5 year cost of ownership (Cash buyers)

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blackman777

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Being unemployed == too much time on my hands.
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I updated this chart from cars,com, listing the cost if you paid cash (therefore no loans, interest, etc), and you intend to keep the car for its full lifespan.

Five year cost (75,000 miles). Pricetag + Maintenance + Fuel

$28,300 Versa
$29,500 Fiesta
$31,900 Yaris

$31,900 Jetta
$32,000 Prius C (hybrid)
$32,000 Insight (hybrid)

$35,200 Cruze
$35,300 Leaf (EV)
$35,800 Civic (hybrid)

$35,600 Prius (hybrid)
$39,500 Fusion (hybrid)
$40,200 Jetta (diesel)

$40,400 Cruze (diesel)
$41,000 Prius Plugin (EV with range extension)
$42,200 Volt (EV with range extension)
 
Originally Posted By: benjamming
5 years/75k miles is nowhere near a full lifespan. Go out to 150k miles & it would be more realistic.


+1 Back to the drawing board!
 
These numbers are roughly in line with the 5-year cost of ownership numbers posted in the recent Motor Trend Hybrid / Diesel comparo.

So they must include 5-year depreciation which is by far the largest contributor to cost of ownership (anywhere from $10k to nearly $20k). Therefore the statement "you intend to keep the car for its full lifespan" is irrelevant - just call these 5-year cost of ownership numbers.

http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/alte...son/winner.html
 
Originally Posted By: benjamming
5 years/75k miles is nowhere near a full lifespan. Go out to 150k miles & it would be more realistic.


Double the money, or thereabouts? I would imagine a Yaris or comparable is still going to be the cheapest.
 
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5 yrs is too short, IMO.

I typically keep my vehicles for over 250k miles, or 15+ yrs, or until I have difficulties finding high quality replacement parts for servicing.

The only time I would have to consider letting an automobile go is the time when I anticipate a major repair bill (e.g. trannie rebuild, or major timing belt servicing that would otherwise costs more than the used automobile purchase price, etc.).

Q/
 
I am very fond of both the Versa and Yaris.

Both are simple (Versa w/ 5 speed) and proven platforms. No thrills just simple, reliable, cheap transportation.
 
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It is kind of crazy how much cars cost.
Here's my Tracker so far, Approx 10 year cost. Present value $2k
Almost 150k miles.

18,000 Purchase
9,000 Insurance and registration, etest.
4,000 Repairs
24,000 Gas
2,000 Tires, Oil changes
_________
57,000
-2,000 present value
_________
$55,000 total cost which seems crazy for a 4wd econobox....

But I almost bought a Dodge Ram instead... present value might be $5k
33,000 Purchase
9,000 Insurance, reg, etest
4,000 Repairs
36 to 48,000 Gas
2,000 Tires, Oil changes
__________
84 to 96,000
-5,000 present value
__________
79 to $91,000 total cost which seems crazy for a basic 4wd pickup...
 
Originally Posted By: Miller88
I am very fond of both the Versa and Yaris.

Both are simple (Versa w/ 5 speed) and proven platforms. No thrills just simple, reliable, cheap transportation.

+1 We need more cars like that. I hope Nissan doesn't decide to ruin the Versa.
 
Originally Posted By: ClutchDisc
Originally Posted By: Miller88
I am very fond of both the Versa and Yaris.

Both are simple (Versa w/ 5 speed) and proven platforms. No thrills just simple, reliable, cheap transportation.

+1 We need more cars like that. I hope Nissan doesn't decide to ruin the Versa.


Good luck trying to buy one
frown.gif
Back in 2011 I tried to go to two different Nissan dealers to buy a base "stripper" model Versa. I was, literally, laughed out.

I really like the basic car idea! I hope they still make the stripper Versa (and I can get a dealer to take me serious) when the Focus is ready to be replaced.
 
Originally Posted By: benjamming
5 years/75k miles is nowhere near a full lifespan. Go out to 150k miles & it would be more realistic.

Unfortunately I don't have any data past 5 years (neither does cars or edmunds or KBB or any other site). You can probably extrapolate that cars that were cheap to run the first five years will continue to be cheap through years 6 to 15. IMHO.
 
Originally Posted By: blackman777
Originally Posted By: benjamming
5 years/75k miles is nowhere near a full lifespan. Go out to 150k miles & it would be more realistic.

Unfortunately I don't have any data past 5 years (neither does cars or edmunds or KBB or any other site). You can probably extrapolate that cars that were cheap to run the first five years will continue to be cheap through years 6 to 15. IMHO.


Could go either way.

I've been driving saturn s-series for 11 years now. In this time I've noticed stuff like front end parts get cheaper. In 2004 a Lower Control arm was $80; now it's $40.

OTOH any job gets worse with rust, and cars get more pathetic with "while you're in there" issues that crop up mid-repair.

14 inch tires have held their own in pricing. Technology and fashion have moved on.

If you can outwit other owners of your make, their cars wind up in the junkyard... a smorgasborg of stuff to fix or even improve your car. SatNav? Yoink! Snow tire rims? Yep. However this bell curve eventually means they crush all of your make, and you'll have to dedicate your back forty to a couple parts cars.
laugh.gif
 
Originally Posted By: kam327
the statement "you intend to keep the car for its full lifespan" is irrelevant - just call these 5-year cost of ownership numbers.

Yes the statement is important, because if you are trading the car after 5 years, I would have to subtract the trade-in price from the figures. By saying "keep the car its full lifespan," the tradein price is no longer relevant (because the car is headed for the junkyard anyway).
 
You posted another thread on this, and I replied that the numbers were absurd.
Let's take a look at the Yaris.
Without shopping very carefully, you could drive one of these puppies home for 16K. You'd be giving the car away for 6K after five years and 75K miles, so we'll say that depriciation expense will set you back 10K.
Fuel expense will be 75,000/30X4.00=10K. This assumes lower fuel economy and higher average fuel prices than most owners will see.
Maintenance expense will be around zero for this period of ownership for any DIY guy, but let's assume that the owner takes the car in every six months and gets dinged for $100.00 each time. That yields maintenance expense of 1K.
We know it'll need a set of tires, so let's figure $500.00 for something a lot better than the rim protectors Toyota ships the little thing with.
Let's also figure around $200.00 in brake work, assuming that the owner is not a careful driver.
Let's also assume that the original investment might have yielded $1600.00 in a safe cash equivalent investment over the five years.
So, 10K+10K+1K+.5K+.2K+1.6K=$22,300.00
Lets throw in insurance at maybe $800.00/year average, depending upon the driver as well as his residence.
This adds $3200.00, to bring our total cost of ownership to $26,500.00
So, using what I would consider to be very conservative assumptions, it would cost an owner about 5.5K less to own the car and drive it five years than this site claims. Plugging in numbers more likely to reflect reality would probably open the gap to 10K.
In the real world, resale would be higher as would fuel economy, while gas prices and maintenance would likely be lower, yielding even less expense for five years and 75K of use.
Most people wouldn't pay .8K/yr to insure a Yaris either.
 
Originally Posted By: fdcg27
You'd be giving the Yaris away for 6K after five years

What part of "you intend to keep the car its full lifespan" do people not understand? Maybe I'm using the wrong accent.... (ponder)..... perhaps I need to use British in my future postings. ;-)
 
Originally Posted By: blackman777
Originally Posted By: kam327
the statement "you intend to keep the car for its full lifespan" is irrelevant - just call these 5-year cost of ownership numbers.

Yes the statement is important, because if you are trading the car after 5 years, I would have to subtract the trade-in price from the figures. By saying "keep the car its full lifespan," the tradein price is no longer relevant (because the car is headed for the junkyard anyway).


You missed my point. The numbers you posted must, I believe, contain 5-year depreciation since they are so similar to 5-year cost of ownership numbers publishd by Motor Trend which contained depreciation.

So if your numbers include 5-years worth of depreciation, they essentially take into account the value at the end of 5 years.
 
Originally Posted By: kam327
[The numbers you posted must, I believe, contain 5-year depreciation....
No because the depreciation numbers were listed separately on the website, and I did not include them in my calculation. In fact I specifically Told you what I added (pricetag +maintenance +fuel).
 
I updated these numbers by extrapolating the maintenance/fuel cost to 15 years ownership. I doubt these are accurate since even Toyota says "The battery in a Prius will last the life of the car (180,000)." Obviously a worn-out battery would add another $3000 cost, but I did not include that for this 15 year calculation. (Ditto with the other EVs/hybrids' battery replacement... not included.)

Like before the estimate assumes the car will never be sold by the original owner, but instead towed direct to the junkyard (when car stops working):
15 year cost (225,000 miles). Pricetag + Maintenance + Fuel

$50,500 Leaf (EV)
$57,900 Volt (EV with range extension)
$59,900 Prius C (hybrid)

$61,100 Prius Plugin (EV with range extension)
$63,500 Insight (hybrid)
$65,800 Civic (hybrid)

$66,700 Versa
$67,400 Fiesta
$70,300 Fusion (hybrid)

$71,000 Jetta
$72,200 Prius (hybrid)
$72,600 Yaris

$76,900 Jetta (diesel)
$77,100 Cruze
$82,300 Cruze (diesel)
 
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