Cost of motoring moan - WARNING this topic has no point

[Morgan84]

Nice looking Golf;treat it well and you shall be rewarded

[Morgan84]

Nice looking Golf;treat it well and you shall be rewarded

[Junkman]

The price over here has steadily crept up in terms of car ownership and operation.

 

You can get some real nasty tat for cheap here, but the distinct lack of a decent vehicle testing safety scheme means there's a lot of very broken, rusty, unsafe junk chugging away on the roads.

Cheapest halfway decent vehicle that most of it works, the paint's fallen off and needs brakes/alignment/bearing/oil change etc probably run about $500-$700 with the better chod coming in around $3000

 

Once you've got the purchase out of the way, registering it (about $35 at a notary office to get it signed, stamped and transferred) then the DMV fees plus a new plate for the back ($15) and an MoT equiv. ($10), stick a tank of gas in at $3.79/gal for 87 octane E10, that being $1.02 / liter. Go take it for a wheel balance ($45) and 4-wheel alignment ($120) and get a pair of new tyres to replace the hard-as-a-rock ones that have done a few too many miles ($85 ea.). Give it an oil change with some Mobil 15W/40 ($8/qt) and a filter ($15) you feel happy about having a car that'll hopefully get from A to B, until you go to insure it, and get charged anywhere upwards of $120/mo because it's stored in a storm prone/flood prone area.

 

No, it's not cheap to operate a vehicle here anymore either. Parts are expensive, the services related to renewing it aren't but pretty much everything else is creeping up in price. Y'all still got it pretty cheap.

 

 

--Phil

 

I noticed the explosion of cost of car ownership in the US over the past 10-15 years. Few Europeans realise how expensive it became.

And you are talking old stuff. I've heard it can cost something like another 5 Grand on top of the retail price plus tax to get a new car on the road - depending on what it is and where you live. Also, the insurance premiums seem to be horrendous.

 

Back in the mid 90s, I spent a few months in the Arid Zone. I bought a 63 Imperial LeBaron that somewhen in its life had a tangle with a Union Pacific GP40, for 250$. Plates and sticker were $10 and insurance for a year was $100. A tune-up with oil change was $39.95, a whitewall tyre 29.95 and a battery 19.95. New brakes, including drums and wheel cylinders, and a new dual exhaust, cost me $300.00 including labour. When I filled it up to the brim from dry and paid with $20.00, I got change back.

[Junkman]

The price over here has steadily crept up in terms of car ownership and operation.

 

You can get some real nasty tat for cheap here, but the distinct lack of a decent vehicle testing safety scheme means there's a lot of very broken, rusty, unsafe junk chugging away on the roads.

Cheapest halfway decent vehicle that most of it works, the paint's fallen off and needs brakes/alignment/bearing/oil change etc probably run about $500-$700 with the better chod coming in around $3000

 

Once you've got the purchase out of the way, registering it (about $35 at a notary office to get it signed, stamped and transferred) then the DMV fees plus a new plate for the back ($15) and an MoT equiv. ($10), stick a tank of gas in at $3.79/gal for 87 octane E10, that being $1.02 / liter. Go take it for a wheel balance ($45) and 4-wheel alignment ($120) and get a pair of new tyres to replace the hard-as-a-rock ones that have done a few too many miles ($85 ea.). Give it an oil change with some Mobil 15W/40 ($8/qt) and a filter ($15) you feel happy about having a car that'll hopefully get from A to B, until you go to insure it, and get charged anywhere upwards of $120/mo because it's stored in a storm prone/flood prone area.

 

No, it's not cheap to operate a vehicle here anymore either. Parts are expensive, the services related to renewing it aren't but pretty much everything else is creeping up in price. Y'all still got it pretty cheap.

 

 

--Phil

 

I noticed the explosion of cost of car ownership in the US over the past 10-15 years. Few Europeans realise how expensive it became.

And you are talking old stuff. I've heard it can cost something like another 5 Grand on top of the retail price plus tax to get a new car on the road - depending on what it is and where you live. Also, the insurance premiums seem to be horrendous.

 

Back in the mid 90s, I spent a few months in the Arid Zone. I bought a 63 Imperial LeBaron that somewhen in its life had a tangle with a Union Pacific GP40, for 250$. Plates and sticker were $10 and insurance for a year was $100. A tune-up with oil change was $39.95, a whitewall tyre 29.95 and a battery 19.95. New brakes, including drums and wheel cylinders, and a new dual exhaust, cost me $300.00 including labour. When I filled it up to the brim from dry and paid with $20.00, I got change back.

[Ian Nexus]

Cost soon adds up

 

2013 Nissan Versa (base model) $11,990

Delivery $780

Tax (7%) $893

Tag (12 months RFL) $450

 

$14,113 !!! (£8765)

[Ian Nexus]

Cost soon adds up

 

2013 Nissan Versa (base model) $11,990

Delivery $780

Tax (7%) $893

Tag (12 months RFL) $450

 

$14,113 !!! (£8765)