Talk about spreadsheets, I did this on my F-150 when I bought it. Every maintenance item listed along with what I used, what I paid, and mileage when done. Eleven years later when I sold it, no one had any interest in the maintenance I had done. Now I have spasm3's attitude.
How do you "value" your vehicles?
- Thread starter CharlesInCharge
- Start date
Not sure what you are asking.
The value of my vehicle (money wise) is not something I worry about. I paid $X,XXX for the vehicle, and I use it till it cost more to repair than getting another vehicle.
As for sentimental value, none. It is a tool that does a job. I may like a vehicle more than another, but that is a comfort/practicality issue.
The value of my vehicle (money wise) is not something I worry about. I paid $X,XXX for the vehicle, and I use it till it cost more to repair than getting another vehicle.
As for sentimental value, none. It is a tool that does a job. I may like a vehicle more than another, but that is a comfort/practicality issue.
On average I only keep my cars for maybe 2-3 years max so it makes more sense to consider cost per mile based off of depreciation. If I plan to keep it longer I don’t look at the costs as long as I can get my use out of it.
i do not factor in standard maintenance/operating costs(oil, fuel, wipers, etc). I also don’t factor in taxes either due to the fact I’ll be paying it on every single vehicle I buy.
I do factor in repairs that otherwise render the vehicle inoperable.
For example my 91 Corvette was $6500. Did a water pump, belts, headlight motor, new seats. My cost at this point is 7400 plus tax/reg and some small stuff. All in I’m just over 8k. But using the $7400 figure as a starting point, I figure I can probably realistically move this car at $6000. $1400 loss over 1600 miles = $0.88 a mile. Ideally if I can reach 25¢ or lower I would consider it money well spent.
My purchased new 2017 Outback depreciated $11,500 over 3 years/59k miles. 19¢ a mile. I can live with that.
my Maserati on the other hand - depreciation and maintenance cost me $11500 over 9,000 miles/1 year. That’s $1.27 a mile in a short amount of time.
what I’m not factoring in to 88¢ Is that it also keeps miles off my Tacoma which will indirectly lower my overall costs - although I probably won’t ever see it.
i do not factor in standard maintenance/operating costs(oil, fuel, wipers, etc). I also don’t factor in taxes either due to the fact I’ll be paying it on every single vehicle I buy.
I do factor in repairs that otherwise render the vehicle inoperable.
For example my 91 Corvette was $6500. Did a water pump, belts, headlight motor, new seats. My cost at this point is 7400 plus tax/reg and some small stuff. All in I’m just over 8k. But using the $7400 figure as a starting point, I figure I can probably realistically move this car at $6000. $1400 loss over 1600 miles = $0.88 a mile. Ideally if I can reach 25¢ or lower I would consider it money well spent.
My purchased new 2017 Outback depreciated $11,500 over 3 years/59k miles. 19¢ a mile. I can live with that.
my Maserati on the other hand - depreciation and maintenance cost me $11500 over 9,000 miles/1 year. That’s $1.27 a mile in a short amount of time.
what I’m not factoring in to 88¢ Is that it also keeps miles off my Tacoma which will indirectly lower my overall costs - although I probably won’t ever see it.
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I guess I should add that I keep a spreadsheet for each vehicle and piece of equipment we have short of the small OPE. I don’t track costs on any of it but I do keep the date, mileage, whatever work was done, and I track part numbers and occasionally the vendor and invoice number if I pay someone. This is just so I remember what has been done and when to more accurately keep up on maintenance. We have 15 or so vehicles between the commuter stuff up to heavy trucks, 10 or so tractors, a few pieces of heavy equipment, etc so I can’t work from memory anymore. I also track some trailer maintenance mainly for part numbers in case I need a wheel seal or brake valve or something. It’s easier to look and see what I installed last.
What ever my mech repairs/maintenance does I stick the receipts in a large envelope, I figure I might want to look back and see when something was repaired. The last four or five vehicles I've sold I have given the envelope to the new owner and they seem to appreciate it plus it's backs up what I said about taking care of said vehicle in my sales pitch.
As far as value, I try to keep them in the best shape possible so when I do sell it I get what it's worth.
As far as value, I try to keep them in the best shape possible so when I do sell it I get what it's worth.
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😲 ^^^^ Hmm if I did that I would be single again. Some wives or past girlfriends do not understand a car as a hobby?
I am to much of a enthusiast with vehicles. I don't keep financial record of spent items can't see the point. If I get tired of the car I will sell it. Money invested or spent for what ever reason maintenance or fun I got what I wanted from the joy of owning it and modding.
I only keep hyper accurate MPG records and simple dates and what I did. Like today I will log the date miles on the odometer and list what I did for labor, parts replaced, service or my latest mod.
This is very close to my line of thinking. Costs per mile on utility vehicles, plus keeping miles off of more important vehicles for milk runs and soccer practice, etc.
For instance, buy a used 2005 Camry in 2010 with 100k miles for $5k. Drive it for 10 years and 150,000 miles. Spend say $1k on vehicle specific repairs. So a $6k vehicle. Now divide by years or miles, you've got a vehicle that cost $600 per year of ownership, or 4 cents per mile of use.
And contrast this with say the first owner of the same Camry who bought it for $30k and had it for say 5 years and 100k miles. His equation would be $6000 per year of use, or 30 cents per mile.
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Value... hmm... good question. I do track fuel cost per mile, occasionally. I haven't included all costs including maintenance, insurance, etc. to achieve a true cost per mile but then that number might bum me out lol. I just buy a quality used vehicle that meets my needs, take good care of it and enjoy it as long as it still serves the required purpose. Quality vehicles that are unmodified and maintained in good condition typically have higher resale value.
I've noticed that lots of people like to buy vehicles that aren't designed to do what they want, and then modify it into the vehicle they want. IMO they should have bought the right vehicle in the first place, but I guess everyone needs a cool hobby lol. Point being, it's usually much more expensive going the modification route to your desired vehicle vs. just buying the right vehicle at the start. In my mind this factors into the cost / value discussion.
I've noticed that lots of people like to buy vehicles that aren't designed to do what they want, and then modify it into the vehicle they want. IMO they should have bought the right vehicle in the first place, but I guess everyone needs a cool hobby lol. Point being, it's usually much more expensive going the modification route to your desired vehicle vs. just buying the right vehicle at the start. In my mind this factors into the cost / value discussion.
do you consider doing major repairs(transmission, engine etc.) with your cars?
the drawback of cost per mile is that any major repair will set you back. This certainly isn’t a flawless, one-size-fits-all equation. But I suppose if you can get your use out of a car it’s still money well spent.
Yes, of course. That's sort of the purpose. So I can have a simple easy gauge of what has been done, what is needed, keeping track of costs, parts, labor prices, which shop did which repairs and when, mileage for various intervals like oil changes and transmission and differential changes, etc. Big ticket items absolutely go on the trackers.
Gas, never. It's a sunk cost and so trivial between different vehicles. I just reset the trip odometer every fillup, and do a quick division to see that I'm getting ballpark what I expect mainly to ensure I don't have a hidden fuel leak or problem. I don't put insurance there, b/c that's also a sunk cost and I know they are all about the same with my excellent rates.
I do "look back" and do "year in review" on vehicles to see if they are/were a good investment for their designated purposes. So far, one in my fleet is more expensive than I had anticipated, but I'll keep it and the longer I own it the cheaper it gets.
It's not flawless. There are intangibles such as pleasure, intangibles such as a utility vehicle keeping miles off a more valuable vehicle for errands, etc.
I guess at that point the only difference is if you’re wanting to pay an extra 26¢ to have a new car and not deal with small repairs to keep it running reliability. I suppose the key to new cars is to buy them and rack up as many miles as quick as possible, up to the threshold right before they lose a ton of value due to mileage.
the reason I don’t have much interest in daily driving a older cheap car is that I have no interest in doing any repair that is close to 50% of the vehicles value, or any repair within a reasonable timeframe that adds up to that. But sometimes it’s not just a money factor. Repairing odd ends here and there is sometimes annoying.
I guess that's me too. I love to drive, and drive hard n fast. Friends used to call me relentless. Vehicles that hold up to my lead foot get a tiny bit of respect. Other than that, most are just fun appliances.
I've never owned a valuable vehicle, so I guess it does not matter much.
My hospital nurse daughter tells me there is an old saying at her workplace to the effect: "we never encounter anyone on their death bed that regrets not spending more of their precious life accruing personal vehicle records".
I track maintenance and repair items and costs in a spreadsheet for our cars. Not really to track value or expenses per se but mostly so I can go back and see what was done when so I can plan future work. We keep our cars a fairly long time (200k).
I "value" my cars by how much it's going to cost me to replace it with something acceptable. I drive a 2006 Accord, paid off with low insurance costs, it's got about 180k miles on it, drives great, and is an unusual EX with leather and manual transmission. I'm not going to buy another 15 year old car when it bites the dust, so whatever a reasonably well equipped, stick shift vehicle with half the miles costs is how much it's worth to me at the moment.
jeff
I "value" my cars by how much it's going to cost me to replace it with something acceptable. I drive a 2006 Accord, paid off with low insurance costs, it's got about 180k miles on it, drives great, and is an unusual EX with leather and manual transmission. I'm not going to buy another 15 year old car when it bites the dust, so whatever a reasonably well equipped, stick shift vehicle with half the miles costs is how much it's worth to me at the moment.
jeff
And yet you opened and read a thread about it and took the time to reply. How ironic.
"New" does not equal lack of repairs, headaches, and expenses. One big reason that older cars are becoming so sought after is that a % of people reject the overly expensive complexity and LACK of reliability of some ultra modern tech laden vehicles. I've read plenty of angry forums and posts and blogs about new cars with recalls, transmissions that don't work, engine failure, etc.
I don’t spend much time figuring out my costs. I just use some filters to decide what vehicle to buy, and then accept whatever costs come with it. So I always have a full-frame 4x4 for hunting. That eliminates a lot of potential vehicles right there. I tend to like buy new and generally in a lower-end trim. When we had our second kid, side impact became important. I wanted something that would last a long time and be tough to outgrow, so I wound up in a 2016 crew 2500HD work truck with the 6.0 vortec.
Kind of goes to your point about newer technology - I did not want AFM, turbo, hybrid, or any other complicated technologies. I just wanted something that would last forever and I couldn’t outgrow. I pay at the pump now, of course, but compared to the cost of some of the repairs you see on the AFM trucks it seems worthwhile to accept the lower fuel economy in favor of long-term reliability.
Kind of goes to your point about newer technology - I did not want AFM, turbo, hybrid, or any other complicated technologies. I just wanted something that would last forever and I couldn’t outgrow. I pay at the pump now, of course, but compared to the cost of some of the repairs you see on the AFM trucks it seems worthwhile to accept the lower fuel economy in favor of long-term reliability.
Nick1994
$100 site donor 2023
I just keep track of my maintenance logs in Fuelly. About $12k worth of work done to the Genesis in the last 10 months or so.
Thank god for extended warranties
Thank god for extended warranties
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