Question of the Day: How Much Does Your Car Cost You These Days?
After nine thousand righteously violent miles, I had to slap a new set of Goodyear Eagle F1s on my WRX. I suppose if I had behaved, the previous set would have lasted (much) longer. But after giving them a good inspection this weekend, I noticed massive tread wear and a sidewall blister the size of my big toe. Eight months ago, all four tires plus installation cost me $644. This time 'round? $685. But hey, who's counting? Well, actually, me. As the WRX takes nothing but the good stuff, I'm now paying $3.99 per gallon. Then there's the monthly car payment, outlandish insurance (you try being a single male in LA with a turbocharged car and a ticket or three) and my propensity to mash the front of my car against, um, rocks. And let's not forget $60 bucks every 5k miles for synthetic oil. And car washes, tuneups and after-market mods that I don't really need. All said and done, I'm broke. Contrast the above with my buddy Dylan's bio-diesel powered Ford F250. During a recent cruise in his French fry-powered Ford, I was struck by the fact that his motoring didn't cost him a red cent. The truck is paid for, the tires will never wear down and all the Asian restaurants in the East Bay are happy to give him their old Frialator oil. So I'm asking: how much are you spending on your car/cars?
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Lieberman-> "Yeah, I’m with Stephan on this one. I just sorta wanted horror stories about $4.00 a gallon gas and dumb purchases. Not calculations on depreciation (yawn) and cost per (snore) mile. So, Stephan, sorry" Ok, allow me to turn this thread around from people bragging on how little they spend on the car, lol. I'm on my third intake because I just can't decide which one I like better and will work better with my $650 dollar (plus installation and tuning) piggy back which is about to get replaced by a $650 flash unit, which will also soon have the availabilty of tune it software, which will require finding a Cobb certified tuner whom I trust not to blow up my car. So thats another $300 for the software, and most tuners around here charge about $150 or so an hour for tuning. If it was anything like getting my Standback tuned, it'll take a few hours. I've had my car on the dyno seven times at $75 bucks a pop each time (its only $60 for the three pulls, but another $15 for AFRs). I just bought a new Cam Driven Fuel Pump, which, provides absolutely zero dyno proven horsepower, but supposedly gets rid of the lean spot in our car which our stock ECU already takes care of via the electronically controled throttle body.
Just so you people can feel good about yourself, here's me chiming in from Europe/Germany. Fuel costs: €1.4 per litre; my '00 Citroen Xantia drinks 8L /100 km; I drive 17k per year = €1900/year. Repairs: less than €1000/year. Insurance: around €700/year. Tax: €250/year. Depreciation: I paid €8000 for this fast, smooth, comfortable car in 2002. Will trash it in 2012 (with luck). Linear depreciation €800/year. Sum €4650/year, equivalent to 27 Eurocents per KM. Which is a lot less than most people this side of the pond pay.