Originally Posted by
I-Like-To-Bike
It is cherry picking data to select data that only measures the costs of owning brand new cars with the highest depreciation and insurance costs and claiming that it represents the average costs of owning an automobile. Ever hear of used cars, or cars that are owned longer than five years, or driven less than 15,000 miles every year?
Believe it or don't but used and older cars can cost the owner much less to own and operate than the new cars (with their extreme depreciation losses in the first 5 years) in your cherry picked survey.
That's all valid. Though, I assume they took 15,000 miles becuase it's near average usage. If you accept that for a starter, then you're down two thousand for gas, maybe another thousand for insurance and tags just for starters. If you cut all the remaining expenses ($3758) in half, from their low end estimate, you could be out about two thousand for depreciation and repairs on your clunker.
That still adds up to a quick five grand for tooling around in a jalopy. I always thought I was beating the averages myself. But, if you dont budget and track every item, you could find yourself dropping a lot of money and not knowing it.