5 ms·

It is not accurate to use $40,000 as the amount of money needed to get a car. A good new car can be purchased for half that, not to mention the used car market.

by ezfe 5y ago

tcoff91 5y ago
Car insurance, gas, maintenance, oil changes, tires, etc… Total cost of ownership of a car is really high
- londons_explore 5y ago
  I think this must be a US phenomenon. My used car in the UK costs me about $600/year plus $0.14/mile (including fuel, taxes, inspections, maintenance, depreciation, parking, insurance). And that's in a country with ~$0.09/mile in fuel taxes. Granted this is not the average cost of car ownership but a car chosen for low total ownership cost.
  - serf 5y ago
    >I think this must be a US phenomenon. >a car chosen for low total ownership cost. I own and drive a car that I bought with the intention of owning and maintaining cheaply, too. I am fairly anal about maintenance, so the costs associated with that are actually inflated from what they could be. I live in Southern California, apparently a very expensive place to be. I own a reliable used car that I bought for fairly cheap (sub 5000usd). I pay about 82 dollars a year for registration, and 85 dollars a month (with a good DMV history) for insurance. I spend around 1200 dollars on maintenance a year generally, but it has been as low as 500 a year. So, 2400-2900 a year after the initial purchase. It's more expensive than some places -- but not ourageous. Licensing is a lot cheaper than Japan, at least.
    - fomine3 5y ago
      Insurance seems to very high compared to Japan. With good history, 35yr old, and having Prius, unlimited insurance with car insurance takes below $300/yr. Tax is high here. $330/yr (after 2yr) and $210/2yr (after 5yr).
      - mrep 5y ago
        $840 for me in IL even with Anti-Theft Discount, Auto Multiple Line Discount, Short Annual Mileage Discount, Vehicle Safety Discount, Good Driver Discount.
- serf 5y ago
  it's still not near 40k unless you budget it towards that number. Here's a reasonable one year old used car in Los Angeles. It only approaches the 40k number after five years of ownership. https://www.edmunds.com/chevrolet/sonic/2020/cost-to-own/?style=401803004 https://www.edmunds.com/chevrolet/sonic/2020/cost-to-own/?st...
- fy20 5y ago
  I bought a used car 6 years ago, and since then I've spent €2,200 on maintenance - that includes oil and tire changes. I'm quite strict on following the manufacturers guidelines, so if you were a bit more laissez-faire or did more work yourself it would be cheaper. Insurance costs €150/year. I drive around 10,000km per year, which at today's prices (€1.50 per litre) fuel costs €900/year. I paid €10,000 to buy the car and today the same aged cars will sell for around €6,000. That gives a total cost of ownership (excluding fuel) of €1,100/year or €2,000/year including fuel. For my family's usage that works out cheaper than public transport + renting a car for longer trips.
  - dflock 5y ago
    All these costs are highly dependent on where you live - especially insurance and fuel prices.
stephc_int13 5y ago
Car cost is also fuel, insurance and maintenance. Old cars cost less upfront but often more on maintenance. For most people housing > car > food (relative cost) I think that 8 billion cars on this planet would not be reasonable. This is a political issue about urbanisation and transportation, the next generations will have to make choices.
rdubz 5y ago
Used e-bikes are also available, and cheaper. I'm comparing new cars to new e-bikes and, sure, in both cases you can get something "pretty good" for ≈half the average new {e-bike,car} price. Some people will get something "very good" for 2x the average! From what I can tell the research supporting the $40k average (or, alternatively, $800/mo) seems reasonable: https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/average-new-car-price-2020/ https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/average-new-car-price-202... https://www.motor1.com/news/370609/average-american-monthly-car-spendings/ https://www.motor1.com/news/370609/average-american-monthly-... Definitely something I want to hash out and cite more though.

It is not accurate to use $40,000 as the amount of money needed to get a car. A good new car can be purchased for half that, not to mention the used car market.

by ezfe 5y ago

It is not accurate to use $40,000 as the amount of money needed to get a car. A good new car can be purchased for half that, not to mention the used car market.

tcoff91 5y ago

Car insurance, gas, maintenance, oil changes, tires, etc… Total cost of ownership of a car is really high

londons_explore 5y ago
I think this must be a US phenomenon. My used car in the UK costs me about $600/year plus $0.14/mile (including fuel, taxes, inspections, maintenance, depreciation, parking, insurance). And that's in a country with ~$0.09/mile in fuel taxes. Granted this is not the average cost of car ownership but a car chosen for low total ownership cost.
- serf 5y ago
  >I think this must be a US phenomenon. >a car chosen for low total ownership cost. I own and drive a car that I bought with the intention of owning and maintaining cheaply, too. I am fairly anal about maintenance, so the costs associated with that are actually inflated from what they could be. I live in Southern California, apparently a very expensive place to be. I own a reliable used car that I bought for fairly cheap (sub 5000usd). I pay about 82 dollars a year for registration, and 85 dollars a month (with a good DMV history) for insurance. I spend around 1200 dollars on maintenance a year generally, but it has been as low as 500 a year. So, 2400-2900 a year after the initial purchase. It's more expensive than some places -- but not ourageous. Licensing is a lot cheaper than Japan, at least.
  - fomine3 5y ago
    Insurance seems to very high compared to Japan. With good history, 35yr old, and having Prius, unlimited insurance with car insurance takes below $300/yr. Tax is high here. $330/yr (after 2yr) and $210/2yr (after 5yr).
    - mrep 5y ago
      $840 for me in IL even with Anti-Theft Discount, Auto Multiple Line Discount, Short Annual Mileage Discount, Vehicle Safety Discount, Good Driver Discount.
serf 5y ago
it's still not near 40k unless you budget it towards that number. Here's a reasonable one year old used car in Los Angeles. It only approaches the 40k number after five years of ownership. https://www.edmunds.com/chevrolet/sonic/2020/cost-to-own/?style=401803004 https://www.edmunds.com/chevrolet/sonic/2020/cost-to-own/?st...
fy20 5y ago
I bought a used car 6 years ago, and since then I've spent €2,200 on maintenance - that includes oil and tire changes. I'm quite strict on following the manufacturers guidelines, so if you were a bit more laissez-faire or did more work yourself it would be cheaper. Insurance costs €150/year. I drive around 10,000km per year, which at today's prices (€1.50 per litre) fuel costs €900/year. I paid €10,000 to buy the car and today the same aged cars will sell for around €6,000. That gives a total cost of ownership (excluding fuel) of €1,100/year or €2,000/year including fuel. For my family's usage that works out cheaper than public transport + renting a car for longer trips.
- dflock 5y ago
  All these costs are highly dependent on where you live - especially insurance and fuel prices.

stephc_int13 5y ago

Car cost is also fuel, insurance and maintenance. Old cars cost less upfront but often more on maintenance. For most people housing > car > food (relative cost) I think that 8 billion cars on this planet would not be reasonable. This is a political issue about urbanisation and transportation, the next generations will have to make choices.

rdubz 5y ago

Used e-bikes are also available, and cheaper. I'm comparing new cars to new e-bikes and, sure, in both cases you can get something "pretty good" for ≈half the average new {e-bike,car} price. Some people will get something "very good" for 2x the average! From what I can tell the research supporting the $40k average (or, alternatively, $800/mo) seems reasonable: https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/average-new-car-price-2020/ https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/average-new-car-price-202... https://www.motor1.com/news/370609/average-american-monthly-car-spendings/ https://www.motor1.com/news/370609/average-american-monthly-... Definitely something I want to hash out and cite more though.