True cost of driving ..

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#1024416 13-Apr-2014 15:56

I question the economics of doing any major work on older vehicles. I had a really good 1996 diesel people-mover and had maintenance done on it regularly. Blew the motor on it through a mechanic charging for work that was never done. With this model of vehicle its a rule of thumb to replace the cam belt every four years max. Cam broke, cracked the head, destroyed the turbo diesel. Reconditioned second-hand motor went into it, except it wasn't reconditioned. More money went into repairing the sump. Eventually, after a trip to the auto electricians I drove straight into Turners and left with a cash cheque for $2,000.

I actually spent more in repairs than I did on the purchase price.

It's all very well getting loads of work done on an old car (and probably is wiser than buying another old car - better the devil you know and all that) but it's very hard for the non-mechanical amongst us to know if the work is (a)necessary and (b) being done properly. I'm not throwing good money after bad on older cars any more, instead I will run an oldie with regular maintenance and at the first sign of a big bill will flip it off.

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#1024421 13-Apr-2014 16:21

Elpie: I question the economics of doing any major work on older vehicles. I had a really good 1996 diesel people-mover and had maintenance done on it regularly. Blew the motor on it through a mechanic charging for work that was never done. With this model of vehicle its a rule of thumb to replace the cam belt every four years max. Cam broke, cracked the head, destroyed the turbo diesel. Reconditioned second-hand motor went into it, except it wasn't reconditioned. More money went into repairing the sump. Eventually, after a trip to the auto electricians I drove straight into Turners and left with a cash cheque for $2,000.
I actually spent more in repairs than I did on the purchase price. It's all very well getting loads of work done on an old car (and probably is wiser than buying another old car - better the devil you know and all that) but it's very hard for the non-mechanical amongst us to know if the work is (a)necessary and (b) being done properly. I'm not throwing good money after bad on older cars any more, instead I will run an oldie with regular maintenance and at the first sign of a big bill will flip it off.

It depends...
I can do a lot of work myself - for example a few years ago my wife's nissan runabout, for some unknown reason cracked a cylinder head (not known to have overheated). I bought a replacement engine for $300 &GST, all up cost to replace the engine, including fluids etc, about $500. It took me about 10 hours - so even if paying labour @$80 per hour it would have still been easily worth it. It's done 100,000 trouble-free km since then.

Geektastic

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#1024432 13-Apr-2014 17:10

Servicing twice a year circa $400 a time

tyres 2 per year at say $180 each

WOF's - free (included in warranty)

1 New battery in 4 years at $170

Warranty now coming to an end and I have arranged a 3 year unlimited Km's Toyota extension for about $11000.

Our insurance (for full commercial business use) is about $1000 a year.

Fuel average 7l/100 for 25,000 ams a year.

4 years ago the car cost $40,000 and book value is about $15,000 now I think.

(As a side note, I see that some Skoda's now have 100,000km service intervals!)

freitasm

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#1024433 13-Apr-2014 17:12

Geektastic: Warranty now coming to an end and I have arranged a 3 year unlimited Km's Toyota extension for about $11000.

$11000?

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#1024444 13-Apr-2014 17:38

freitasm:
Geektastic: Warranty now coming to an end and I have arranged a 3 year unlimited Km's Toyota extension for about $11000.

$11000?

Typo. Wearing a wrist brace - makes it trickier than usual!!

$1100

freitasm

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#1024446 13-Apr-2014 17:40

Thought so...

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#1024448 13-Apr-2014 17:45

Fred99:
It depends...
I can do a lot of work myself - for example a few years ago my wife's nissan runabout, for some unknown reason cracked a cylinder head (not known to have overheated). I bought a replacement engine for $300 &GST, all up cost to replace the engine, including fluids etc, about $500. It took me about 10 hours - so even if paying labour @$80 per hour it would have still been easily worth it. It's done 100,000 trouble-free km since then.

I do almost all the maintenance & repairs on my own vehicles.
It's not for everyone, but I like to tinker with things, find out how they work.
As a hobby I buy vehicles, privately or at auction, fix them, use them for a year or two and sell them on.
For the past 10 years I've kept a car in each of the US, Canada & NZ.
My wife keeps accurate account of how much I spend, and so far I'm ahead of the game. In each place.
It's fun, lets off steam- and I've learned a lot.

matisyahu

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#1024461 13-Apr-2014 18:25

I have a 50cc scooter so the cost of running is pretty low but honestly if they provided buses past midnight 7 days a week then I'd be more than happy to take public transport to and from work. I'd hazard to guess for many people that if the cost and timing was sorted out we'd probably have fewer cars on the road. Regarding cars, I have been tempted to get my act together and go for my restricted licence but every time I've done the numbers what I see is a giant black hole because of all the cost - expected and unexpected that come with owning a car.

"When the people are being beaten with a stick, they are not much happier if it is called 'the People's Stick'"

Elpie

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#1024474 13-Apr-2014 18:54

kawaii: I have a 50cc scooter so the cost of running is pretty low but honestly if they provided buses past midnight 7 days a week then I'd be more than happy to take public transport to and from work. I'd hazard to guess for many people that if the cost and timing was sorted out we'd probably have fewer cars on the road. Regarding cars, I have been tempted to get my act together and go for my restricted licence but every time I've done the numbers what I see is a giant black hole because of all the cost - expected and unexpected that come with owning a car.

Kiwis aren't used to being without cars. We don't even like to walk far - witness cars doing circuits trying to find parks right outside where they want to be when 500m up the road there are empty parks galore.

We've made the decision not to own a car in Montreal. It's just not needed. Between metro and buses, and two very reasonably-priced shared car schemes there's no point in having the expense. Public transport in NZ is a bit like the chicken and the egg, until passenger demand reaches critical mass we aren't going to see enough public transport options to tempt people to ditch cars IMO.

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#1024478 13-Apr-2014 19:07

Elpie: We've made the decision not to own a car in Montreal. It's just not needed. Between metro and buses, and two very reasonably-priced shared car schemes there's no point in having the expense. Public transport in NZ is a bit like the chicken and the egg, until passenger demand reaches critical mass we aren't going to see enough public transport options to tempt people to ditch cars IMO.

My wife wants me to try and do that in Calgary this summer. She thinks between the Car2Go's, the Ctrains and other good public transport I could do without a car..

Her version of “true cost of driving” includes more than the running costs.

She'd like to price in..
Fossil fuel extraction, processing and delivery.
Carbon Dioxide emissions & Global Warming.
Visual pollution, traffic congestion, Urban sprawl.

I point out that it's Alberta.. and we should all do our bit for the economy by burning as much oil as possible..

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#1024480 13-Apr-2014 19:14

Well it costs $50 per taxi trip where we live.

If you have 3 kids and six drop offs per day times six

Plus groceries and recreation say you take the bus

That costs more than a car not including depreciation.

Depreciation depends on how old the car was when one bought it.

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Elpie

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#1024482 13-Apr-2014 19:16

Sidestep: I point out that it's Alberta.. and we should all do our bit for the economy by burning as much oil as possible..

That seems a reasonable excuse to me :-)
The traffic jams and lack of parking spaces in Montreal add a factor in. My husband has been there for the past seven months using public transport, mainly, and Car2Go whenever a car has been needed (or snow storms have made being in the streets less appealing). It's been working really well for him so we will be sticking with that now. He's been doing it long enough to really notice the savings which, given the cost of insurance there, are considerable.

Elpie

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#1024492 13-Apr-2014 19:21

joker97: Well it costs $50 per taxi trip where we live.

If you have 3 kids and six drop offs per day times six

Plus groceries and recreation say you take the bus

That costs more than a car not including depreciation.

Depreciation depends on how old the car was when one bought it.

A few years ago, Palmerston North tried a scheme of door-to-door bus services. The buses ran their usual routes but if you wanted to be picked up at your driveway you just phoned in and booked. There was no extra costs involved and it worked brilliantly. Until the taxi companies threatened court action. $2 for a return journey into the city centre by bus from your door vs $30 back then for a taxi. Yet, the bus company said they were covering costs by detouring to people's doors. Shame it didn't last.

At $50 per taxi trip I'm pretty sure I would own a car too!

alasta

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#1024505 13-Apr-2014 19:52

Elpie: Kiwis aren't used to being without cars. We don't even like to walk far - witness cars doing circuits trying to find parks right outside where they want to be when 500m up the road there are empty parks galore.

I find that there is an interesting contrast in attitudes. Most of my friends don't own cars, but at the other extreme I know a few people who never go anywhere unless they're in a car. My own car gets very little use, and I don't know how some people can afford all the daily stop-start driving that they do.

As a pedestrian I get extemely irate when I see cars obstructing the footpath. It's quite obvious that a lot of car drivers don't understand that some of us use our legs to get from one place to another. Or they just don't care.

Athlonite

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#1024613 13-Apr-2014 22:21

As a car driver I get extremely irate when I see pedestrians obstructing the road. It's quite obvious that a lot of pedestrians don't understand that some of us use our cars to get from one place to another. Or they just don't care.

(LOL)

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