Hell, I'll bite.
1996 Suburban . . . $8,500
Registration...........$125
Insurance..............$43 (full coverage)
Tires....................$1k (yes, that's 'cheap')
Gas per week.........$75
Oil Change @ 3k......$30
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When I drove my Suburban, I averaged roughly 300-500 miles per week. My wife found routine excuses to 'go drive to Burlington' to price things out that we never purchased, go walk Target for 'savings' and other odds-and-ends.
We sat down and realized we put 90k on a vehicle in less than a year (when I bought her a new car in 2001). I live in Texas so I can only assume it would be worse if I lived in a large Metro area. Routine trips were less than 3 miles.
AN average day went something like:
8 a.m. - drive 2 miles to Elementary school, drop off son.
10 a.m. - drive to McDonald's for 'food' - 2-3 miles round trip
Noon - drive to work (wife drove truck back home) - 3 miles round trip
3 p.m. - wife drives to pick up son - 2 miles
5 p.m. - wife drives home to pick me up for dinner - 1.5 miles
6 p.m. - I drive back to work 1.5 miles
11 p.m. - I drive home for the day 1.5 miles
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Total mileage averaged 15 miles a day, without bull**** trips. Usually we could easily push 20 miles a day.
On my days off we would drive over to Mercedes, down to Matamoros, etc. Added mileage usually was around 100 miles a day. If we decided to drive down to the beach, now you're talking a measily 40 mile round trip to the coast and back.
So in a single week, 20 miles of commuting costs+140 miles of bull****=160 miles a week.
160x4 weeks (and that's a light number) probably came close to 800 miles a month, but probably closer to 1.5k miles a month.
All that mileage means maintenance costs. Maintenance that included replacing a water pump, CV joints ran me up near $1.3k for the year in 'minor repair costs.'
I replaced a windshield at $215 and, because I spent so much time in my truck, upgraded my stereo for a paltry $399.
I'm not even going to bother adding it up, because the final equation that you're not accounting for is the invisible consumer equation.
See, driving a car is lazy. So lazy, people don't realize that their consumer habits are attached to it directly. Big box stores bank on your ability to go out for a drive, and because you use a gasoline vehicle for 'freedom' you play into their hands. Gas stations offer sodas, and other easy to acquire consumables to the drivers because odds are, you're going to be thirsty when you go in and buy gas repeatedly every week.
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Now that my truck sits, I had to learn to make some adjustments.
My son rides the bus to school. My wife may not like it, or think it's safe for an 8 year old yet - but she's adapted to it.
I ride everywhere. Everywhere. So I have to think about my consumer spending habits. Do I really need that? Will I be able to carry it home? That alone has changed my costs.
My bikes have cost me less than $2k total. That includes riding gear, shoes, et al.
If I get a flat, the cost of patching it versus replacing a truck tire is minimal.
I do my own maintenance. I wanted to learn to be better at it, so I went to the LBS and made friends with the owner and asked him to teach me in exchange for free labor. End result? I can now do anything that is needed, and I got a nice long-term part time job out of it.
So by comparison, last year I spent upwards of $15k to be 'free.'
This year, I've spent $2k on a bike that already has outlived my Suburban (which is broken and awaiting $3k in repairs).
Even after next month when I repair the truck, it will sit until November 18th when I take my wife to the hospital for her planned C-section. Even then, I'm taking the bike to ride home at night and back to the hospital every day that week.
I think the comparison would only be more obvious if I rode a hand-me down or thrift store bike like MANY of the locals here do because they can't afford cars.