trmcgeehan

I am amazed how much it costs to operate a car! I bought a used 1993 Volvo 240 wagon in 1995 for $17,000 (it cost $25,000 new). I drove it for 7 years and put 160,000 miles on it. Guess what was the total cost to operate this car? I was shocked. Over the seven years, I had a little notebook where I entered every expense except gas, which is easily calculable. I entered insurance, oil changes, repairs, parts, tires -- everything. It cost me approximately $50,000 to go 160,000 miles, which works out to 28 cents a mile, after deducting the current trade-in value, which is around $4,000. I underestand the average new car (according to the car rental companies) is 43 cents a mile, so I guess I got off cheap. The old Volvo is still going strong at 200,000 miles, but I use it less now a days and bike more. I have an old Trek I ride around town to go to the bank, post office, meetings, work, etc. In a year, I will put more than 500 miles on the Trek for this kind of non-recreational riding, operating in only a 5 block area. The fat cats in town, driving their Lincolns, think I'm a bit strange. I made a bet with my father-in-law, who drives a big Caddy, that I could beat him to the bank front door on my bike. It took me 3 minutes to ride up to the bank front door. Ten minutes later, he was still trying to find a parking space for his big hawg.