I sold my 2000 SE yesterday

Here are the financial details:

Bought new for $25100 in November 1999
Sold for $5800 in April 2008 (102 months)
Maintenance & parts: $8000
Gas: $15000 (ouch. figured 22 miles per gallon @ $2.20 average)
Miles: 150000

Total cost: $42300
Cost / year: $5000
Cost / month: $415
Cost / mile: 28 cents

- Discuss -

 

You think too much. I hope you don't break down the cost of ownership for everything you own. If you enjoyed the car and it was dependable than who cares. Some of this is on you though. Depending on your options, $25100 for an SE in Nov. 1999 may or may not have been too much. If you did maintenance yourself you could have saved there. Maybe you could have driven less and that would have saved on gas and in return you could have had a little more on the resale. I don't know what condition your car was in but if it was not taken care of then you could have gotten more there. We could go on and on.

 

Oh, I'm not complaining. I loved this car and hate to see it go! Just wondering what you think of these numbers - is this good/bad/average?

I found the original 2000 brochure. Cars Like It: 0. Good times

 

you didnt include the money you paid the bank

 

I think $12 per month for a total cost of ownership for a brand new car is wonderfull. You can probably have it lower if maintanance was done by yourself, but not everyone has that luxury. By the way, did you incur and expensive repairs in the time that you have owned the max? Like a new tranny or engine swap? I would figure that gas would bring up that price much higher now a days. It seems that in the long run, buying a brand new car is not such a bad idea, I always figured it to be too expensive, never owned a brand new car.

 

Time to get a Geo Metro......

 

let's see... Who cares? You drove the car, used it for all these years... the car was good.. then what's the point of making calculation if the other car you buy is probably going to cost you more....

 

It's great to keep track of stuff like that, $415 per month is pretty good IMHO especially since it includes gas. Did you include insurance in those numbers? If you compare that leasing, you seem to make out better. She gave you 8 good years of service at a reasonable price.

What were the biggest maintenance/parts expenses you had?

 

figuring in insurance will bump that number up significantly

 

http://www.edmunds.com/apps/cto/CTOintroController

 

..i try not to think about $ like that not when i drive 75 miles a day to work lol...

to the OP: what are you getting to replace it?

 

No major problems - precat, starter, radiator. The biggest expense by far was wheels and tires.

I'm looking at less-used german and japanese 4 door sedans (3 kids):
2005 BMW530i
2006 Audi A6 quattro
2007 Infiniti G35x
other suggestions?

 

If your worried about cost of ownership than you better run from the Germans.

 

A year ago, I was thinking about selling the max and getting something else, but when I tried to trade it in all I was offered was 7k-7.5k max. It dawned on me at this point, its not worth getting rid of cause there is nothing that I am willing to buy right now in the 15k range and have to make 6k in car payments for the next 2 years.

To ODB: anything Mercedes.

try a nice used MB E350

 

To ODB,
How about an 05-06 M45?

 

ODB - you could get a Odyssey, Caravan or a Town & Country...lol j/k

How about a C-class mercedes, acura TL or RL, or even a Lexus G series...not sure how old or big your kids are

 

In some ways, the point is missed here regarding the cost of ownership. One's true cost should be based upon cost/mile and NOT include fuel as that is a strictly variable cost and only is incurred if the car is driven.

Yes, take into acct the purchase price less the resale price and then add in repairs and do NOT include special modifications because those are no fault of the car so those are not "real" costs.

Thus, his real cost is:

1. $268/month PLUS interest on the loan.
2. 18.2 cents/mile

When looking at transportation, it is cost/mile without fuel. That is really what should determine operating costs. Of course, if one is a gas guzzler and the other sips gas, then that will enter into the equation, but car-to-car it will not affect things a great deal.

 

Actually, when you drive a lot of miles, the fuel cost ends up being the second largest contributor to total cost of ownership, second only to purchase price, in the case of a new car.

My best car investment to date: my 1995 240SX. I bought it used, with sheetmetal damage on the driver's side. After replacing the driver door shell, mirror, and fender with used parts - already painted the correct color, and having a new windshield and new tires installed, I had a grand total of $1,300.00 invested in the car. Beyond that, I kept liability only (with high limits) insurance on it, and i just drove it. In total, I put just over 50K miles on it, and with ALL costs included (purchase price, gas, oil, tires, registration, maintenance, insurance, etc.), it ended up costing me $0.12 per mile over 3 years of ownership.

I've since replaced it with the Y2K Maxima and passed the S14 on to my newly-16-year-old boy, so the S14 is still running strong! The biggest cost of ownership in his tenure will undoubtedly be the insurance.

 

How about my 2001 330i?