Be thankful you don't have a car
 

ran across this.... it should put a smile on your face that is if you don't drive a car.

http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2012/...-846-per-year/

I wonder: in 1950, it cost $0.09/mile to own a car. Now it apparently costs $0.60/mile. In real dollars, is there that much of a difference? I'm not questioning that driving a car is expensive, but adjusted for inflation it doesn't seem that much more expensive than in the past. What has changed that makes people think that the cost of owning and operating a car is now prohibitive? (Note: I'm not a car fan, my question is based solely on the math...)

In 1979 I wanted but could not afford a Schwinn Paramount road racing bike. A P13-9. $702.00 without dealing. Today I saw a 2012 Specialized Tarmac SL4 DI2. $11,000.00. (Still can't afford one) The Paramount came with tubulars with good wheels. Tubulars for the Tarmac are over $100.00 a pop. The top wheels were Campy today it would be Zipp or Hed, $2600.00 or more a set. Bar tape was maybe a buck today it is $30.00 A good Racing saddle might have been 25 bucks today they Start at $160.00 to $250.00 unless you want a CF SMP at $650.00.

As bragi said have car expenses jumped all that far since 1979 in real dollars?

It's probably not that much of a difference. I'm pretty sure most of the cost is actually in the "depreciation" of your car. Buy a $20,000 car new (say a honda civic/ford focus/mazda 3), and the car depreciates and is say worth $10,000 in 4 years (pretty good resale car to do that).

So you lose $2,500 a year in depreciation (good case) now say you drive 10,000 miles a year, that depreciation is costing you $.25 a mile!

Where as gas on a 30mpg car is only costing about $.13 a mile (assuming $4 a gallon gas).

Now think that many people buy trucks, bigger cars, suvs, minivans, etc all that have higher depreciation and fuel costs and you can see how it can be so expensive!


My way of keeping my car operating costs as low as possible is to have a cheap older car that has about zero depreciation. I bought my car for $1500, spent $500 fixing it to great operating condition and it's still worth more than $2,000 after driving it 2 years.

Of course it gets worse gas mileage than a newer car (new small cars can get close to 40 mpg pretty commonly and mine only gets high 20's) but since that's not a big cost compared to depreciation, increased insurance costs, registration fees, etc.. it doesn't bother me. Knowing how to work on cars and keeping it running well keeps maintenance costs low as well.

I can see this number as accurate on when buying new cars, and probably an averaged number as well, with some car owners paying much less, but I wouldn't want to be the person paying more though.

People spend more on other things leaving less money for the car? Back in 1950 there were fewer fast food emporiums, fewer big box stores full of cheap crap, and people actually put money in their savings accounts. I wonder what the annual miles driven then was compared with today?

Aaron :)

If 1950's 9 cent per mile ownership number is correct, then that would equate to $1.27 per mile in today's wages. That would deter a lot of people from car ownership, as was seen in a an aerial photo of our city around that time, with a dozen cars seen in one several block radius, and over 600 in the same block radius in a satellite photo over 50 years later.

Another factor is the designing of our business/road infrastructure that caters to the use of an automobile, whereas our businesses were located within blocks of each other, near the residential areas, making walking to them more desirable. Today, businesses are scattered all around our city, making them difficult to walk to, as well as in using mass transit.

Mobile You can still buy a Schwinn for $700 if you want :)

It would be interesting to have a comparison, but I suspect you are right.

Another factor though is that a bigger chunk of the population is cash strapped. Particularly young people.

This Paul Krugman article points out the problem:

I completely agree. I graduated from a 2 year tech school, then a 4 year college and now I am taking another degree course online (at age 50+:p). ALL were paid for in full, no student loans or credit cards. IIRC the average graduate is leaving school with something on the order of $25,000 in student loan debt, it is going to take a looooong time to pay that off with a minimum wage job or even a part time entry level job. I honestly think that the economy as we know it is in a retraction and still has a long way to go before things really get sorted out. I also made sure my two children got through college debt free, they went to state universities, but have a quality education and are doing what they are happy with. I don't think they would have had the same opportunities if they were carrying a student loan debt.

Aaron :)

:lol:Well not likely a good Paramount P-13 because those that have them aren't selling one. To get a new one I would have to buy a Waterford since Schwinn was sold after going bankrupt back in the 90s. Schwinn has fallen to Wally world status today. But Schwinn was a top of the line bike back then and the new wonder bikes today easily fetch 11k to the consumer and 20k to the racer. However when looking for an older Paramount or even a Lightspeed I did run accross a 91 Klein with full early Dura Ace that may be even sportier. :D And now can ride it as my down town bike and weekend errand bike.

In 2003, the average cost to drive a car according to AAA was $7754.00 dollars! It appears the price of motoring for 15,000 miles goes up 2K every 10 years! That's not that much when you think about it. I used 2003 as a starting date because that was the year I joined Bike Forums! ;-) Motoring was too expensive for me back then too!

Just be glad you don't have an SUV.

"Increases in gas and tires drive up average costs for sedans to $8,946 yearly, 59.6 cents per mile; SUV costs up to $11,360 yearly, 75.7 cents per mile"

Let's not forget the stagnation of wages over the last couple decades; I did the math, and in actual realized dollars, my latest annual raise FINALLY put me JUST ABOVE WHERE I WAS in 1989, my last year in the Army. In the meantime, my COL has tripled.

I'm REALLY thankful to be car-free; I'll be even happier if the day comes that my immediate (in-house) family does so, as well. Honestly, 95% of what we do could be accomplished with a trailer hooked to either MY bike, or a moped. There's just an old-fashioned resistance to the concept (sister's hubby thinks like the illustrated black families at the turn of the 20th Century, who would near-bankrupt themselves using public transit instead of walking/biking -- believe that was observed by G.W. Carver).

Even using the 'used-car/no depreciation' model, I can buy a brand-new, rugged-as-hell MTB to handle all my silliness every couple years or LESS, and break even. SO if I get my expected 5-6 years out of the frame, I'm money ahead -- with a smile on my face every day!

IMO, riding a bicycle isn't about saving money. It is about living better. Any $$$ saved is just a bonus.

+1

Again, even with the dollar amount posted in the OP, owning a motor vehicle today is far cheaper than it was 60 years ago. My parents could not afford to even buy a used car until they were in their early to mid 20's, and then it was not in the best of shape either.

Doncha know that car free people are authorities on car expenses and the value provided to car owners by same? Maybe that is why there is such an obsession on repeated regurgitation of the subject of car expenses by some members of this car free forum.

Sometimes, one has to dig a little deeper and find out that today is not always as bad as it seems, and the "good 'ol days" were not as good as some here tend to think.

My phone and cable bill from Verizon is 320 bucks a month. 4 cell phones,high speed internet , land line and TV. No fancy channels.

That is a bill I did not have back in the early 80s.

Hippie

Sounds like you need a sermon on how wasteful, foolish and unnecessary spending on such devices is from the experts here who don't own TVs, cell phones and/or high speed internet connections and other doo dads that they deem unnecessary for their own lifestyle.

Do you now have a wife and children that you may not have had 30 years ago?

We did not "need" those things in the 80s. I agree that having them is convenient, but they are not necessary. Except maybe the internet.

All those on this list without costly family expenses are free to post messages declaring their smarts and how to "be thankful" for not spending money on things that they believe provide so little value.

Yes, we do tend to spend a lot more on technology today than in the past, leaving less room for paying off vehicles. This is especially true for the young adults trying to strike out on their own.