Maintenance Cost per Mile: Here's Mine, What's Yours? - Page 5 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

shertex · #1 06-28-2013, 09:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tjts1

$5319 in repairs over 27,000 miles is... a lot. Do you do your own work or pay a shop?

Some of my own, mostly a shop. Learning more every year, though. Keep in mind, over $2000 of that was today: head gasket plus some other stuff.

The rest? Trust me, it adds up: tires, header pipe, ignition tumbler, pressure converters, shifter bushings, a fuel leak, new windshield, glow plugs, cruise amp and actuator, plus lots of incidentals.

shertex · #2 06-28-2013, 09:26 PM

Plus, as I approach ten years of ownership, here's how I look at it: I spend just over $2,000 a year on a car that I absolutely love. Not too bad, really.

FWIW, I've spent about $4500 over four years of ownership on my 91 300D with 108,000 miles. Less expensive....but not by a lot. It's at about 15 cents per mile.

grease lightnig · #3 06-28-2013, 09:42 PM

I like to include fuel cost. Because all three of my cars run on WVO. But then I have to include the cost of converting them. My 05 E320 is high my 83 SDL is really low. My wife Jeep Liberty CRD, Is the best vehicle I own, 90k miles in 3 years at about 100-120 Miles per Gallon of fuel purchased and $5200 in repairs and about $3500 in fuel. Conversion was about $1100. The timing belt was $1500 of the $5200. The Jeep is about $.11 cents per mile.

My E320 CDI I changed the engine on. And it is rather a money pit.

My 1983 SDL came converted and all I have done is change the oil and filters and coolant in the last 20k miles and it goes about 200 miles per gallon of fuel purchased. I done about $400 worth of fluid changes. It is around $.04 cents per mile with the fuel cost included.

whunter · #4 07-01-2013, 06:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shertex

Bought the 92 with 138,000 miles six years ago, now have 218,000 miles. Over those 80,000 miles I have spent $15,722 (shhhh, don't tell my wife), or 19.7 cents per mile. Higher than I would like, but oh well.

This includes everything other than fuel. Other than changing my oil, air filter, light bulbs, and power steering fluid, I don't do my own work. Labor rate ranges from 75-100/hr. I am often able to buy the parts from buymbparts, so that helps some.

Hoping to do better with my recently-acquired 91, but we'll see.

What have you found to be the cost per mile with yours?

Eliminating:
* Purchase price
* Fuel
* Oil changes

My average MB diesel maintenance cost is between:
$3000 divided by 150000 = 0.02 cent per mile.
$4077 divided by 150000 = 0.02718 cent per mile.

There are many factors that do not impact my cost, due to scrapping corroded vehicles = spare parts on the shelf, engines, transmissions, etc, etc...

.

chasinthesun · #5 07-01-2013, 06:57 PM

Heres my yearly ,10 Oil filters and oil ,4 tires ,1 brake pad change if needed,2 fuel filters ,1 air filter ,1 trans filter and fluid, misc ,misc,about $700 yearly ,throw in some car washes maybe $750.I travel 19400 miles last year which puts me right around 3.8 cents per mile not including fuel ,thats a number I dont like to think about.Checked my 300cd with 400k plus for blowby ,still zero ,none.Love the diesel mbs.

kingbaka · #6 07-01-2013, 08:02 PM

I got hooked on a 1996 E300D salvage , ran her 200000 miles , cost 9000. I just bought 1996 E300D , $5k , with 123000 miles , and another 1997 E300D with 83000 miles,$8k this is my spare drive. I drive 3 to 4 thousand miles a month , I get paid .57 per mile . I do most all my own work , daily driver is 1997 E300D with 376000 miles . Cost per mile is low , I will run these cars till the wheels fall off , Happy 606 ...

Jeremy5848 · #7 07-01-2013, 09:15 PM

This is an interesting subject and one that I've often wondered about. Looking at whunter's note that "oil changes" should not be included, I interpret that to mean routine maintenance, stuff that any car requires, should be factored out. Then there are things that wear out over time/miles, like tires. Next are things you add or replace because you want to, not because the car really needs it. Finally there are things that break or wear out unexpectedly and prematurely. The last category is clearly one for the cents-per-mile maintenance number; one could argue forever about including any or all of the other stuff.

Specifics
The '96 E300 (wife's car, W210, OM606NA, 250,000+ miles) has been with us for over 5 years. I do most of my own work and shop around for parts and supplies. The following includes all maintenance but not insurance, registration, cost to purchase, etc.

2009 $0.19/mile
2010 $0.08
2011 $0.04
2012 $0.29 (high because I replaced the vacuum pump as a precaution)

OTOH, the 1995 E300 (my car, W124, OM606NA, 200,000 miles), which I've now had for 15 months, has had as much spent on it in maintenance as it cost to buy it in the first place ($4700 to buy, $5200 on maintenance). A lot of that is stuff that I wanted to do -- replace the pitted windshield, for example, $287. If I eliminate all but the stuff that actually broke then the costs go 'way down.

Where do you draw the line?

Jeremy

shertex · #8 07-01-2013, 11:44 PM

The drawing of the line is admittedly somewhat arbitrary....although I'm not sure I see the logic in excluding oil changes but not other regular maintenance. I think some items constitute a grey area between routine maintenance and a broken part. Everything ultimately wears out with enough use. So why include, say, an aux water pump but exclude a brake rotor in maintenance costs?

I guess it in part depends on the comparison you want to do: between another car you own, a new car, a leased car, etc....

The cardinal rule, of course, is....never let your wife see this thread.

tjts1 · #9 07-02-2013, 12:04 PM

You should probably include the cost of your time wrenching on the car which most people seem to ignore. But if you enjoy working on your car and you should probably subtract that time from the equation. Then again if you enjoy working on a car but run into a problem that you really hate... then it gets complicated. This is all a little too OCD for me. All I know is fuel costs me 9.5 cents per mile plus $500 in parts since I bought the car 10,000 miles ago. Thats as far as I'm going to take it.

Doktor Bert · #10 07-02-2013, 02:26 PM

I would be afraid to estimate what I have spent on the W116 over 20+ years of driving. My labor costs alone would be unreal...

JamesDean · #11 08-26-2013, 11:00 AM

For my 300D, I paid $3800 for it, put about $3200 in rebuilding things, etc. So total of about $7,000.

I've driven it a little over 25,000 miles.

So, $0.28 per mile? Not including fuel costs..

I get roughly 35 mpg, so thats $0.11/mile?

So $0.31/mile?

thornton · #12 12-12-2013, 03:53 PM

I keep pretty good records for my cars and their repair history, and recently went through this very exercise. And yes, it can be frightening.

My wife's wagon over the course of 9 years and 88K miles has had $14K put in to it. This includes everything but fuel, and comes out to about .16/mile.

My sedan, over the course of ten years and 137K miles has had $18K put in to it

So about .14/mile.

I do basic maintenance myself, and use a reliable, but not inexpensive Indy here in town.

Yikes. If you're not doing all of your own repairs, you're going to pay to drive an MB.

JamesDean · #13 12-12-2013, 04:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JamesDean

For my 300D, I paid $3800 for it, put about $3200 in rebuilding things, etc. So total of about $7,000.

I've driven it a little over 25,000 miles.

So, $0.28 per mile? Not including fuel costs..

I get roughly 35 mpg, so thats $0.11/mile?

So $0.31/mile?

Updated. New additions:

-New steering system less gearbox, $125
-New front struts and mounts, $300
-New rear multilink, $200
-New alignment, $200

As of today, $4500 in repairs/maintenance/upgrades.

32,000 miles. $8350 total. 26 cents per mile.

I get roughly 35 mpg, so thats $0.11/mile.

Total 37 cents per mile?

Evidently I cannot add..that original 31 cents should be 39.. LOL.

yvairguy · #14 12-12-2013, 05:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JamesDean

Updated. New additions:

-New steering system less gearbox, $125
-New front struts and mounts, $300
-New rear multilink, $200
-New alignment, $200

As of today, $4500 in repairs/maintenance/upgrades.

32,000 miles. $8350 total. 26 cents per mile.

I get roughly 35 mpg, so thats $0.11/mile.

Total 37 cents per mile?

Evidently I cannot add..that original 31 cents should be 39.. LOL.

you have a bunch of cars listed, which is getting 35mpg?

shertex · #15 12-12-2013, 05:14 PM

My latest numbers:

92 300D over the course of 113k miles: 19.1 cents per mile.

91 300D over the course of 33k miles: 14.5 cents per mile.

I do some of my own work, but most I farm out.