Thread: The truthful, honest cost of owning your vehicle.

Originally Posted by Redback

walk if you don't like it

have to keep buying shoes. very high running cost (excuse the pun)

I can not afford and would not ever finance an expensive Land Rover
but ..
Personally , I think the great value of the used ones on the market , make the running costs rather insignificant too .

My first 96 Diesel with low klms on her ran me only $12,000 cash about 12 years ago ... ran all those years with comparatively little troubles apart from the usual maintenance issues ..

My 2001 V8 which apart from the higher klms is in great shape and only ran me $6900 with heaps of accessories already fitted .

Such a low cost work and fun vehicle to drive .

I still think how hard you drive them has a lot to do with how much they cost you too keep ..

As I already said , I am going to stay with these used Rovers ( one after another ) for the rest of my days

And yes .. swallowing running costs is the only option to walking lolol

..

My incomplete record for buying the car, bolting crap on it, paying for spanners to be swung on it, etc at the moment is $20,073.78
Like I said, incomplete list.
Most expensive would have been the Service and Auto Cooler replacement at Graeme Cooper when I first bought it, which was around $2200 iirc.
Costs have dropped dramatically as I've started doing my own work, but they'll go up again as I've started looking for more expensive toys for it

Originally Posted by Redback

People mention depreciation as a cost, why, it's not costing you anything while you have the car, you're not physically paying it, unless you sell the car.

For me, the cost of running a vehicle means nothing, like the cost of running yourself, or your house.

Buy a pushbike or walk if you don't like it

Baz.

Depreciation is still costing you even if you do not think it is, and is often by far the greatest cost of owning a car. The same as registration and insurance are costs. The only difference is that registration and insurance are annual charges, where depreciation is only monetised when you sell the car, which may be years later. This does not make it any less real.

Even more frequently ignored is capital cost - this is either the cost of borrowing the money you paid for the car or the income you could have had from the capital if you had not spent it. Seeing most people borrow to buy cars and have regular payments, leaving this out of costs is hardly reasonable (although the 'repayments' are usually a mixture of interest and capital).

John

7 years, i have had my 85 county. 80 000 klm

at a cost of 11000, including purchase price

I could not borrow to buy a car, I have always lived by the principal if I cant afford it I dont buy it. Yes I have bought a house in the past and borrowed the money, but a house in the end will be worth more not less. My new Defender is my first new car and I bought it new for a few of reasons, first I dont need a loan for it, second used Defenders are not really good value for money IMO. I saw quite a few Defenders 4-6 years old and them selling in the higher 40's!! One dealer car in Cairns (now sold) was 5 years old and they wanted 46 grand!!! when a new one is only a few thousand more and you have a warranty.
Then I looked at td5's around 15 or more years old and many are selling for 20 grand!! This is for cars that have done 200 plus thousand km and soon will be needing some bigger maintenance. Used cars are not always the bargain they seem, my Nissan Patrol for example cost me 8 grand seems cheap.. But then the tyres started splitting so another grand right away in tyres. A few months later it needed a new rad, then the fuel filter blocked which turned out to be that fuel bug in the tank. My back was bad at the time so I gave it to the mechanic to remove and clean out the tank. The rear springs were saggy too and a shocker was leaking and a tyre started to track which I saw was caused by one of the bushes at the front being worn so I changed them all. Next the clutch went heavy as the assisted clutch let go, more money. I have only had the car a couple of years and it has cost me 13 grand already and if I sold it now I might only get 7 at best. This means I have lost 6 grand in two years with a not comfortable slow used car. This is not including running costs or insurance, just what I have lost if I sell it tomorrow. My F truck is a similar story, the Defender new is starting to look like the cheap option.. On a side point I went to the brigade training last night in the Nissan as the Defender is hitched up to my caravan as we are off to Townsville this morning. I have not driven the Nissan for a couple of weeks and 100 yards up the road I was thinking did I really put up with this noisy slow uncomfortable heap for so long!!!!!
Chris

Defenders are a bit different to other vehicles as they seem to keep their value much more that other vehicles. It maybe because owners hold on to them longer. Other Land Rover models definitely cop a big depreciation cost, probably more than other vehicles.

My 110 had cost a heap over the 14 years I've owned it. Most of it doing a ground up restoration so capital cost. Although last big trip I spent over $10k on mechanical repairs, upgrades and accessories. Now it's in top mechanical condition it will be sold. The loss/cost will be substantial. However it will be worth more than another similar age/type vehicle.

So I think buying a new defender and spending the minimum on accessories makes a fairly cost efficient vehicle choice.

Originally Posted by rar110

Defenders are a bit different to other vehicles as they seem to keep their value much more that other vehicles. It maybe because owners hold on to them longer. Other Land Rover models definitely cop a big depreciation cost, probably more than other vehicles.

My 110 had cost a heap over the 14 years I've owned it. Most of it doing a ground up restoration so capital cost. Although last big trip I spent over $10k on mechanical repairs, upgrades and accessories. Now it's in top mechanical condition it will be sold. The loss/cost will be substantial. However it will be worth more than another similar age/type vehicle.

So I think buying a new defender and spending the minimum on accessories makes a fairly cost efficient vehicle choice.

That's the approach I'm taking with our Defender. Its already more capable than me as the driver, and does everything competently, so I'm not planning any major mechanical mods, just bolt-on accessories, at this stage. Plans include a roof rack and rear airbags for when towing the camper, plus electricals. New AT tyres will come later.


As for financing options, I used to buy for cash rather than finance, but now I take different attitudes depending on my plans for the vehicle. For example, we paid cash for the Defender and plan to keep it forever. Depreciation is the biggest cost of owning a vehicle, so if you're going to keep it forever you just cop it, I reckon. I see in England late model Defenders are holding their value and are regarded as future classics.
On the other hand, we financed the Mazda 2 as a run around car and regard the financing cost as merely a living cost, like rent or rates. We did our budget, said we could afford $100 a week for a vehicle, and went shopping. We made sure the fixed price servicing and extended warranty are longer than the financing period.