Why does this always degenerate into nonsense? You don't have to buy a new car every few years, and get full coverage insurance, and go 15,000 miles a year. But, it also has no relevance to average costs to talk about a 30 year old clunker that you drive 400 miles a year.
The AAA numbers are one reasonable *starting point*. You can make allowances for different situations, but dismissing them without offering any other numbers isn't very helpful.
Here are some numbers from Edmunds to reflect the cost of owning a middle of the road used car. They are for a
2008 Toyota Camry, bought for the average used price in Orlando, driven 15,000 miles a year, and held for 5 years.
.......................Year 1....Year 2....Year 3....Year 4....Year 5....5 Yr Total
Depreciation......$1,234...$1,082.....$953......$845......$758.......$4,872
Taxes & Fees.......$833........$36........$36.......$36........$36.........$977
Financing............$365......$290.......$212.....$132........$47.......$1,046
Fuel.................$2,130....$2,194...$2,260...$2,328...$2,397......$11,309
Insurance.........$2,256....$2,335...$2,417...$2,502...$2,590......$12,100
Maintenance........$826.......$534...$1,020...$1,315...$1,131.......$4,826
Repairs...............$357.......$416......$483......$562.....$652.......$2,470
True Cost..........$8,001....$6,887....$7,381...$7,720..$7,611.....$37,600
http://www.edmunds.com/toyota/camry/...tyle=100900019
I think these numbers are in the ballpark for average people. You could drop full coverage (unless you finance, which many people do). You might drive fewer miles, but 15,000 is near average:
http://cars.lovetoknow.com/about-car...drive-per-year
Change your own oil, whatever, but you can only knock it down so far. If you don't accept this car, this breakdown, as near average, how about another reasonable example, instead of
"Certain posters trot out ridiculous arguments..."?
Why the combat every time someone puts up a number? A real cost average does exist, and
$500 a month is not that far off the mark.