Originally Posted by
I-Like-To-Bike
What costs so much, insurance?
I must be lucky. I bought a 2000 Honda Civic, with 144,000 miles 3 years ago for $3K to make a 160 mile R/T commute once a week. Put 14,000 miles on it in three years. I'm retired now but it only costs $35/year for registration and $280 year for insurance to sit in my driveway. Haven't even done an oil change for the last 2 years. Don't need the money and keep it as backup in case my wife's 10 year old car quits. I use it mostly to get a pizza every now and then and drop larger items off at the Goodwill store. Still running on the tank of gas I put in when I filled it up on 31 Aug. Runs like a top. Good running automotive transportation does not have to cost an arm and leg.
lol, you should change oil every 4 months at least, even if its just sitting there. That's pretty bad.
After 2 years it must look pretty bad.
And I thought I neglected my car
And yeah, all these car ownership cost things obviously don't account for the people who buy beaters for $3K or under and spend almost nothing on maintenance because they do the work themselves or they don't ever drive it.
I bought my car for $2000 four years ago. It costs ~$1000/yr insurance, $75/yr reg, $35 every two years for e-test. I've done a brake job, alternator, exhaust and a couple serpentine belts, synthetic oil every 5K km or 4 months, so ~$1000 in parts/etc (total).
That's about $1350/year after the initial cost of the car. I drive about 8-10K km on it every year. I don't think of depreciation, as I know its going to be worth only $50 when I eventually have to sell it to the junkyard as a rusted out dead car.
Still, I suppose it could be seen as a waste of money since it spends all week sitting in the driveway.