On the plane yesterday I thought - I wonder how the ownership cost stacks up against today's cars... so, I ran a quick calc assuming that the Centurion was the primary car... I came up with about $0.40 per mile. I ran Edmunds' calculation for a new LeSabre... $0.58. I used 11 mpg (basically city only). Depreciation $750 a year - (sinking fund for new top, int, paint, etc.) Maintenance $200 - (based on maint sched - done by self) Repairs $500 a year - (assumes repairs by self - parts are cheap) Fuel $2,200 - (at $2.00 a gallon) Insurance $800 Financing/taxes $400 - (just to be fair, and calc'd as if I paid full appraisal price - $19,000) $4,850 cost per year 12,000 miles $0.40 per mile cost Although that doesn't take into account the cost of the double-parking fines since I need two of those modern weenie spaces. Would like comments. Anybody think I missed the mark on any assumptions? By the way... a new Camry comes in at $0.39
Interestingly, now that hybrids are becoming much more common - people pay more for the "green" effect. The fuel cost savings don't equalize the cost compared with the gasoline engine, even at $2 a gallon - not until around $5. The TCO for the regular Civic is $0.32, while the Hybrid Civic is $0.37.
