Condenser replacement & total maintenance cost - Toyota Nation ...

Quote:

Originally Posted by readersthink averaging $260 per year.

Good going! I ran the math on this last week, for the 12 years I've been driving, and my average over that time, including buying and selling cars and all maintenance, is only $5 more than your average with your Corolla. Good work!

I extrapolated the average price of gas over the same time period, how many miles I've driven across all of my vehicles, and my average gas mileage across all of my vehicles, and came up with a monthly cost of $112.67/mo, including buying and selling vehicles, all maintenance, AND gas; excluding insurance, since the math on that can only be done by my insurance company, because I have almost always insured a car for a family member, until my recent move to California (ok, 2 years isn't that recent) and currently also insure my wife's car. I don't know what my insurance cost is, without the multi-vechicle discount, for the majority of the time I've been driving. If we go with an average cost of $83/mo (based on what I paid for a couple months when I was 26 and only insuring one car), it's cost me, including all expenses, 195.67/mo, on average, to drive. The last 12 years of driving have cost me $28,176.00!!!

Just think, my coworker is spending that across the next 4 years, JUST for his car! That excludes gas, maintenance, and insurance, and he puts a lot more miles on his car and doesn't get nearly the mileage I do. Knowing his car payment, insurance cost, and how often he fills his 14gal tank, he'll have spent roughly what I make in a year on his car, before maintenance; and he goes to the dealership for oil changes at $70 a pop, every 2.5mo (3k miles for him), so add another $1400 to his cost over the next 4 years.

Yup, screw buying new. Plus, you can't work on them while they're still under warranty; they're too new to need any repairs and anything else would void at least part of the warranty, y'know?

Anyway, sorry for the rant, just trying to put driving costs into perspective. Don't feel bad about $260/yr in maintenance, my coworker has you beat by $90 just in oil changes. Keep doing what you're doing, fix what needs fixed, maintain what needs maintained, and laugh at every new car you pass on the freeway. You're miles ahead of them in so many ways.

Welcome to TN.