I did this pricing exercise again with the figures from my last car. I spent an average of $147 per month on owning it. My cost per mile was 73¢. The thing is I sold the car for just $29 less than the full retail price after twenty-one months of ownership. It was sold at the height of the gas prices in 2007 with just 2766 miles on the odometer. If I had lived in a big city with more prospective buyers I could have gotten much more at the time of the sale.

If I had owned the car for its full lifespan there is no way it would have only cost me $147 per month. Myrridin's argument is specious.