How much my car has cost to run - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

slowmoe · #1 12-27-2002, 11:36 AM

It being the end of the year, I thought it would be interesting to add all my expenses for my car since I have owned it and see just how economical it has been. So here we go:

So far I have spent (thank you Quicken):

$2640 - major repairs, service and parts (excluding oil filters)
340 - 17 oil changes (oil and filter)

Total for repairs and service: $2980

I purchased the car for $12,000 at 121,000 miles. I plan on driving it until 300,000 miles at which point I will have fully depreciated it. (I am sure there will be some residual value)

To date I have driven this car 62,000 miles and therefore figure I have depreciated it 29% of my original purchase price or $3,400.

Total for repairs, service and depreciation is $6460 or 10.4 cents per mile.

I wonder what other’s experiences have been…

#2 12-27-2002, 05:34 PM

Sure is a lot cheaper than a payment on a new one, huh?

Happy New Year,

Tasma · #3 12-27-2002, 05:35 PM

Don't want to sound like I'm braggin or nuttin but I have spent $80 for a new speedo cable and $75 on brake pads in the last 60,000 miles with my 240D.

I did replace the radio with a new one only because I wanted to listen to free MP3 files while on the road.

P.E.Haiges · #4 12-27-2002, 06:35 PM

I bought a "junker" '79 300SD for a parts car 4 1/2 years ago and it ran so good I decided to use it for my winter/beater car. Still running 45,000 miles later and I spent less less than $200 on it, not including maintenance items such as oil changes, tires, battery, filters etc. You have to realize that it gets the absolute minimum repairs, just enough to keet it going.

I have taken at least $200 in parts off it so you might say it cost me nothing to run. I plan to keep driving it another 2 years if it keeps going but then it really will be a parts car.

P E H

#5 12-27-2002, 06:49 PM

I don't wish to list the co$t$ to keep my 81 on the road this year. Has been a real bad year for that one. However my 78 300D just keeps going. Spent $39 for a new front seal, and $12 for a new valve cover gasket this year, and that is the high money year in the last nine. I don't count the money for filters and oil, but even with those sometimes these old diesels aren't so bad.
Maybe I should replace those rock hard seats. Make it a little more user friendly.

#6 12-27-2002, 08:14 PM

I have put a little money into my 300CD, mostly a used transmission. Today I spent $45 on a used tail light, which I thought was a good deal even though it has a few small cracks on the inside (the one I have on now has a huge crack and water leaks in). I figure I can seal the cracks up with some super glue and it will be good as new.

lrg · #7 12-27-2002, 09:00 PM

I tell people all the time that if they are going to put lots of miles on their cars they are far better off buying a used car. Slowmoe proves the point. If you'd bought someting like a Toyota Camry for $25,000 new and tried to sell it after a couple of years and 62,000 miles you'd be out an easy $10,000 and have been driving a Toyota instead of a Mercedes.

By the way - Eric,
Try using plastic model cement instead of superglue. I believe the lenses are made of a polystyrene plastic like the models I used to make as a kid and it actually "melts" the plastic to make a solid joint. If you get the kind with a brush in the bottle it ought to be easy to apply. Failing that I've actually welded plastic in areas it doesn't show with an old soldering iron. Either one, I think, will be better than crazy glue (much as I like the stuff).

#8 12-27-2002, 09:22 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by lrg
By the way - Eric,
Try using plastic model cement instead of superglue. I believe the lenses are made of a polystyrene plastic like the models I used to make as a kid and it actually "melts" the plastic to make a solid joint. If you get the kind with a brush in the bottle it ought to be easy to apply. Failing that I've actually welded plastic in areas it doesn't show with an old soldering iron. Either one, I think, will be better than crazy glue (much as I like the stuff).

Thanks for the advice, I think I might try that instead instead of the super glue. I know I should be able to get them to look like new. I think I remember seeing some kind of plastic glue like model cement at my local parts store, I might also look into that also.

Gary F. · #9 12-29-2002, 02:59 PM

I paid $3250. for my 85 300D one year ago. Since then I have spent aproximatley $110. on maintaince items, a new battery and 3 oil changes. However my ac system has lost it charge, which I believe was caused by a failed o ring on back side of compressor. The o ring is inexpensive, but the freon 12 will cost aproximately $75. Not to bad for an old car with 192,000 miles on it. Plan to keep it another year, then replace it with a newer MB.

WHOM THE GODS WILL DESTROY, THEY FIRST MAKE PROUD.

Chris Blanchard · #10 12-30-2002, 11:27 AM

I've put about 65k on my 84 300SD (purchased two years ago with 120k on it). I also track every penny I spend on that car and am at about $0.14/mile, and I do almost all of my own work. This total includes _every_ penny spent but excludes fuel, insurance, and depreciation.

Of course, the first year (for me) of a new (used) car is spent changing every filter and fluid, hoses, belts, etc. That first year is expensive, and it drops rapidly from there. By the time I reach 200k in a couple of years, I'm sure my expenses will be at the $0.08/mile range.

Chris Blanchard
Cincinnati, OH
1984 300SD 165k miles

Alan S · #11 12-30-2002, 02:44 PM

I have an 85 300dt. I maintain her religiously because she transports me back and forth safely to work, 150 miles a day, 15 days a month. Plus other trips here and there, puts me at around 3200 miles a month. Including Fuel, Insurance, Maintenance and a new stereo, I'm running at 11 cents/mile. I couldn't come close to those costs, even if I buy a new Kia. Lets hope she continues serving me trouble free for many more miles. Al

gsxr · #12 12-30-2002, 05:12 PM

Slowmoe, nice numbers there! But 17 oil changes? Egads, man. Time to extend that drain interval and/or use synthetic.

I looked up mine (briefly). I was running around 10 cents per mile for repairs and maintenance (NOT including fuel, insurance, upgrades, or depreciation.) Then I had to install a new cylinder head which I'm sure makes the numbers look really bad, closer to 16 cents per mile or so.

But it's hard to use that as a guideline because I'm really anal about fixing things that a lot of people would never bother with, and that adds to the cost. This is particularly true for the first year or two I own a car, as I discover & fix things. for example, I bought my 1984 300D for ~$2500 but have since sunk about ~$2k into it for repairs, such as new tires, complete front brakes, turbocharger, and assorted cosmetic items. I've owned it for ~14 months and ~16kmi. It needs all new front end parts ($300), an alignment ($100), and a tranny fluid change ($100). But then it should be good for 50kmi with almost no maintenance except fluid changes.

My other '87 is similar, except I bought it cheap as a fixer-upper and ended up sinking more than planned in it. It's almost done and is running REALLY well right now after my last batch of tinkering. The cost-per-mile is lousy right now (30 cents/mile?) BUT the damn thing will be near perfect when I finish the last few items (sun visors, floor mats, LCD temp readout, shifter wood trim.) Same deal, I probably won't have to touch anything on the car for a few years. When I get it done I'll be posting photos on my website - I wanted to wait & make it look nice before taking the pix!

For the record, I plan on keeping my first '87 forever, the second '87 for a long time (unless I get a high offer to buy it), and the '84 I can't wait to get rid of and replace with a 190D (it's a nice car, I just dislike the 123 chassis.) One of these days I'll upload my Excel spreadsheets to the web, as this is what I use to summarize my maintenance records, MPG for each tank, costs, etc.

Regards.

slowmoe · #13 12-30-2002, 09:51 PM

GSXR,

Thanks for the thoughts. The oil changes actually work out to be about every 3.5K. The last 2 changes, I switched to Rotella Synthetic and extended the drain interval to 5K.

I know what you mean about keeping the car in as perfect condition as posible. I have been wanting to get to rebuilding the driver's seat, doing something about the tiny cracks in the black leather that show the tan hide, replacing the rubber rearview mirror seals and bumper trim, refinishing the rims and about a dozen other items.

Right now, I am waiting on delivery of a new antenna motor (no radio !!!!) and vacuum supply pump for the door looks. After that it will be the front breaks, rear axle, air filter and fuel filter x2 service and tie rods. I never seem to get away from the things that need to be done to get to those that I would like to have done - that's not entirely true...

Gil · #14 01-04-2003, 06:33 PM

gsxr,

I'm the same way about repairs, fixing every little thing that many would skip. However, I plan to keep my 84 300CD for a while (at least three more years).

That said, I got kinda shafted with some bad luck in terms of expensive repairs that went beyond my ability to fix (if I need a shop lift to do the job, I'm off to the mechanic) I think I've taken the prize as far as the most money dumped into a 123 car:

Purchase price was $3900
ALL repair( minus most oil changes): $4489 (gasp!)

So far, nearly everything works but the drivers side window (a bad wire) and the AC (has a leak!)

But what the hell, she doesn't burn any oil, and I've put 47,000 miles on her. I'm up to 217k right now, after several trips up and down the east coast.

I thought of selling it a few weeks ago, but I really hate car payments. Even at the cost of an occaasional repair, I'm better off now than I'd be with anything new that I can afford. Hell, this thing is so old it's nearly stopped depreciating, versus a new vehicle which would lose quite a bit of value after 2.5 years and 47k miles.

Keep the faith!

rickg · #15 01-04-2003, 07:24 PM

haven't figured up my costs for the Benz. But when I look at my wife's POS Chrysler Cirrus, UGH! we paid $21,000 for it 6 years ago. It now has a Blue-book trade in value of about $2800, and it's still not paid for. The warrenty ran out 30,000 miles ago, and is slowly sucking us dry with problems.
Whatever I have put in my SD, which I'm guessing has only been a couple thousand in the last year we've owned it, is money ahead. First, it's paid for! Second, it's a car WORTH fixing! Third, I love it!