No. Most people do not have multiple cars to drive any time of the year, anywhere in the country. Multiple car ownership is a function of a collector. It's not necessarily cost saving owning multiple vehicles. It usually costs them more per mile collectively than owning just one.

Would suggest you run the numbers on all your cars. In total ownership costs per mile, your numbers would be on the Moon, versus single car operation.

Unfortunately, strictly operating costs tell you nothing about turnkey ownership costs.

The OP's post is totally flawed insofar as what he/she thinks they're getting at.

Simply NOT enough information to give a complete or concise answer.

I hadn't thought about the cost of capital....trying to think, back in 2002, what the foregone opportunity might have been. Interest rates were certainly higher. Also, for a brief period, we financed the vehicle....but paid it off after two years.

However, wouldn't cost of capital apply with both the Honda and the MB? Granted, the more front-end loaded (as in the case of the Honda) the outlay, the higher the cost.

Re depreciation (which several posts have mentioned), isn't that "cost" accounted for in original purchase price? I guess I'm not thinking of my cars as assets with resale value....plan to keep both indefinitely.

Re current value, the Honda is certainly higher.

In today's market, I wouldn't worry too much about the cost of capital. It is a consideration for large amounts of money, but the potential ROI for $20-30k over a few years is pretty tiny these days.

my 87 TD has full maintenance records in it... 46K OPP, 23K current repair costs. my parts on the wagon so far. 191K on the clock... what's that make my cost per mile...

Whatever your total cost out of pocket is for everything, divided by miles.

Comparing any car's cost per mile is fine, but you have to have all out of pocket totalled to make it accurate.

Operating costs
 

All four owners (including us) of our '96 E300D have kept track of expenses and I have a spreadsheet summing it all up. It's likely that a few items have been missed but I think the majority of the money has been captured. Over 14 years and 274,000 miles (average 20,000 miles/year), a total of $25,123.34 has been spent on maintenance. That works out to US$0.09 per mile, not covering fuel (US$0.12/mile for B20 biodiesel), licensing (US$154/year), full coverage insurance (US$636/year), or depreciation. [These are all 2010 California numbers, YMMV.]

Although the POs drove the car quite a bit, we are driving only about 8,000 miles a year. This stretches out the service intervals and makes it harder to compare costs with those who drive more. For example, I like to change engine oil at least once a year, even though the Mobil-1 is probably still good after only 8,000 miles.

When I look at maintenance costs, I end up with several categories and am never sure which ones to include when I'm trying to compare. For example,

1. Routine maintenance performed once or more a year (oil changes, air filters).
2. Routine maintenance performed once every two or more years (transmission fluid and filter, coolant, brake fluid, etc.).
3. Necessary repairs or replacements (things that wear out or break over the course of years -- batteries, brake pads, tires).
4. Stuff that the POs never got around to fixing, that the car came to us needing and that I went ahead and repaired (engine mounts, shocks).
5. Stuff that I fixed or installed because I wanted to, the car was OK without it (dents, Scangauge).

Jeremy

Only 9 cents a mile is pretty impressive. If I might ask, to what extent did you and other owners do your own labor?

What did you pay for each one of the two Mercedes-Benz?

We know what you paid for the Honda, but not the Benzes.

I would have a hard time as to the accuracy of any previous owner's out of pocket costs on any car I bought used. What they paid is irrelevant anyway for what you are out of pocket per mile once you start your own calculation scale. Besides, the time-capsule cost of any vehicle will be vastly different for numerous cost factoring circumstances. And they are all specific to that timeframe..

"$636 annually for full insurance coverage" doesn't sound right to me. I'm wondering how your policy reads?

The only way to determine what any vehicle costs you in it's entirety - is after you sell it.

It is not only inaccurate, but it bears no comparison to reality trying to compare a 10 year old Honda, with 20 year old MBs. Especially when you still have them all on the road. Any one of the three could blow an engine tomorrow, and today's cost would bear zilch semblance to the same car's cost factor in just 24 hours.

The only way I calculate cost per mile is by the car, and after it gets sold.

The only thing you should be aware of while driving it - is the cost of fuel (mpg) period...

1991 300D in 2009, 77,000 miles, $4500.

1992 300D in 2003, 137,000 miles, $5900.

Labor Day
 

The first owner in Portland, OR (200,000 miles) limited himself to putting diesel in the tank. The dealer did everything else including :D resetting the clock for daylight savings time. :D I have all of the receipts. It was a business write-off for him so he didn't care what it cost. $13,000 of the $25,000 or $0.065/mile was spent under his ownership.

Owners 2 (Portland) and 3 (SF Bay area), (25,000 miles each), apparently did simple jobs themselves (oil changes) but hired out the more difficult stuff like changing glow plugs (difficult to them, maybe). They tended to skimp on maintenance, as used-car owners often due; their total of about $4,000 works out to $0.08/mile.

Owner #4 (25,000 miles so far, me) does everything he possibly can himself. I have let my mechanic do a couple of jobs like replacing the serpentine belt tensioner - I have to give him a little business! The transmission rebuild ($2,900 of the $25,000 total) was done by a local shop. All of the inherited dings and dents were removed by a local scratch and dent place ($450).

I have done everything else myself. The only "significant" (over $100) repairs I've had to do were to replace the motor mounts, shocks, starter motor, and ignition switch and to rebuild the crankcase vent system. My total of about $8,000 in 25,000 miles includes the transmission and several things the 2nd and 3rd owners should have done. That works out to $0.32/mile, by far the highest cost per mile of the four owners.

Clearly, I could have reduced my expenses. If I had kept my fingers in my pockets instead of putting Mobil-1 in the transmission, I would not have exacerbated the slight front pump seal leak and could have gotten (according to the rebuilder) another 50,000 miles out of the transmission. The dents were not hurting anyone. The OEM Boge shocks actually were still good at 250,000 miles :eek:. Etc, etc.

It's my personal problem to want a car that is close to perfect. That tends to make my expenses higher than they could be. Since I enjoy working on things, the maintenance tends to be fun and I "write it off" as a hobby. YMMV.

Jeremy

Insurance
 

Yes, insurance costs vary all over the map (literally); there are major variations from one part of the country to another, plus personal variations, driving record, etc. Our policy covers my wife and myself with my wife the primary driver of the '96. Does $636/year sound high or low to you? [The insurance on my '87 has a slightly lower premium due to its lower value.]

By "full coverage" I mean
(a) $250,000/$500,000/$100,000 liability (the maximum)
(b) collision with a $500 deductible
(c) comprehensive with no deductible
(d) uninsured motorist $100,000/$300,000 liability
(e) uninsured motorist property damage
(f) emergency road service

We are at their "superior driver rate level" and get (they say) discounts for
(a) multiple line (State Farm also has our homeowners' policy)
(b) multicar
(c) driving safety record (never a chargeable accident)
(d) California good driver (whatever that means)
(e) loyalty (40+ years with State Farm)

Jeremy

That's interesting about exacerbating the tranny leak. I had thought about switching to synthetic at one point....glad I didn't.

Dumb mistake
 

It wasn't that I wasn't warned - one of the dealer service sheets from the first owner noted a small leak from the front pump seal at about 150,000 miles (no action was taken). But at 250,000 miles I went ahead and changed to Mobil-1 anyway. It would have been fine on a younger transmission.

After I changed fluid, filter, and gasket, it started leaving a teaspoon-full of Mobil-1 on the garage floor under the front of the transmission after it was driven (I had left the belly panel off). I changed back to dino-based fluid but the leak remained. After I was sure it wasn't going away, I took the car to a local shop recommended by my mechanic and they went through the transmission.

All of the "hard" parts were good so they replaced only the "wear" parts (clutch packs, etc.), gaskets, and seals. That's why it cost "only" $2900. The mechanic said that the old wear parts would have been good for about 50,000 additional miles or 300,000 miles out of the original transmission parts.

Interestingly, I also put Mobil-1 5W-40 in the engine and it doesn't leak at all. My mechanic says that synthetic oils have shorter molecular chains than dino oils so the synthetics can leak out of smaller gaps in seals and gaskets. The tranny shop put dino fluid in the rebuilt transmission and I think I'll keep it that way.

Jeremy