k per year, to drive a 2003 car with 120kmiles on the clock and worth £500 seems really poor value to me? Are you sure the calculations are correct?My Saab only cost £500 20 months ago. I have put nearly 40k on it. Last calculation was it’s costing 31p per mile. That was in Jan just after I spent £1k on clutch and brakes, before that had just been normal services plus tyres. Fuel wise it’s about 16-18p per mile. I have no depreciation so just spending on consumables plus a bit of preventative. Would probably be less if I did the work myself but I’m lazy.
Also depends on the car. Some can have horrendous bills. Looking through the forums clutch is about the most expensive thing on my car, unless the engine goes bang.
Forgive me - sorry - I'm not trying to brag or anything - but I'm driving a brand new i3 that would cost £30k+ to buy and it's costing me 36p per mile - and that's based on a lower annual mileage of 15k.
Genuinely confused about the small difference in cost per mile.
Aiminghigh123 said:
Depends.
My Saab only cost £500 20 months ago. I have put nearly 40k on it. Last calculation was it’s costing 31p per mile. That was in Jan just after I spent £1k on clutch and brakes, before that had just been normal services plus tyres. Fuel wise it’s about 16-18p per mile. I have no depreciation so just spending on consumables plus a bit of preventative. Would probably be less if I did the work myself but I’m lazy.
Also depends on the car. Some can have horrendous bills. Looking through the forums clutch is about the most expensive thing on my car, unless the engine goes bang.
My 2015 5 series estate is costing me around 26ppm doing 20k miles a year. My Saab only cost £500 20 months ago. I have put nearly 40k on it. Last calculation was it’s costing 31p per mile. That was in Jan just after I spent £1k on clutch and brakes, before that had just been normal services plus tyres. Fuel wise it’s about 16-18p per mile. I have no depreciation so just spending on consumables plus a bit of preventative. Would probably be less if I did the work myself but I’m lazy.
Also depends on the car. Some can have horrendous bills. Looking through the forums clutch is about the most expensive thing on my car, unless the engine goes bang.
Hence I do think a 3-4 year old car that has lost 60% of list is probably the sweet spot. Sometimes a bit of depreciation can be cancelled out by lack of repairs and better MPG that newer cars often give you.
MaxSo said:
Forgive me - sorry - I'm not trying to brag or anything - but I'm driving a brand new i3 that would cost £30k+ to buy and it's costing me 36p per mile
When one car gets free fuel, it's going to have a massive impact on comparative running costs versus anything that doesn't. As to poor value, I guess it depends on what you use your car for. The i3 absolutely would not suit my car needs so no matter how cheap it is to run it'd never be cheap enough to be considered good value.
jagnet said:
When one car gets free fuel, it's going to have a massive impact on comparative running costs versus anything that doesn't.
As to poor value, I guess it depends on what you use your car for. The i3 absolutely would not suit my car needs so no matter how cheap it is to run it'd never be cheap enough to be considered good value.
Sure, the cost of fuel is definitely a significant factor with the i3 (although it's not all free - I've spent £75 to fuel the last 3k miles).As to poor value, I guess it depends on what you use your car for. The i3 absolutely would not suit my car needs so no matter how cheap it is to run it'd never be cheap enough to be considered good value.
I think if you compare 'a car' against 'another car', and set aside just for a moment differences between them in terms of each's strengths and weaknesses, then < 5p more per mile for a decent brand new car VS a car that is 16 years old and worth < 2% of the other clearly represents better value, IMO.
Another more mainstream reference point more similar to the Saab in question would be the previous car I ran - a brand new Skoda Superb Estate - that was 37p per mile over 15k miles - again far better value, IMO.
If the sums on the Saab are correct, I think it confirms my thinking that maintaining and fuelling (some) relatively thirsty old cars can be a costly business, and one where you can find yourself barely much better off vs someone driving around in a very decent brand new car.
MaxSo said:
Sure, the cost of fuel is definitely a significant factor with the i3 (although it's not all free - I've spent £75 to fuel the last 3k miles).
I think if you compare 'a car' against 'another car', and set aside just for a moment differences between them in terms of each's strengths and weaknesses, then < 5p more per mile for a decent brand new car VS a car that is 16 years old and worth < 2% of the other clearly represents better value, IMO.
Clearly, but that's really not surprising when so much of the cost of running an older car comes from taxes used to persuade us that we're planet killing sociopaths. Something that doesn't really trouble EV users' wallets because pollution doesn't count when it happens elsewhere.I think if you compare 'a car' against 'another car', and set aside just for a moment differences between them in terms of each's strengths and weaknesses, then < 5p more per mile for a decent brand new car VS a car that is 16 years old and worth < 2% of the other clearly represents better value, IMO.
The trouble is you can't ignore the strengths and weaknesses of each or there'd be no downsides to running an older car. If the new car simply can't do what you need it to do then it's going to be an expensive ornament sat on the drive and that's never going to be good value. Or you have to run two cars and that's going to be even less value than if you could otherwise run just one.
For comparison, my Saab cost 29p per mile last year with all maintenance DIY so the numbers above look right. This year it's currently at 63p but that's something of an outlier
Been running a shagged out an ex police 2.8 VR6 Sharan manual as a tip and station car during house renovations.
Paid £600 cash and have done 2500 miles in it over the last three months averaging 23mpg, it's about to fails it's MOT catastrophically in August so will go to the weighbridge for about £200 notes.
So it's cost me £100 a month plus £20 tax and a fair wodge of fuel.
Although, it's also saved a fortune in skips and got me a s
tload of free bricks, building deliveries cheap ebay bargainz, etc so has more than paid for itself.
I've simply had to have no pride or shame bombing around in the st heap for four months 
Paid £600 cash and have done 2500 miles in it over the last three months averaging 23mpg, it's about to fails it's MOT catastrophically in August so will go to the weighbridge for about £200 notes.
So it's cost me £100 a month plus £20 tax and a fair wodge of fuel.
Although, it's also saved a fortune in skips and got me a s
tload of free bricks, building deliveries cheap ebay bargainz, etc so has more than paid for itself.I've simply had to have no pride or shame bombing around in the s
t heap for four months jagnet said:
Clearly, but that's really not surprising when so much of the cost of running an older car comes from taxes used to persuade us that we're planet killing sociopaths. Something that doesn't really trouble EV users' wallets because pollution doesn't count when it happens elsewhere.
The trouble is you can't ignore the strengths and weaknesses of each or there'd be no downsides to running an older car. If the new car simply can't do what you need it to do then it's going to be an expensive ornament sat on the drive and that's never going to be good value. Or you have to run two cars and that's going to be even less value than if you could otherwise run just one.
For comparison, my Saab cost 29p per mile last year with all maintenance DIY so the numbers above look right. This year it's currently at 63p but that's something of an outlier
Fine - you’re not keen on EVs.... but you kind of ignored the Skoda Superb example?The trouble is you can't ignore the strengths and weaknesses of each or there'd be no downsides to running an older car. If the new car simply can't do what you need it to do then it's going to be an expensive ornament sat on the drive and that's never going to be good value. Or you have to run two cars and that's going to be even less value than if you could otherwise run just one.
For comparison, my Saab cost 29p per mile last year with all maintenance DIY so the numbers above look right. This year it's currently at 63p but that's something of an outlier
Do you also consider an estate Skoda Superb to be a car that “simply can't do what you need it to do” and therefore “an expensive ornament”..?
I'm not against EVs. They have their place and what they do they do well but it'll be a while yet before they're suitable for my needs.
The Skoda would do what I need it to do but unless it was the 280 it'd just do it rather more slowly. I presume it was a diesel to come in at 37p per mile?
The Skoda would do what I need it to do but unless it was the 280 it'd just do it rather more slowly. I presume it was a diesel to come in at 37p per mile?
Yes indeed - diesel to return running costs like that. Don’t get me wrong, I like the idea of a powerfulish petrol Saab - but, personally, any cost saving over the new examples would need to be significantly greater than it appears to be in in order for it to seem like a good idea to me. For a start, I - and probably the majority of people - haven’t the time nor inclination to carry out DIY maintenance, so the cost would be higher. And ultimately it’s still an old, well-used and fairly run-of-the-mill, though decently quick, normal car (by which I mean, objectively, it’s not some sort of modern classic or anything remotely special really). Each to their own though!
MaxSo said:
Another more mainstream reference point more similar to the Saab in question would be the previous car I ran - a brand new Skoda Superb Estate - that was 37p per mile over 15k miles - again far better value, IMO.
If the sums on the Saab are correct, I think it confirms my thinking that maintaining and fuelling (some) relatively thirsty old cars can be a costly business, and one where you can find yourself barely much better off vs someone driving around in a very decent brand new car.
The only thing I can find that can get anywhere *near* that kind of ppm is incredibly dull. If the sums on the Saab are correct, I think it confirms my thinking that maintaining and fuelling (some) relatively thirsty old cars can be a costly business, and one where you can find yourself barely much better off vs someone driving around in a very decent brand new car.
Doing the sums on mine and it would be 35p/mile over 15k including servicing, ved etc. That's averaging 26mpg on a 222g/km. Playing with a lease Superb and what it'll do and I can *just* beat that by picking the most fuel efficient model, ignoring servicing, assuming it actually gets the maximum mpg claimed and that car is 2 seconds slower to 60. Which is an age.
If I ignore all the payments from work etc and drop the mileage down to a more realistic figure mine works to be ~50p/mile (mostly because I don't do that many miles) but then a lease Superb over that same period would be 84p/mile!
gizlaroc said:
Aiminghigh123 said:
Depends.
My Saab only cost £500 20 months ago. I have put nearly 40k on it. Last calculation was it’s costing 31p per mile. That was in Jan just after I spent £1k on clutch and brakes, before that had just been normal services plus tyres. Fuel wise it’s about 16-18p per mile. I have no depreciation so just spending on consumables plus a bit of preventative. Would probably be less if I did the work myself but I’m lazy.
Also depends on the car. Some can have horrendous bills. Looking through the forums clutch is about the most expensive thing on my car, unless the engine goes bang.
My 2015 5 series estate is costing me around 26ppm doing 20k miles a year. My Saab only cost £500 20 months ago. I have put nearly 40k on it. Last calculation was it’s costing 31p per mile. That was in Jan just after I spent £1k on clutch and brakes, before that had just been normal services plus tyres. Fuel wise it’s about 16-18p per mile. I have no depreciation so just spending on consumables plus a bit of preventative. Would probably be less if I did the work myself but I’m lazy.
Also depends on the car. Some can have horrendous bills. Looking through the forums clutch is about the most expensive thing on my car, unless the engine goes bang.
Hence I do think a 3-4 year old car that has lost 60% of list is probably the sweet spot. Sometimes a bit of depreciation can be cancelled out by lack of repairs and better MPG that newer cars often give you.
All of which will now last ages. It was showing around 23p per mile but then shot up because of that.
I have looked at changing but one massive reason I haven’t found what I’m looking for. Comfort. Doing 140 miles a day this is the first car that feel comfortable. Had quite a bit of back trouble but since getting the Saab, nothing.
Less that 20p per mile is quite tough to achieve unless sacrificing somewhere else.
Edited by Aiminghigh123 on Monday 1st July 00:15
Aiminghigh123 said:
Pence per mile will come down. December last year I had about £1500 in bills, clutch brakes tyres then car insurance came out in Jan.
All of which will now last ages. It was showing around 23p per mile but then shot up because of that.
I have looked at changing but one massive reason I haven’t found what I’m looking for. Comfort. Doing 140 miles a day this is the first car that feel comfortable. Had quite a bit of back trouble but since getting the Saab, nothing.
It is 16 years old with 120k on it, do you think upkeep costs are really going to come down? All of which will now last ages. It was showing around 23p per mile but then shot up because of that.
I have looked at changing but one massive reason I haven’t found what I’m looking for. Comfort. Doing 140 miles a day this is the first car that feel comfortable. Had quite a bit of back trouble but since getting the Saab, nothing.
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