How many miles to get your money’s worth?

2011 Prius III. Paid MSRP + tax, so $28K.

Currently at 225,000 miles.

Major expenses:

6 sets of tires at $600/set = $3600
Headgasket job (DIY) $1K
Oil, filters, wipers, struts/stocks, brakes, alignment, etc. (DIY) $2K?

This puts me at 15.4 cents/mile without accounting depreciation, fuel or insurance. To be honest, the number is still higher than I would like.
Didn't you do some sort of battery refurbish also??
 
Can't tell you the total miles but I was told back in the seventies by an old guy the Ten Cent Rule. Anytime that you replace a non wear part you have to drive the car 10 times the cost of the repair. So say you need to replace the struts on your car and it cost you say $800, then you have to drive the car another 8,000 miles to pay for the repair. It's a good way to justify whether the repair is worth it or not.
Problem today is, the cost to replace the vehicle is so crazy high that it’s almost always going to be cheaper & worth it to fix it!
 
If purchasing new, I’d like to see 150K miles without an engine or transmission problem.

Having said that, the longest I’ve owned a car is 7 years, and that is my current Accord. In that time I’ve only put 35,000 miles on it. At that current rate, it will take me over 16 years to hit 150K haha. Let’s see if I can hold onto it for that long!

The majority of miles are put on my wife’s car. I’d love to get 150K out of it, as it was purchased new and I’ll do my best to stay on top of maintenance.
 
I like to net out 15 cents per mile.
This is the correct answer. A cost per mile assessment.

the one modifier is that capital cost per mile is dependent on vehicle class.

When cost per mile is accurately calculated, it becomes clear just where the money goes.

In some cases, for example, fuel savings can offset the slightly higher cost per mile of a newer vehicle.
 
I always have 2 cars and don't drive a lot so I expect at least 10 years of good service - ie zero major repairs. Tires, batteries, lights, brakes, etc are wear items. They just get replaced as required.

For mileage that would be at least 160,000 km (100,000 miles).

Anything beyond that is a bonus. My Honda is into bonus territory (15 years old and 189,000 km/120,000 miles). My Volvo had the biggest bonus performance of any car I've owned (18 1/2 years and 285,000 km/180,000 miles). I liked the Volvo but didn't dote on it - I just kept driving it - which I think is why it did so well.
 
I have had a few go past 200,000 mile mark with minor repairs. Had one go to 410,000. The Malibu us closing in on 80,000 and has not needed anything. I suspect it will see 150,000 with little to no issues. So I would say 150,000 or 10 years of service with nothing major. Also depends on how the vehicle is used. I expect my truck even with its duty cycle of towing to out last most sedans listed here.
 
Let’s say you buy a new car. Nothing unusual, some sort of daily driver like a Camry or an Accord. You pay a couple thousand below MSRP. How many trouble-free miles (no major repairs) do you need to get out of that car before you feel like you got your money’s worth out of it?
I expect to get 200k miles out of a new car. Therefore I depreciate my cars on a per mile basis over a 200k mile life.

Regardless of mileage, if I sell a car for more than that formula says it's worth I feel that I got good value out of it.
 
I expect 1-2 minor repairs to get to 150k and maybe another to get to 200k....after that the car doesn't owe you anything and the rest is gravy.

However, since 2011ish the depreciation curve on new cars has been so skewed toward the later years it doesn't make sense to keep a car that long. You can trade a car with 100k and get more than 50% of it's value - might as well enjoy the first half of the car's life!
 
Let’s say you buy a new car. Nothing unusual, some sort of daily driver like a Camry or an Accord. You pay a couple thousand below MSRP. How many trouble-free miles (no major repairs) do you need to get out of that car before you feel like you got your money’s worth out of it?
Economics 101. The fewer cars you have in your lifetime, the better off you are financially.
 
Whatever full syn 5w20 was the cheapest...most of the time was wal mart brand and a fram filter and every other oil change a small bottle of MotorKote....Please dont rip me on the last one...Changed the oil when the maint minder said 40 %.....
You did good! Nearing 400K!(y)
 
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I do my math of this type based on 150K miles. So far, I have been able to achieve that before a vehicle gets in a wreck or an extremely expensive repair.
^^^ This - since the trade (in the normal world I hope to see again) will drop at 100k - I normally decide to keep or sell/trade by 75K - if I keep - 150K is all I can stand and want newer …

We don’t do any long drives - so lots of stop/starts - bumps/potholes/off-pavement in this moderate mileage …
 
Heck, I try to get 100-150k out of used cars.

My 2012 Mazda3, purchased with 67,466 miles. As of today, I'm at about 147,600 so about 80k miles in 4.5 years. Total costs other than insurance work out to be $18,599 or $0.23/mile. That includes OTD purchase for just under $10k, fuel, maintenance and tags.

That works out to about $0.107/mile for non purchase costs. So the car is on the order of $0.123/mile give or take.

Fuel is about 74% of the running costs at $6338.20


M&R would have to drastically increase to increase my running costs. The big driver, in either direction is currently the price of fuel.
 
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