How much does your car cost to run?

• 

  issh on 11/02/2014 - 19:05

  Car: 2000 Mx-5
  Fuel: Approx $30/week for Premium98
  Rego: ~$660/annum
  Insurance: ~$600 to $700/year

  So total would be approximately $55/week EXCLUDING any repairs needed

  Also might want to give us a budget, use and type of car you want in order for recommendations to be given

  • 

    cpho on 11/02/2014 - 19:12

    True. Added that budget into the post :)

    • 

      issh on 11/02/2014 - 19:20

      What about these?

      Honda Civic(8th Gen)
      Mazda 3
      Toyota Corolla

• 

  tonyjzx on 11/02/2014 - 19:20

  +1

  if you're in NSW…

  you're looking at at least:

  $500 for a green slip, probably closer to $700 for young folks
  $340 rego for a medium sized car
  $30 for pink slip

  any car made in the last 10 yrs and in a reasonable suburb is $1,000 for insurance

  you can get lower cost if you're old and have a common car but i found smaller cars to be expensive

  10 litres per 100km for fuel

  • 

    cat06969 on 12/02/2014 - 09:39

    Buy insurance online at Progressive.. incredibly cheap, and great service.

• 

  Daabido on 11/02/2014 - 19:52

  Falcon on Gas (FOG). In before the standard Whirlpool reply is proffered.

  Add depreciation to your calculations.

• 

  [Deactivated] on 11/02/2014 - 19:59

  90 per week in fuel consumption 5.7l.

• 

  wharlie on 11/02/2014 - 21:34

  Car Operating Cost Calculator
  http://www.mynrma.com.au/mynrma/operating-costs-calculator.a…

• 

  bereta91 on 11/02/2014 - 21:44

  Toyota corolla 2011 model
  fuel : $60/week (calculated around 160 cents/l)
  Distance: 500km per week
  insurance: 500 per annum
  Services: $160 for 10,000km log book services, twice a year due to lots of Kms = 320 per annum.
  Rego: ~$600

  totally, $920 for rego and services, 1420 incl insurance and $4300 annually incl petrol

  • 

    kerfuffle on 12/02/2014 - 00:59

    I have a Toyota Corolla 2011 model too but I pay $130 for my servicing under Toyota's capped price servicing deal? Granted, I don't drive as much though (6000 kilometres every six months).

    My rego is $330ish too.

    • 

      bereta91 on 12/02/2014 - 06:13

      +1

      It used to be $130 for capped price servicing but it finished this month and the price went up to $360 for every service. The cheapest I could find around my house (THanks to all the ozbargainers for help) was $160.

      I do not know how there can be a difference in rego :S. I have alway been paying around $500 - 600 mark

      • 

        kerfuffle on 12/02/2014 - 06:24

        Ah I see. I got my Corolla in 2012 (almost a year after its compliance date) so my capped price servicing is good until July 2015. Thanks for the heads up for the price! :)

        Is your Corolla registered as a business vehicle or private vehicle? Mine's registered as a private vehicle (I'm in NSW) which might explain the price variances in our regos.

      • 

        drewbie on 12/02/2014 - 09:18

        +1

        Business vs personal registration makes a BIG difference. When my wife was made redundant and her novated lease converted to a simple lease her rego dropped by several hundred dollars once we swapped the rego to personal. IIUC, a novated lease is required to pay the business rate.

• 

  whodidthat on 11/02/2014 - 22:01

  Well, my suggestion is out! I was going to suggest a Micra as a runabout but you don't like hatches.
  They're fantastic on fuel economy, and nippy.

• 

  Woodyg22 on 11/02/2014 - 22:40

  Can get some pretty good and reliable Audi A4s, around '03. Worth having a look

• 

  cpho on 11/02/2014 - 23:45

  Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I'm looking into the Honda Prelude or Hyundai Tiburon at the moment. Maybe even a Mitsubishi 380 with dual-fuel.

  I'm more interested in how much it costs to run cars. Going from this thread and other sources, $60-80/week is the common area. $10/$15 a day is quite a bit to spend on just simply running costs, which is why I've been sticking with public transport for so long.

  • 

    issh on 12/02/2014 - 02:44

    Out of those 3, I'd go with the Prelude

    the Tiberon doesn't have that great of an engine; whilst the 380 is a fuel guzzler

    Also get your manuals license if you are planning to go towards those, it'll at least be somewhat fun and the cost is justified

  • 

    backpaqer on 12/02/2014 - 11:33

    I ride a road bike…I hate public transport…and driving a car makes you traffic. I commute 20km each way every day into the city for work - rain, hail or shine. Takes me 35min every time regardless (though I do ride a bit slower along St Kilda beach on sunny days for some reason ;)

• 

  Grent on 12/02/2014 - 07:54

  I upgraded recently from a Daihatsu Charade 3cyl (now there's an Ozbargainer's car!!) to a 2008 Civic (8th gen) hybrid.
  The fixed costs are the same as any of the similar sized cars people have suggested, it cost $10k, has under 100k on the clock, and actual fuel economy figures are less than 6L/100km. I often get it down to 5.4/100, which is what I was getting out of the tiny Daihatsu!

• 

  akred on 12/02/2014 - 08:39

  I can tell you exactly, as I capture every car cost in Road Trip for iOS.
  5 door hatch, 2L automatic petrol. Same car is available as a sedan so it is comparable.

  Over the last 3 years, total costs, including comprehensive insurance, rego, maintenance, tyres but excluding fuel are $7100.
  Fuel is another $6000 (or about $160 /mth) but this varies dramatically depending on how much you drive, and the other costs do not vary so much.

  That means you need to budget about $200/mth for costs to keep this size car on the road, plus fuel.

• 

  drewbie on 12/02/2014 - 09:21

  I had a 2009 VW Golf TDi (which is obviously out of your budget) that got 5.0 - 5.5 l/100km in city and better on the highway. If you can afford a diesel, you'll reap the benefits in the long term on the reduced fuel costs. Plus, if it were necessary you could run on biodiesel (aka used cooking oil) and be a true OzBargainer.

• 

  backpaqer on 12/02/2014 - 11:29

  I'd buy a 2000 A33 Nissan Maxima…they're around $6k-$8k. The engineering is sensational. The only thing I've had go on either of mine is the alternator ($1000 a pop if you get Nissan to replace…$250 if you do it yourself…which I now do after I had 2 go within a week of each other!). Mine has just clocked 200K and it still drives like new. Fuel is avg 11L/100km. Insurance is cheap ($400/yr)…services are really simple, change oil and filters..$100 per service for premium oil and oil+air filter…simple to do yourself and don't even need to jack the car up to do it. Electric everything (Ti model even has sunroof and heated leather seats).

  I'd love to buy a new car…but can't justify getting rid of this as it is just great value. Just don't get Nissan to service it!!!

  • 

    cpho on 12/02/2014 - 12:14

    Now there's something I haven't considered… When I was thinking Nissan, I thought Skyline and burnt ricers. The Maxima looks very nice inside, the only thing is it's expensive to run. 11L/100km, but on ULP95. At that price, I'd probably go for a 380 with dual-fuel.
    They're actually quite decently priced interstate. Horrible pricing in SA though.