Car Ownership Cost, New, Used, Really Used - Long Run

[conozo]

I love working with numbers, so I was wondering the other day. How much money would one spend on owning a new car, compared to an average used car, and then our accords. Take the following examples i threw together real quick. But i want you to add any cost or correct what i have.

Example 1: Buy New Civic $25000 after taxes, registration, etc.
-Monthly Payment: 600? I have no idea how much a monthly payment would be if you had a loan. Anyone have an idea?
-Monthly Insurance: $85? Also have no idea how much insurance including comprehensive would cost on a new car worth $25,000
-10 year cost: 39,000
-20 year cost: 49,200

Example 2: Buy used Honda, well go with half the cost of new which would be about $12000 and around a 2008 year
-Monthly Payment: 300
-Monthly Insurance: 70
-10 year cost: 22800 (Savings over new: 16200)
-20 year cost: 31200 (Savings over new: 18000)

Example 3: Classic Honda $5000 on a nice one
-Monthly Payment: shouldnt be any, buy with cash
-Monthly Insurance: $45 May not need comprehensive coverage
-10 year cost: $ 10400 (Savings over new: 28600)
-20 year cost: $ 15800 (Savings over new: 33400)

So obviously i haven't added repair cost, but say that the new car wont have any repair cost, that would mean that if you spend all the amount marked as savings over new you would break even. So that classic honda where you have $33400 to spend over 20 years is really alot. I have tracked my expenses on my accord since it was new off the lot, it totals to $9500 for 25 years which includes two tranny rebuilds, engine overhaul, and a lot of unnecessary expenses to be honest.
This is partially what i expected to see: So my logic is keep this car and do any kind of repair, mechanical and body but get rid of it if its in a wreck or has severe out of control rust. This logic of keeping an old car would only work for a car that was maintained from the beginning and a car that doesn't have serious design flaws. This is convincing me to spend whatever i want on this old honda, as long as I like driving it and its reliable. The things you don't get is some of the new technology features and extra safety.

[Dr_Snooz]

Any car with a loan against it will require full coverage insurance, so double your monthly insurance cost and you'll be closer to the mark. Also, I don't know what your state is like, but here in California if you are stupid enough to buy a new car, the state will assume that you have way more money than you need. Then they take it from you in the yearly registration fee. Those run into the hundreds of dollars here. The registration fee for that Civic you're considering is $275/year.

Overall, your best bet is to get a ~4 year old car. You avoid the horrible depreciation and get somewhat lower insurance and license fees, while still avoiding all the old car "personality."

Old cars are always cheaper to fix than buying something newer, but there's a catch. They will break and require repair. Whereas a newer car will cost you a small fortune every month, an old car will cost you a big fortune every so often. You'll eventually have to rebuild the engine, trans and do other unusual and expensive repairs. Whereas newer cars are predictable and budgetable, old cars require a healthy savings account for emergencies. Also, those emergencies will never happen on your schedule, so there's the frustration factor to consider. What's more, when the car goes in for an emergency, it will not be driveable while it's being fixed, so you'll be renting a car or bumming rides. Finally, an old car will leave you stranded every so often. Though you're scrupulous with the maintenance, things will happen that aren't on the maintenance schedule. Admittedly, they will happen very rarely with these cars, but they will still happen. Igniters will go kaput. Fuel pumps will quit. Batteries will crap out and other things you can't anticipate will render the car useless at very inconvenient moments. In those cases, you'll be calling work to say you'll be in late because your car broke down. Again, it will always be cheapest to repair the car you have, especially so if you can do your own work. The only real problem is the impositions when it breaks.

[conozo]

Yes reliability is a concern, but if you own a 25 year old car in the first place you are either flat broke or you know what you are doing and can do repairs. This is really for those who at least can do minor repairs and at know when a part replacement is coming up. If you have been driving a particular car for years and pay attention to its maintenance schedule and how it runs you are going to notice ahead of time when a lot of things will go wrong. A fuel pump may go out one day but i highly doubt that it will work perfectly for 25 years then the next day be completely dead. I know you cant apply that to all parts on the car.

Its just fun and shocking to see some of numbers you can come up with when calculating everyday stuff like this.

Did i convince anyone to drop at least 33grand into their car now? You dont have to do it all at once you know, $137 a month for the next 20 years is the same amount.

[Legend_master]

You also have to consider cost of parts for repairs between the slightly used car and the classic. Newer cars will tend to be more expensive for maintenance/repairs. Also here in Texas my car is considered a classic, and now only requires a safety inspection. So I only have to pay $14.00 every year instead of the normal $46.00. This also means no requirements to get repairs (minus headlights, horn, and brakes) as you would have with any obd-1 plus car. With that said, owning an older car requires a bit more knowledge on car repairs, and knowing what to listen for before it breaks. I currently have been "modernizing" my car (radio, suspension, brakes, engine, ect) to have some of the amenities with less of the cost of a new car. I definitely drank the coolaid once and bought a brand new car, biggest mistake I ever made. Insurance was outrageous, and selling the car a year later with only 10K miles it depreciated almost $8,000.

[Oldblueaccord]

I don't count in tires, brakes,oil changes in maint. cost because all cars use this brand new or not.


That being said I have never had a new car and I don't think my maint cost on my Honda have ever gone over 500$ in a year. I do do my own work 95% of the time. My accord is my daily driver still and I have been putting 300 miles a week on it for 4 years.

But these last few months I have had thoughts of buying a new Dodge Challenger money be damned! I guess its an age thing.

[2oodoor]

That Dodge will always tempt me as well ^^^

I am waiting to see how that 8 speed auto holds up too.

Car payments suck sooooo bad, Im thankfull not to have one anymore. If I want to go out of town it's cheaper and more fun to just rent a car. Just last week rented a Chrysler 200 to go to Myrtle Beach for 3 days and I loved it. 28 mpg average and loaded to the gills, cost me right at 200 including fuel. I would have spent about that just on fuel if I took the F150 I usually haul the family around in.

[ItsaHonda]

Numbers aside, my problem with new cars (besides the rediculously high price tags and alien-like designs that look like something a toddler drew up) is that they are just built so cheaply. I had a 2006 Accord EXL before I got my 90 and 89 Accords. It was a nice car with nifty features, but there was so much hard and cheap plastic in the interior that it rattled like crazy, the silver painted trim around some of the buttons and knobs started wearing off, the dash top plastic was beginning to warp and some the back lights at night were going out. These are issues I have never had with an older Honda... the interior of my 96 Accord (the car I traded in for the 06) still looked brand new after 200,000 miles...not even the floor mats and seat fabric were worn.

Mechanically, the brake rotors kept warping, the K24 started consuming a significant amount of oil after just 120k miles, coolant level kept mysteriously dropping (with no traces of a leak) and the engine developed a severe case of piston slap around 100k miles that wouldn't go away even after the engine was at full operating temp. (which may have lead to the oil consumption). There were other smaller issues as well, the bottom line is that the car was quite a disappointment and left me very sorry that I gave up the 96 (which is still running today with over 300,000 miles) as well as all of the other old Hondas I've had the pleasure of owning. I was tempted by the big fluffy leather seats, pretty dash and new car smell... but I decided that I wasn't going to make that mistake again. I sold it and went back to where I started.

I chose a 4th gen to be my primary DD and highway car because of all the Accord generations, I feel these were the absolute best (and has always been one of my favorite body styles). There is still a ton of these on the road. I got lucky and found the 90 with low mileage (113k miles at time, now at 117k) and only one previous owner. The car set me back $2300 and about another $1000 in total maintenance costs to put it in tip top shape. As expected, the car has been great... I depend on it every day and I would drive it cross country without reservation. It is 23 years old, but IMO, these cars are every bit as reliable and trouble free as a newer one. Low and behold, ALL interior lights still work, it does not rattle, nothing is wearing off, braking is smooth, the F22 hasn't lost a drop of synthetic oil in 4k miles, runs quietly like it should after warm up and the coolant level is still at the "max" line. I'll pocket the $$$ and pass the "new" cars on the side of the road in this old white beauty...

[Vanilla Sky]

My 3gee has cost less than $1500 for everything but fuel over the time I've driven it. That includes all of the parts sitting on the shelf that still need to be installed (timing belt, water pump, everything on that side of the motor, really) and quite a few things I didn't need like a decent stereo. Sure, I find deals on everything I put on this car, but it has cost less to operate over the last 6 months than our 2008 Astra. The only person in the house that will take the Astra over the 3gee is my wife, and that's because the Astra has a working AC and power steering.

I should also point out that my current 3gee came to me with its transmission in the trunk. It would fall into the "used up" category if you had one.