1000 miles per $100 spent

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I often use this equation when looking at vehicles. Simply put, my minimum expectations for a used vehicle is to get 1000 miles of relatively trouble free use per $100 spent.

I most recently used this last year when I bought a 2003 Camry for my son for $3000. It had 121,000 at the time and has been great so far.

Do any of you use this or something similar?
 
What is included in your $100?

Purchase?
Depreciation?
Repair?

A combination?

If you're measuring cheap, I bought a 1970 Ford Fairlane wagon in 1990 for $250. Drove it for five years. Sold it for parts for $100 (frame crack from rust, not worth fixing).

Put 60,000 miles on it. That's $30/year cost. Or $2.50/1,000. If you exclude maintenance, insurance, etc. and consider only depreciation...
 
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I just buy what I like. Cars are a lose-lose financially no matter which you slice it. Just depends on how much of your monthly bread you want to slice away for it.
 
Seems like a sad equation to leave whether or not you like the car out of it completely. I'd rather find cars I like then decide if it can be economical, rather than the other way around.
 
Originally Posted By: Astro14
What is included in your $100?

Purchase?
Depreciation?
Repair?

A combination?

If you're measuring cheap, I bought a 1970 Ford Fairlane wagon in 1990 for $250. Drove it for five years. Sold it for parts for $100 (frame crack from rust, not worth fixing).

Put 60,000 miles on it. That's $30/year cost. Or $2.50/1,000. If you exclude maintenance, insurance, etc. and consider only depreciation...


I don't factor in depreciation. It's just a tool that I use when shopping for used vehicles.
 
Not a bad formula. On the cheap end there's the risk that it's shagged out and on the pricey end there's the risk that you spent all that money and still got a dog.

I stay on the cheaper end of the curve.
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I look at $1,000 per year based on original purchase price as a general guide when getting into a 20K-40K mile, 1 owner, full sized, used car. My current daily driver cost me $9,000 back in 2009 w/22k miles. So with a residual value of $3,000....it's been running about $750/yr average. Not bad. It's been basically trouble free for the 55,000 miles I've put on it. Obviously engine/trans or other major failures aren't expected. Insurance, registration, depreciation, and routine maintenance costs (brakes, tires, fluids, age related failures) are expected based on the car you decide on and don't factor those in. Now if I had bought the car new and still had it, the average yearly price would be $2250/yr. Way more than I care to spend...never mind the much heavier insurance premiums the first several years.

Like the OP I'm getting around 1,000 miles per $100 spent on the purchase of the car. With nearly 78K miles and 16 years old, I could be leaving the trouble free zone in the near future.
 
A friend purchased a 65 Porsche 356 SC in 1970 for $3,800 and after a long illness sold it this summer for $98,000. It was always maintained by an independent shop that specializes in 356's, was always garaged and lives in southern California. I don't know what the maintenance expenses might have been and I know there was engine and transmission work done over 200K miles but it appears that he made money overall. When sold it was in such good condition it appeared to be detailed but was not. Everything was absolutely original and any replacement parts were NOS or at least factory parts. It also had a document of authenticity from the factory identifying it as a matching numbers car. It had the bill of sale, window sticker, manuals, tools, keys, and brochures along with every receipt for everything ever spent on the car. The buyer actually paid him $3,000 over his asking price after seeing and driving the car and then taking it home. It was a gift card with a note to go out and have some fun. Sometimes a car is more than transportation.
 
Originally Posted By: Ausfahrt
I often use this equation when looking at vehicles. Simply put, my minimum expectations for a used vehicle is to get 1000 miles of relatively trouble free use per $100 spent.


Is this including fuel?

It has to be.....

Not including fuel, I spend about $100 for every 10,000 miles.
 
My 1993 Ford Ranger "Splash" was purchased 20 years ago in 1997 with 47,000 miles on it for $6500. I've put about $1000 (clutch kit, several u-joints, a few sets of brake pads, a rear diff repair, alternator, water pump - STILL the original fuel pump!) over 20 years and almost 240,000 miles that I put on it (it's got 284,000 on it now). I figure it's still worth $2000-ish because it's in very nice shape.

so....

$6500 purchse
$1000-ish in repairs
-still worth about $2000
________________________
= about $5500 for 20 years of ownership.

That's $275 a year, or $22 a month to own it.

That leaves $78 a month for oil, gasoline and tires - is that what you were figuring?
 
I've posted this metric before and I think it makes sense.
Thing is, this will only work with cheaper cars.
In terms of depreciation expense, my '12 Accord will certainly make the miles to get down to ten cents each without major work while the '17 Forester probably won't.
I also think that fuel expense should be something under ten cents per mile driven, but that again depends entirely upon car selection.
I agree with your premise but it really only applies to cars bought new at a deal or used ones in decent overall condition.
Still, there are plenty of entertaining used cars that would meet the standards of your metric.
 
While it could seem somewhat arbitrary, I think it is a good idea. I try to get years out, perhaps not miles so to speak. I should try to get x amount of years use out of a vehicle with my daily routines. Again it is arbitrary and also dynamic.
 
Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
A friend purchased a 65 Porsche 356 SC in 1970 for $3,800 and after a long illness sold it this summer for $98,000. It was always maintained by an independent shop that specializes in 356's, was always garaged and lives in southern California. I don't know what the maintenance expenses might have been and I know there was engine and transmission work done over 200K miles but it appears that he made money overall. When sold it was in such good condition it appeared to be detailed but was not. Everything was absolutely original and any replacement parts were NOS or at least factory parts. It also had a document of authenticity from the factory identifying it as a matching numbers car. It had the bill of sale, window sticker, manuals, tools, keys, and brochures along with every receipt for everything ever spent on the car. The buyer actually paid him $3,000 over his asking price after seeing and driving the car and then taking it home. It was a gift card with a note to go out and have some fun. Sometimes a car is more than transportation.


Not quite as good as your friend but good enough: I bought a 2002 BMW M Coupe in 2002. One of only 390 or so made that year. Drove it 66,000 miles and sold it in 2016 for exactly what I paid for it in 2002. Makes up for that 1972 Fiat Sports Coupe that was a fantastic drive but worn out and worthless at 88,000 miles.
 
The gas and equivalent slice of the OCI to drive my Cruze 1,000 miles is approx. $74. Figure in a set of tires and spark plugs that lasts 60K, and a few odds and ends, and the one legitimate repair it's needed (coolant outlet) and it's up to about $85/1K. Factor in the averaged slice of the monthly payment per 1,000 miles being $141, but leave out car insurance and registration, and it has thus far cost me a maximum average of $230/month to own and operate, lock, stock, and barrel. How am I doing?
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Originally Posted By: Throt
I just buy what I like. Cars are a lose-lose financially no matter which you slice it. Just depends on how much of your monthly bread you want to slice away for it.
And that is why I like buying cars from insurance auctions, fixing them up, and ending up with a nice car for 30%-40% of it's current market value, after all repair expenses considered.

P.S. Scion is my first car from a dealership. Decided to give it a try, but in the end - my previous auction-bought vehicles were much better performers for lesser price, and I often sold them for profit, or at least returned my money invested. Not buying from a dealership ever again. Love the Scion though.
 
The IRS claims that their business allowance for use of a personal vehicle is based on fixed and variable costs covering the operating costs of a vehicle. They only allow 54 cents per mile, or $540 per 1,000 miles. Quite a bit less than the OP's $100 per 1,000 miles. Why the difference??
 
Because both are simply made up numbers.

The OP's $100 is, as he said, a crude tool.
The IRS figure might be a little more thought out but is still a "settled-upon" figure which can be tweaked in response to ANYTHING, such as fuel price, political reasons. A 4 door car used in real estate sales could get a higher allowance than a 2 door used by a salesman should some nod be given to an industry etc.
 
The 54 cents per mile is including fuel, which the OP may or may not be including in his figure (he never confirmed if his $100/1000 mile figure includes fuel or not)
 
I use the same formula. It's a good tool. For example, if used a car costs $10,000, I expect to get 100,000 miles out of it. If I get more, great for me, if less, I'm disappointed.
 
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