Originally Posted by
noglider
Fair enough, but it still seems misleading to divide by miles so far. I would rather divide by expected miles before replacing the vehicle or at least until it needs more investment.
I don't believe in dividing by nonexistent values. By this argument, I could add hundreds of thousands of miles to the car's expected lifetime, but that wouldn't make it any more accurate. I go by what I've got so far, not by what might occur in the future.
As I said earlier, a bike often lasts 30 years or tens of thousands of miles. Your average cost per mile is distortedly high in the first few miles if you throw in the entire purchase cost.
See above. With the first car mile, my cost per mile was also $2000/mile. That's why it's based on usage. If you buy a $1200 bike and ride it 12 miles over the course of a year, by your count, that bike only costs $100/mo...but it also costs $100/mile. If you buy a $1200 bike and ride it 1200 miles over three months, by your count, the bike costs $400/mo. I'd rather look at it as costing $1/mile.
Originally Posted by
buzzman
if you are basing your costs on the initial cost of the car plus maintenance divided by miles driven- I tally only $2165.24 spent thus far- how much was the car?
Your tally is high; the total is $2157. The car was about $2000.
And what kind of car did you get for such a low cost?- and you only have had to spend $27 on maintenance?
A regular sedan. I've only spent $27 so far on repairs, yes. The car's 10+ years old.
If the insurance is paid for "by your parents" on a multi-car policy the insurance cost is based on the user profile. If you are college age or younger you're more than likely increasing the cost of their policy so "cheap" is relative. And the car is usually insured by the person on the title of the vehicle. Who is the legal owner of the vehicle?
I'm the legal owner. And I'm a wee bit over college age. Costs are higher for younger drivers, but they're much lower for older vehicles. That's one of the many reasons not to buy new.
Is this actually your car or a car you use but do not assume full financial responsibility for?
See above.
But someone's paying the insurance and there aren't too many places in the US where car insurance is "cheap". Average auto insurance in 2006 in the US was $837/year.
It's about $50 per month. Maybe you consider that "cheap". Maybe not. It's about as much as I spend on gas when I've got some out of town assignments.
As I've said, the main reason I don't count insurance is because I don't count my cycling accessories. I don't count those because I haven't decided how to allocate them to each bike, since I use certain accessories (e.g., my helmet, my floor pump) on both bikes. I might just go figure this out, though, when I've got some free time. Right now, I've got a meeting to get to.